IT’S NO SECRET the real estate market on the North Shore has been hotter than a mid-August day at the beach. Since the pandemic broke in spring of last year, inventory that had been on and off the market for years was scooped up by buyers wanting more space. New listings are gone in days.

Finding an agent with the right experience who can help people navigate the tight market is the key for sellers to get the most value for the homes and for buyers to win their dream homes.

Joanna Koperski, an agent with @properties in Lake Forest, brings a data-driven approach to helping clients find the right buyers and helping buyers find the right home. Especially in today’s market, she says buyers are increasingly sophisticated in how they’re using online search and other tools.

“With the literal explosion of the market over the last two years, every aspect of our business acumen is called into play,” Koperski says. “The more extensive the library of experience, the more one has to offer one’s clients toward the success of their real estate endeavor.”

Koperski says that one of the most engaging aspects of her profession is its constant variety—no two situations are ever alike, and the obvious benefit of a wealth of experience is the fact that in all probability some aspect of a given circumstance has presented itself in the past. This offers a reference point against which it may be resolved.

“In a market that is moving as furiously as is this one, tempers often flare, misunderstandings occur, and impatience rules,” she says. “That vast library of experience becomes an invaluable resource and paired with a good dose of patience and a positive attitude, will calm the situation, and invariably win the day.”

Koperski started her professional career in the field of marketing and advertising and developed skills that have contributed to her success in real estate.

“My transition from computer graphics to real estate proved to be a happy and rewarding event, both logical and seamless,” she says. “As our business expanded, my digital work for discriminating editors, builders and architects, as well as medical malpractice attorneys creating their huge court boards, familiarized me with the personalities soon to fill my real estate world.”

Just over 10 years ago, Koperski and a group of associates decided to ask @properties to open an office in Lake Forest. At the time, @properties was a growing company renowned for its advanced technology-based approach to business and its agent-oriented culture, both characteristics proving to be attractive to her.

Today, the company has grown exponentially to become the top in Illinois, with over 3,800 agents. It’s also the top producing office in Lake Forest.

“That agent-centric culture continues to be the most striking difference between our company and our competitors, ensuring that support of the agent is primary,” Koperski says. “Resources such as a fully-fledged IT department constantly updating and innovating new programs and apps, as well as a marketing department supplementing our advertising efforts, ease our workload and allow us to devote more precious time toward the success of our clients.”

This steady business approach that has driven the company’s growth surge the past decade benefits clients regardless of the state of the market.

“My precepts remain the same. There is a solution for everything, numbers don’t lie, and technology is your friend,” Koperski says. “Concentrate on the job at hand and bring it forth to fulfillment with patience and care.”

Joanna Koperski is with @properties, 600 N. Western Avenue in Lake Forest, 847-668-0096, atproperties.com.