Julie McElyea
With over 15 years of experience in the real estate industry, Julie McElyea is known as a genuine person who truly cares about the process and helping clients achieve their goals. As the owner and managing broker of RE/MAX Hometown Properties, she also maintains a focus on her team, family, and community. In fact, Julie’s office is part of the Miracle Office Program, which helps fund children’s cancer research in local hospitals throughout Chicago. As a result of her dedication and outstanding customer service, Julie has received several awards including the Five Star Professional Award, and the Top Agent Award from Top Agent Magazine. Within the RE/MAX organization, she was a member of the 100% Club, Platinum Club, and was inducted into the RE/MAX Hall of Fame in 2020—one of the highest honors given for production.
Since opening Hometown Properties in 2015, Julie has been involved in development, and got into new construction a year later. She has since re-signed with the RE/MAX franchise for another five years, completed various subdivision projects, and is currently marketing two more in the area. Julie’s primary focus is on residential real estate, and she offers staging of pre-existing homes as an additional option for her sellers. However, she has worked with a lot of buyers and sellers on the commercial side as well.
Julie sells approximately 50 houses per year and has garnered a great deal of experience with the process from beginning to end, along with the tools to navigate through it. She also works with a lot of agents, including the five highly qualified team members in her own office. “We don’t have a number-centric environment,” Julie explains. “I strive to bring value and support to my agents as well as my clients by providing a lot of hands-on training and by offering my agents opportunities to engage in the marketing for new construction.” Although this may be an uncommon practice within the real estate industry, Julie revels in providing her agents with opportunities to thrive and grow.
Prior to obtaining her real estate license in 2013, Julie earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and pre-law as well as a master’s degree in criminal and social justice. Immediately after graduating from college, she accepted a position with a real estate law firm that specialized in foreclosures, bankruptcy, REO files, and evictions. She found the process of real estate very interesting, and with all of the experience and knowledge she developed with the foreclosure and lender side, seeing the process made her realize that she could help people on the opposite side of real estate.
As a result, Julie left the law firm and transitioned into real estate in 2016. As a mother of four children, she started out part time, but ultimately decided to open her own office with the goal of making a positive change in the industry and is now a full time agent. After interviewing with a few different franchises, she chose RE/MAX due to the many benefits the company offers, including flexibility. The extensive knowledge she took away from her time at the law firm has not only been beneficial in equipping her to work with foreclosures, short sales, and distressed properties, but it has also shaped her into an exceptional advocate for her clients as well as her agents. “I genuinely care about the results for my clients and helping people get to the next step. It is not about the money, which sounds cliché, but it is true,” Julie shares.
Contact:
Julie McElyea
Owner and Managing Broker
RE/MAX Hometown Properties
website: www.sellingcms.com
Facebook: Julie McGuire McElyea
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/juliemcelyea/
Download the magazine and see Julie's feature on page 76.