Being accessible and available for clients is one of the keys to success for Leanne Provost.

Provost is a broker with Berkshire Hathaway Home Services Speckman Realty.

“I really do care about my clients,” she said. “I am not just in it for a paycheck.”

“My goal is to provide exceptional service to each and every client I work with, whether they are looking to buy their first home, sell current property or make a real estate investment,” Provost states in her profile.

She can be reached at 815-790-1646 and works out of the Berkshire Hathaway office at 612 Armour Road., Bourbonnais, 60914. Her email is lprovostrealtor@gmail.com.

Provost has been a Realtor since 2008 and has worked at Berkshire Hathaway since 2017.

“It is just a wonderful family atmosphere here,” she said.

The office has a great sense of teamwork.

Provost has earned to designations of CRS (Certified Residential Specialist); PSA (Price Strategy Advisor) and C2RX (Commitment to Excellence). Price Strategy Advisors are especially skilled at knowing how a property should be priced. By being a Certified Residential Specialist, Provost is part of a network of top agents across the country.

“Buying and selling can be very stressful for the customer,” she said. “I work to make the transaction as stress free as possible for my clients.”

She says this is still an excellent market for sellers. Inventory remains low in Kankakee County.

“Listen to your agent,” she said, “and get your house ready.”

Schedule a pre-listing consultation with your agent, so you know how to prepare your house.

That means decluttering. Clean. Countertops need to be clear. Make sure your yard looks nice. These days Realtors use professional photos. Clean the carpets if necessary.

Get the magnets off the refrigerator. A good suggestion is to start the cleaning and improving process about six months before you plan to put the house on the market, she said. If you need to paint, choose neutral colors.

If you are in the buying portion of the market, Provost said, interview an agent who can represent you.

On the financial end, get pre-approved before you start looking. This is also not the time to go out and make any large purchases.

As a Realtor, Provost goes the extra step to get the sale. She’s wielded a plunger when necessary and helped pack a house when there was a “hoarder issue.”

Provost initially got involved in real estate helping her husband, Clayton, who was building single family homes. Both her family and his family were local to the Kankakee market. Thus, it was a logical step to build a career as a Realtor.

Before selling real estate, Provost had worked for IBM as a customer service engineer. She holds an electronic engineering degree from ITT.

Provost is a 1994 graduate of Bishop McNamara Catholic High School, where she was a member of the National Honor Society and the Spanish National Honor Society. She’s still involved at Mac. The Provosts’ two children, Wesley and William, are both Mac grads. Wesley is a senior at Purdue in civil engineering and construction management. William is a sophomore at the University of Missouri, studying economics.

Five years ago she was the chair of the fundraising auction at McNamara, the school’s biggest event. It was the year the event was moved back to the school gym, a sort of coming home.

Provost is the daughter of Richard and Tina Grise. Her mother passed, but her father still lives independently.

Clayton and Leanne live in St. Anne. She is a gardener, raising both vegetables and flowers, while also keeping about 20 chickens. The Provosts, she said, are “foodies,” They love to try new restaurants, but also consume beef raised by farmers in the family.

Leanne exercises by attending group fitness classes, walking, riding a bicycle, doing yoga and pickleball.

Community activities for Provost include being an ambassador for the Currents of Kankakee, an effort to create a riverfront park and walk centered near the northeast side of the Schuyler Avenue bridge. She’s also working with the upcoming Red Gala to raise funds for fire fighters and EMTs in Kankakee County. That effort follows last year’s Blue Gala for police. Both events are the work of We the People of Kankakee County.

She’s also heavily involved in the Kankakee Iroquois Ford Association of Realtors, where she is the president-elect. It will be her second term as president. She’s also been the organization’s treasurer.

“I like the information and education you get by participating as an officer,” she says.