For years Gary Lucido had been perplexed
by the
residential real estate brokerage business. Many of the agents he had
encountered over the years just weren't that impressive and the
commissions were exorbitant. It was no surprise that the FTC had
investigated the industry for anti-competitive practices going back to
1995.
It just didn't seem right to have to pay 6% to an agent who was little
more than an order taker and didn't do that much to sell your house. In
fact, when it came time to leave Richmond, Virginia to return to
Chicago his wife and he sold their home themselves (no agent on either
side of the deal) and saved $18,000.
After several years of wondering aloud
to everyone he
knew, Gary decided to get to the bottom of the mystery himself. His
curiosity wasn't totally motivated by altruism, though, because his
business career had taught him that when something didn't make sense
there was probably a business opportunity lurking somewhere. So he
spent the next few months reading industry studies, reading articles,
talking to industry insiders,studying the competition, and reading
economic studies. In the end his conclusions surprised him. A good real
estate agent really could provide real value to buyers and sellers. The
problem was that there just weren't that many good agents out there.
Even more surprising,Gary discovered that there was not a mass
conspiracy in the industry but there was mass inefficiency. Therein lay
the business opportunity.(If you are interested you can request a copy of our white paper
summarizing our findings about the real estate industry.)
As the business opportunity began to
emerge Gary
began to discuss it with Sari Levy, whom he knew from his last job and
whom he knew to be hard working, professional, smart, and customer
service oriented. They both received their salesperson licenses, their
broker licenses, and went to work for traditional brokers. Their work
experiences reinforced and complemented the findings of Gary's research
so they decided to build a business together.
Not Your Average Real
Estate Company
Based upon what Gary and Sari learned
they created a
business model for their own brokerage, Lucid Realty, that distances it
from traditional brokerages and provides a better value to the consumer:
It is a full
service broker,
Offering
substantial savings to both buyers and sellers,
Providing
services by employees not independent contractors,
Working as a
team instead of competing against one another,
With professionalism and
high standards of customer service.
Gary brings over 20 years of experience
in customer
service, finance,operations, and information services, and has an
obsessive passion for getting the job done quickly and correctly. His
corporate experience includes many multi-million dollar contract
negotiations that resulted in wins for both parties. Prior to working
with a well-known traditional real estate brokerage, Gary was President
of a national concierge company, where he worked with Sari. He was also
one of the founders of Shop Local, a leading provider of Web shopping
services for retailers, where he served as the President and Chief
Operating Officer, responsible for client services, operations, and
technology. His team built the company to more than 150 employees
serving most of the top retailers in the country.
Gary's experience also includes 7 years
at Circuit
City Stores as Director of Inventory Productivity and Extended Service
Plans, where he was responsible for the company's $500 million warranty
program and led Circuit City's first supply chain initiatives. In
addition, he was a Corporate Business Development Manager at General
Electric, where he led a one-year customer service improvement study
for GE Financial Services. Early in his career he worked in the
strategy practice at Booz, Allen & Hamilton, and in corporate
finance at Sears, Roebuck and Co.
Gary received a B.S. degree in math and
physics from
Duke University and an MBA from Northwestern University's J.L. Kellogg
Graduate School of Management,where he concentrated in finance and
management policy. He has lived in the Chicago area for over 19 years,
including Evanston, Lakeview,Lincoln Park, and University Village.
Sari brings over 15 years experience in
the service
industry and a solid background in operations, account management,
vendor relations, and customer service to her role as Managing Broker
at Lucid Realty.
Sari brings a "whatever it takes" attitude to each
day and
thoroughly enjoys helping others. Prior to working with a well-known
traditional real
estate brokerage, she held the position of Vice President of Operations
for a national concierge company. During her tenure, her team
grew from 15 employees to over 100 and under her direction the
company's operations grew from 6 locations in the tri-state area to
over 35 nationally.
Prior to that, Sari served as the
Customer Care
Manager at Nicor Energy. She spent two years as the Operations
Manager for VirtualSellers.com, an Internet start up
company. Additionally, she spent eight years with Waste Management
where she held various positions including Customer Service Manager and
Business
Analyst.
Throughout
her career, Sari has developed a strong passion for exceeding
expectations and treats everyone that she meets with respect and
empathy and expects the same from those on her team.
She and
her clients
can count on her to consistently go above and beyond expectations.
She's been described as "customer obsessed."
Sari holds a B.A. in communications from
Roosevelt
University, where she graduated with honors in 2004. Sari is a Chicago
native who has lived in Rogers Park, Uptown, Lakeview, Portage Park,
Niles, Glenview, Wilmette, Lake Bluff, Lyons and Wauconda
and settled in Addison where she has been since the late 90's.
With
a strong belief in service, Sari is active
in her community and in the community of animal rescue. Sari
currently holds the position of Director of the
Addison
Chamber of Commerce where she has served for more than a decade. She is
passionate in caring for animals. After serving on the board of a local
rescue
for a few years, Sari joined the board of Realtors to the Rescue which
is a group who focuses on raising money and awareness for homeless
animals and helped the organization raise over $100,000.
Eddie
brings more than 20 years of sales and customer service experience to
his clients. Primarily working in the Consumer Packaged Goods industry,
Eddie understands the needs of his clients and works diligently to
ensure satisfaction in all aspects of his work. Eddie is a native of
the South Suburbs (Homewood and Flossmoor), but his career has provided
him and his family the exciting adventure of relocating seven times.
