<em>“The price of success is hard work.” — Vince Lombardi.</em>
Maurice Sullivan, a broker with McColly Bennett Real Estate, has been working since he was old enough to start, he says.
Sullivan is in his third year in real estate. He shadowed and learned from Norm Gaskin to begin. He started at another firm before moving to McColly Bennett a year ago.
McColly Bennett, Sullivan said, has offered him great in-house training and friendship. It is a business, he said, with a personal touch.
His office is at 29 Heritage Drive, Bourbonnais, and he can be reached at 815-272-7584 or Maurice.Sullivan@McColly.com.
The hard-working individual is also the Student Activities Coordinator at Kankakee Community College, in addition to selling real estate. At KCC, his job includes organizing projects like an involvement fair and a resource fair to keep students in the know.
Those skills have helped in his real estate work.
“I have a commitment to bring customers the best possible experience,” he said.
He loves to go to a showing of a home on the market and to a closing when the property has been sold.
“It’s exciting,” he said. “When I see a client’s eyes light up. I really do enjoy that part.”
That’s the time, he said, when he knows a client has reached his goals.
Sullivan has long been a goals-driven person. As a student in high school, he worked after school hours and during summers for the Kankakee Valley Park District. There was scarcely a job with the KVPD facilities near and along River Road that he did not do.
He worked in the concession stand. He mowed the grass and lined the softball fields. He continued working for the park district during summers while he was a student at Illinois State University.
He drove the Zamboni, resurfacing the ice at Ice Valley. He was also the “skate patrol” guy, gliding along the ice to help pick up any skater who had fallen. He was a lifeguard at the Splash Valley Aquatic Park and umpired baseball and softball.
For five years, he worked for the Frankfort Park District. Among other duties, he helped out with that area’s Bulls-Sox Academy.
At Illinois State University, he majored in recreation science at an exciting time for the Redbirds, as the university was opening a new rec center. Sullivan had taken classes at KCC before going on to Illinois State. In addition to all of that, he had an internship at Walt Disney World, where he was a dock attendant at Crescent Lake, helping visitors board and debark on their way to Epcot, Broadway and Hollywood Studios.
These days in real estate, he primarily works with the residential market, but he has also done some commercial work.
His advice for potential sellers is to give him a call. He will do the expected market analysis, but he will also take the time to sit down with the client and explain the entire process. He makes sure they understand all the services that he and McColly Bennett will provide.
His advice for buyers is to get pre-approved for a mortgage at the bank.
“Buyers,” he said, “should be patient, but not too patient.”
Believe that the right house will show up, he said. When it does, move quickly.
Sullivan does a lot of work with first-time buyers and with investors, too.
You have to ask people what they are looking for, he said. He encourages people to be realistic about what they can afford. Have a property inspected, so there are no surprises once you move in.
Investors, he said, often want to move fast and may view the property on their own. In those cases, Sullivan gives the “A to Z” help in processing what needs to be done.
When not selling real estate or working at events, Sullivan relaxes by spending time with his family. He’s been married to his college sweetheart, Tierra, for 11 years. They have a daughter, Alaina, 6, and a son, Colby, 2. The family enjoys backyard barbecues together. Maurice also unwinds by doing yardwork in the family yard.
He’s been a member of Iota Phi Theta since 2012. Iota Phi Theta is one of nine historically Black fraternities and sororities devoted to promoting service.