Agent Spotlight: Cha McDaniel

When Cha McDaniel bought her first home in Winnetka on Chicago’s North Shore, the process was anything but smooth.

The former estate settlement administrator, who felt that buying a home should be a happier experience, saw an opportunity to follow the natural progression of her career into real estate.

“I had been selling real estate properties out of estates for many years, so getting into real estate as a career was a natural progression,” she said.

Now, with 18 years in the industry under her belt, eight of them with @properties, Cha thrives on her clients’ happiness as they realize their real estate dreams.

Cha with her daughter

@properties: How do you begin each day?
Cha: Exercise. It helps me get going and focus on the tasks of the day.

@properties: What is something you read every day?
Cha: The Skimm and 5 things (CNN). Short news snippets that keep me up to date on world news

@properties: What is one thing you couldn’t do your job without?
Cha: My phone. Have a mobile phone allows me to be reachable by my clients, but also gives me on-demand information on listings and more. It is an invaluable tool that travels with me.

@properties: Tell us about your own first home.
Cha: I’m still in it! We bought our house in Winnetka twenty years ago. It was a nice three-bedroom home that needed work. Since then we’ve put on an addition, renovated all of the bathrooms, and have just finished a kitchen remodel.

@properties: What was the first big-ticket item you purchased when you moved in?
Cha: Electrical. We re-wired the entire house and added can lights throughout. We also bought a beautiful new rug for the living room.

One of Cha’s favorite spots is the Winnetka dog beach at Centennial Park

@properties: What do you love most about where you live?
Cha: I love that the Park District floods our local park for ice skating in the winter. It has such a Norman Rockwell feeling, and is a fun way to get out of the house with family.

@properties: How do you stay involved in your community?
Cha: I volunteer at Random Acts of Flowers. This is a wonderful organization that collects and arranges flowers for people in the hospitals, in nursing homes and other health care facilities. It brings a little love and light into peoples lives when they are having a difficult time.

@properties: What is one piece of advice you’d give to a brand new real estate broker?
Cha: Be honest. Sometimes it is difficult to deliver the truth, but it is a necessity in our business. We are dealing with not only a person/family’s largest financial commitment, but it is also the home in which they will make memories. It is important that they are well informed.