Joe Kelly, Broker

About Joe Kelly

Realtor, Broker Associate, General, Lt. Colonel and Marketing Guru

HOW I BROKE IN:
Summer, 2002. I was driving in Naperville with my 4 year old daughter, Madeline to Dairy Queen and was thinking about what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. When I think about important stuff, I like to eat ice cream. Actually, when I think about anything, I like to eat ice cream. At that time I was a Manufacturer’s Rep in the Plumbing and Hardware industry and it wasn’t working out the way I had planned. I was selling truckloads of toilets from Mexico, and taking the Home Depot Plumbing Buyer out to lunch at the Chinese Buffet. Seriously. I was ready for a change. Anyway, Madeline saw a Realtor’s smiling face on a For Sale sign in front of a beautiful house and said “Hey Dad, that man looks like you”. It hit me - Help people Buy and Sell real estate! Yeah, I like that. So, after doing some due diligence, I met with Rich Conte at RE/MAX, I obtained my license & I struck out on my own. I’m not selling toilets these days but still deal with a fair amount of shit. We’ll have another Dilly Bar, please.


BEST ADVICE RECEIVED:

Focus on the people, not the property.


IF I WEREN’T DOING THIS, I’D BE...BBQ & restaurant critic, baseball scout, gentleman farmer, Options Hedge Fund Manager, Ace Hardware store manager, High School Basketball coach, selling peanuts at a minor league ballpark, history teacher, studying architecture…so many interesting things and not enough time!

BOOK ON MY BEDSIDE TABLE:
Several, all with bookmarks in the first 1/3. Just because you’re a book reader, doesn’t make you a book finisher.

MY DREAM DOUBLE FEATURE:
Godfather II and Animal House – two completely different bents on brotherhood.