Through the many moves, Eddie became interested in Real Estate. A lack
of consistent follow up by his Real Estate Agents and being treated as
just another transaction inspired him to get more heavily involved in
the business and deliver exceptional service and results.
Eddies
career began in Accounting and Finance where he was able to leverage
his analytical skills to generate a competitive advantage for his
organization. After transitioning into Sales, Eddie worked his way up
through outstanding companies like Frito-Lay, Quaker Oats and
Pepperidge Farm, ultimately rising to Vice President of Sales for
Archway & Mother s Cookies where he was responsible for $200
million in Sales and over 200 employees.
Having moved
his family several times, Eddie appreciates the needs of Buyers and
Sellers throughout all stages of the process. Having negotiated large
deals in the past, Eddie s diligence in the negotiating of Real Estate
contracts has impressed his clients. Knowing that that they have a
seasoned professional on their side has provided great comfort that
they will not leave money on the table.
Having settled with
his family in Buffalo Grove, Eddie has become very familiar with the
neighborhoods, school districts and other amenities available
throughout the Northwest Suburbs. With three school aged children and a
wife highly involved on the PTO, Eddie stays abreast of community
initiatives that ultimately will benefit his clients in the selling or
buying of the their home.
Eddie s commitment to his
clients is simple listen to your needs, provide tireless, energetic
and personalized service, put ALL available resources to work for you,
communicate regularly and candidly, and provide you the best possible
return on your investment. Whether you are a first time home buyer or
an
investor with years of experience, Eddie s goal is to make this your
best real estate transaction ever!
Denise
Mitchell has worked in the Chicago real estate market for more than a
decade. She specializes in single-family homes, condominiums,
and
multi-family buildings, representing buyers and sellers throughout the
Chicago area as well as various surrounding suburbs. Because Denise has
taken a number of different interior design classes she has become
adept at staging and interior decorating a service that she now
provides to her clients as an added benefit. These services have been
proven to sell properties at a higher price in a shorter amount of
time. Throughout this economic downturn she has also become
particularly well versed in the intricacies of short sales, having
completed more than 30 of these challenging transactions.
Denise
develops long-term relationships with her clients and her knowledge of
the real estate business enables her clients to make well-informed real
estate decisions. Her success is rewarded with repeat business and
referrals year after year.
Denise blends her rich
real estate background with more than 12 years as the Director, Human
Resources of a large wholesale distributor. In addition to
negotiating numerous contracts she provided transformational leadership
in the areas of human resources and employee relations for the Chicago
home office and 3 satellite offices. She also worked in the
home
health care industries for 4 years, which involved a tremendous amount
of care for her clients as well as her
employees.
Denise
has very successfully leveraged her previous work experience in real
estate, where her clients routinely benefit from her patience,
enthusiasm, counseling, integrity, and customer service. Denise is an
innovative real estate agent with an energetic, positive
style. She has a proven ability to assist in
critical
decision making and implement strategies that deliver results.
Marco Mejia, Broker Marco@lucidrealty.com
Marco brings
over 12 years of sales experience to his clients. Prior to joining
Lucid Realty, Marco was a regional sales manager for national food
manufacturers in the Midwest and Northeast where he executed revenue
growth, managed profitability, and developed strong client
relationships. Along with his sales experience,
Marco brings strong negotiating and problem solving skills, all
required to help his clients find their perfect property at the best
possible price.
Over the last decade Marco has been investing in real estate,
purchasing and owning rental properties and rehabbing
buildings. Whether it is renovating a kitchen or bathroom,
updating plumbing and electric, managing a rental building, obtaining
city permits or procuring a tenant, Marco has firsthand knowledge which
enables clients to envision a property s potential.
Marco currently lives in Ukrainian Village with his wife and 2 year old
son. As a new parent, Marco understands the importance of
school options, safety, parks and resale value when looking for a home
in Chicago. Marco holds a B.S. degree in Finance from University of
Wisconsin- Parkside, which is a real asset to investors, and he is also
fluent in Spanish.
Michael
brings over 20 years of work experience to Lucid Realty which lends
itself quite well to his role as a real estate broker. For 16
years, Michael excelled in data analysis, project management and
coordination skills in his role as a Lead System Analyst in the IT
department of leading national benefit outsourcing company.
He
also served for 5 years as a People Manager where he grew the staff and
focused on understanding individuals in order to create
company
guidelines.
His real estate experience is diverse and includes the
buying and selling of single family homes, multi-units building,
townhomes and condos as well as experience with new construction and
distressed property sales and both residential and commercial
leasing. He is also experienced with property rehabbing and
analyzing investment properties. He has completed numerous
transactions in the Chinatown, Bridgeport, McKinley Park, University
Village, the South Loop and West Loop neighborhoods of
Chicago.
Born
and raised in Hong Kong, Michael is fluent in English, Chinese,
Cantonese and Mandarin. As an accomplished marathon
runner,
Michael completed the Chicago Marathon which exemplifies his
"Can-Do!" and "Never Give Up!" attitude. He also has a spirit
of
service and is an organizer for the highly rated Chicago
Chinatown 5K.
