Michael Kaim REALTOR®, Team Leader Office: 440-255-1111 Direct: 440-266-8322 Fax: 440-974-2345 Email: MikeKaim@aol.com

The Ohio Association of REALTORS first honored me with the highly prized Pinnacle Award in 2004. However, my story of success begins at home.

Imagine growing up in a family where dad was the top agent in Ohio with the top real estate firm. That was the scenario for me.

My passion for the real estate business began at a very early age. My father was in the real estate business with the R.A. Gall Company during the 1960's when he, Frank Kaim, was the number one agent within their company, the top real estate firm in Ohio. Frank Kaim later moved to Pena Realty-Gallery of Homes, to manage the Mentor office, which he quickly propelled from last place in the Gallery of Homes organization to the number one revenue producing office. In 1975, Frank and my mother Jane, opened the first Century 21 real estate agency in the country. Real Estate was to be my destiny from those early years, growing up in one of the top real estate families in Northern Ohio. Even now, I can still recall those special days when my father would take me to Sheriff's auctions, where he would put me on his shoulders to let me raise my hand to signal his bid. AS the years swept by, my mom and dad continued their success story in real estate, and my dreams began to evolve into the determination that I too could become the top producer in the industry.

Fresh out of college with a degree in Business Marketing and a real estate license in my pocket, I attended a real estate seminar in Chicago where I met Carlos Justo, a Miami Florida REALTOR that many refer to as the "Icon of Luxury Home Sales." Carlos had an average per unit sales price of more than $4 million. Many of the homes that Carlos sold were the properties of Hollywood stars, professional sports personalities, and business tycoons.

I can recall that my pulse was pounding as I tried to think of myself trying to list and sell million dollar homes for someone in the entertainment industry or for a well-known business personality. But I was sure of one thing: that is what I definitely wanted to do. I wanted to be the best Realtor that I could be and that meant I needed to work with the best real estate agents that I could find.

At the conclusion of the seminar, I rushed forward to meet Carlos and appeal to him for an opportunity to join his team and learn first hand how to sell real estate at prices most agents only dream about.

I'm not sure if it was my rabid enthusiasm or sheer audacity that caught the attention of Carlos, but four months later, I left the Cleveland area to join Carlos Justo in Miami, Florida.

It was an experience that most Realtors would consider the opportunity of a lifetime; working with one of the nation's top real estate agents as he skillfully applied his professional knowledge to the challenging demands of some of the richest, most famous people from around the world.

After 2 years of watching, learning, and working with my mentor, I was anxious to return home and put into action the many ideas I gave garnered working in the Miami marketplace. Before I left, Carlos asked me what I had learned over the past two years. I thought about it for a minute and responded, "Good customer service is crucial to continued success. Knowledge of the real estate business is also essential. Understanding the marketplace and the factors that influence buying and selling conditions are also very important. Above all, an agent needs to spend their time doing the things that can make them the most money which is listing and selling real estate." Carlos smiled and said "Very good! And now its time for you to do those things for yourself and I wish you well."

It was late March 2002 after training and selling Miami that I moved back to Cleveland to start my own real estate team, once more joining my father in the transition from Century 21 to Prudential Select Properties. By May of that year, I had reactivated my Ohio real estate license and started selling again in my hometown of Mentor. I began with the basics and hit the streets by knocking on doors and contacting 'For Sale By Owner' and expired listings. By July 2002 I was recognized as the top listing agent in the Mentor office.

By August 2002, with more than 20 homes in my listing inventory, I partnered with my sister Tina Hivnor, a licensed agent with 15 years experience. Together, we managed the listing inventory and followed up on closing the sales transactions. By establishing a partnership, I found that I had more time to focus on listing and selling. In September, Tina and I expanded the team by hiring buyers' agents who specialized in buyer representation. The addition to the team helped with the overflow of buyer calls from the extensive amount of advertising and promotion. As sales increases, Cindy Sorgen was hired as the Team Assistant and Listing Manager. Cindy had a real estate background, and was a great addition to the team who contributed greatly. It was Cindy's contribution that gave Tina additional focus as Closing Coordinator and Team Manager. By year-end, my team was positioned as the #8 top producers in the company, a high achievement after only eight months of active selling.

In 2003, my first full year in the Cleveland market, began full swing. I had once again expanded my team in July 2003 as Jason Hadad, followed by Jennifer Hart, joined the team as sales partners.

In early spring 2003, The Michael Kaim Team was a leading office producer in listings and sales. By the end of 2003, my team and I had accomplished what few other had accomplished in such a short period of time. My team had listed 111 properties and sold nearly 80 properties. This accomplishment put us over $12 million in home sales and over $20 million in listings volume.

My team completed 2003 by being honored with nearly every Prudential Select Properties ( a firm with nearly over 250 REALTORS) award: #1 Company Wide Team Leader in Sold Volume, Sold Units, Listings Volume & Listings Units, and Office Team Leader in Sales & Listings Volume.

In our second full year, my team had become and industry leader in Lake, Geauga, and Cuyahoga counties. In April of 2004, my mother joined the team along with fellow John Carroll graduate and good friend Matthew Canzone as Sales Partners. Katie Runyon joined the team to handle the Marketing and Advertising responsibilities and in short order; we set a company sales record for a single month with 33 sale and over $6 million in volume.

The Michael Kaim Team and I had a banner year in 2004! We hit another sales record for the most units sold for the month of September by selling 27 homes and over $5 million in volume. By year-end, we hit and all-time record for most units and volume sold in one year. A whopping 173 properties were sold, reaching $32,969,098 in sales volume!

The dedication and success did not alter for 2005. I set our goals high for maintaining an average of 50 listings within our inventory, as opposed to 2004's monthly average of 30, and have a goal of selling more than 200 homes and reaching over $40 million in sales volume. As 2005 came to an end we sold 215 homes and surpassed our goal by selling $40,456,600 in sales volume.

The Ohio Association if REALTORS President's Sales Club has awarded me "The Pinnacle of Performance"-the top award in their program. Prudential Corporate also awarded the team and myself "The Chairman's Circle Diamond," the highest company achievement. Prudential Corporate also awarded us the very exclusive award of "TOP OF THE ROCK," given to only the top REALTORS in the company (of 58,000 REALTOR) in each region.

Although I acknowledge that working with Carlos was an exciting learning experience that I will always treasure, today I am very able to say that my true mentors are my mom and dad. My father Frank is an accomplished real estate professional of the highest order and I now know that my greatest inspiration didn't come from someone far away as much as it came from the years of love and nurturing by my wonderful parents.

My parents made me a better sales person by having me work hard to earn a dollar. While working for their company they paid me no different than any other new agent and they never gave me any leads or referrals. Instead, they taught me the fundamentals that gave me the knowledge and ambition of what it took to be the VERY BEST. With knowledge and ambition there is nothing holding me back from being the best in the industry!

I have a simple formula for success-
Prospect Expired Listings & For Sale By Owners Ever Single Day Until they List, Sell, or Die- No Excuses!!!

The Michael Kaim Team is now recognized as the #1 Prudential Real Estate Team in the Central Region of the United States for most units SOLD, and that is something I am very proud of.