Mahomet’s Casey Ryan has always wanted to be a realtor.
The road to get there was long, though.
“I actually have been in sales and marketing for years and years and years, and I had looked to do real estate. I actually took the courses back about the time that 2008 hit,” she said. “So it wasn’t really a fantastic time to start that, so I continue to do sales and marketing.”
In that time, life did what it was supposed to: move forward.
Ryan, a Mahomet native, moved back to her hometown with her husband and her son.
“I actually started working for the school district,” she said. “And now that (my son’s) in the fifth grade and he has the tools he needs, I decided that it was time to go ahead and pursue real estate.”
Deciding what agency to be affiliated with was one of the easier decisions Ryan had to make.
Russ Taylor of RE/MAX Realty Associates had graduated with Ryan’s dad. She wanted to be affiliated with him and the RE/MAX brand.
“When Russ wanted me to come join his team I thought that’s a great fit because I like to align myself with the best in the industry,” Ryan said. “So I joined REMAX and then I joined the Taylor Team because, well, they’re the best in the industry.”
Since joining the Taylor Team in 2019, Ryan has bridged the lessons she learned in sales to the town she says, “looks out for each other.”
“I like real estate to being able to help serve my community,” Ryan said.
Her focus has been making sure that buyers, sellers and real estate affiliates know that they are not going through the process alone.
“It’s the biggest purchase that most people make in their lifetime,” she said. “And it’s very stressful, especially for first time homebuyers or the first time sellers.
“It is my job to make sure that their needs are being met in regard to market price if they’re selling, negotiating if they’re the buying, and to make sure that my clients are less stressed than they would be without me,” Ryan said. “And to make sure that I foresee problems that might come up and try to avoid them.”
Much of that work is done behind the scene with lenders and inspectors, for example.
“I give special attention to my affiliates because they deserve it,” Ryan said.
Whether it’s a trusted relationship with a lender or working with an inspector, Ryan knows that closing a sale will not happen without the behind-the-scenes work. Fostering those relationships over the last 18 months, has not gone unnoticed.
Ryan received the Champaign County Association of Realtors (CCAR) Affiliate C.H.O.I.C.E. Award in September beside her longtime friend Deana Gauze, who was named the CCAR 2020 REALTOR® of the Year and Suzanne Stachura of Busey Bank of Mahomet, who nominated Ryan and also received the CCAR Affiliate of the Year Award.
“I was extremely surprised,” Ryan said. “I work with people that have been in this industry for decades. In my own office, I have people who have been doing it for half a century.
“And so for me to be newer, and to be recognized by the affiliates as someone who stood out to them enough to make the nomination, that’s a pretty big honor.”
