Meet one part of the trifecta from the McColly Real Estate of Valparaiso's Olga Petryszyn Team. Her name is Amelia Kowalisyn. She is the Buyer Specialist for the Olga Petryszyn Team.
"I truly enjoy helping our clients find their perfect home," Kowalisyn explained.
Managing all of the aspects that go along with the transaction process in the real estate industry can be quite daunting because there is a lot to factor in. How does a team of three individuals manage to take it all on and come out on top?
"Olga focuses on the sellers, Catherine focuses on our files; processing those and putting all of the information and pictures onto our websites, and I focus on the buyers. It's actually pretty simple," Kowalisyn said.
What got Kowalisyn interested in real estate was happenstance. She found a job in Chicago as an Assistant at Marcus & Millichap, which is the nation's largest commercial real estate brokerage firm.
"I absolutely fell in love with it. I went on to help open another real estate company in downtown Chicago, and then I decided to go back school," Kowalisyn said. "I found a position out here in social services, but I realized that it wasn't working for me so I decided to go back into real estate because I loved it so much."
Kowalisyn's degree came from Purdue. It was in psychology. One can utilize skills learned from a psychology degree in real estate. In fact, it can be quite beneficial with how much emotion can go into the purchase of a home.
What brought Kowalisyn to the Olga Petryszyn Team was the need for completion.
"I worked on my own for a couple of years, and I enjoyed it but I felt like there was something missing; like I needed to have someone to help me navigate the field," Kowalisyn said. "In commercial real estate I always had that but in residential real estate I didn't. So I wanted a mentor, which is what I've had with Olga. I've learned more from her in the past year than I ever could have on my own."
Workplace relationships are important to achieving the highest outcome possible for all parties involved. Olga and Kowalisyn have a solid relationship, but what about Catherine?
"Catherine is a wonderful person; on top of everything," Kowalisyn said. "She's really helpful for our entire team."
The three ladies share an office at McColly Real Estate in Valpo. A typical day for them consists of going over client updates and details in the morning, then for Kowalisyn it's off to spend time with clients by showing houses and making appointments with them. Kowalisyn is also in charge of the social media for the Olga Petryszyn Team.
"Social media is an important part of what we do. People want to know what's going on with us. I try to share as much information as I can," Kowalisyn said. "And so many people go to Facebook or Twitter nowadays to get their news and information."
Kowalisyn does her best with all aspects of her job. Whether it's social media, brainstorming with her team, or having one-on-one time with her clients.
"I love finding my buyers that perfect home. That is the best part. We will go out and see two homes and they fall in love with the second one yet they still want to go out and see five more homes just to compare. But you can always tell when they have found the right one," Kowalisyn said. "Also, it is so important to have a good client relationship. Making sure that the experience was good for them is very important to me. I never want them to walk away unhappy."
"And you get a three-for-one deal with [the Olga Petryszyn Team]," Kowalisyn continued. "You always have constant contact, you will always have someone to talk to, and we really do our best to make sure that all of our clients are happy and the process goes as smoothly as possible. And we all love what we do so when you enjoy what you do it really makes things a lot better."
Outside of work, Kowalisyn and her husband, Joe, are helping to raise funds for the Boys and Girls Club of Porter County and they do a lot of work with the American Diabetes Association. They also like to go for walks and spend time around downtown Valpo taking in the sights and dining at the awesome restaurants.
"The American Diabetes Association is near and dear to my heart and the Boys and Girls Club has become very important to me and my husband," Kowalisyn said.
For more information on the Olga Petryszyn Team, visit www.olgap.com, "Like" them on Facebook and "Follow" the team on Twitter!
