I received a great compliment a few days back.

A few weeks ago my phone rang. A nice young man had seen me online. Originally searching in the Wicker Park area he told me I was the top listing agent in the area. Based on that he took a deeper look and the looking led to a phone call.

Without delving too much into specifics he said he was calling real estate professionals working in the Chicago market to figure out who he wanted to represent him with his upcoming purchase. As is the case with satisfying conversations, there was an unscripted and generous give and take. He mentioned a few areas that interested him and I gave him my sense of what these Chicago neighborhoods were like with insights based on my direct experiences.

To make a long story short we met Wednesday afternoon to chart an itinerary as we investigate real estate prospects ranging from Edgewater to Lakeview, from Roscoe Village to Albany Park. Where we are going is inscribed in the map above. In the course of conversation two he was nice enough to tell me something along the lines that he was pleased to finally have his expectations surpassed by somebody he met as he was preparing to make what promises to be his first very significant investment.

Evidently some of his phone calls didn't have the same result with some phone calls going unreturned. And evidently some folks "working" the Chicago real estate market didn't seem to be working after all. His exact words were "They don't seem to want my business."

And the words of one his classmates at The Kellogg School of Business who also is making a real estate purchase were "not many realtors seemed hungry."

I understand what he and his associate are saying. And it's not so much that I am hungry as I am motivated by the simple truth that it is my job to do my job the best that I can. And I will. And I do.

Just as I expect him and all of my clients to have questions and want their real estate professional to be able to respond with knowledge, authenticity and authority.

And so I am lucky enough to have nice people like this new client of mine praising me. Just as I have been fortunate for nearly ten years to have similar laudatory praises offered by folks buying houses, selling condos, purchasing two-flats and looking for someone they can trust in the Chicago real estate market.

And that has been me.  And that's something for which I am thankful. Thankful to my clients. But thankful also to the way that I am wired.

Wired to work harder than seems reasonable. To know as much as possible. To freely share my knowledge (thereby enabling my clients to make decisions - whether yes or no). And to never deviate from what is in my clients' (and my family's) best interests.

It's a good way to live. And in fact I like it so much that I intend to do it again tomorrow.

By the way, can you tell how pleased I am with my page one ranking for "chicago real estate" at both google and bing? As one of Jackson's favorite cartoons would say - "Wow wow Wubzie! Wubzie Wubzie WOW WOW!"