Success Stories
DOING GOOD BY INVESTING IN COMMUNITIES
To add your next real estate transaction to the growing list of success stories, just start with IIC. You can benefit your favorite charity at no cost.
SUCCESS STORIES
You can benefit your favorite charity at no cost to you:
- When you start with IIC, it doesn’t matter if the broker is interested in doing good.
- Regardless of the agent you decide to work with, as long as you start with IIC.
- With any brokered – commercial or residential purchase or sale or office, retail, industrial lease.
- With IIC, the emphasis for the consumer is the best broker for the transaction.
- As long as your transaction is in the U.S..
Granicus Inc
Ron Cichon
Chicago
Ron Cichon, V.P. Granicus Inc., needed a commercial broker to negotiate a renewal of their office lease in downtown Chicago. He was thrilled to find out that, through Investing In Communities, he could direct a portion of the commission that his broker would be paid anyway to St. Rose Center, which serves children with disabilities, including his son. Even though St. Rose Center hadn’t been aware of Investing In Communities, they were able to go online and quickly become a member; as a result of the transaction, they received $2,515. Not only did his favorite charity benefit, but his firm also ended up with more favorable terms for their office lease, including maximizing a remodeling allowance and free rent. St Rose Center is an IIC Social Justice charity.
Urban Partnership Bank
Chicago
When chicago-based Urban Partnership Bank needed office space for a new operations center and a new retail branch in downtown Chicago, they generated significant funding for charities, at no cost to the bank, through Investing In Communities. Fifteen charities, including PAWS Chicago and Science Olympiad, were chosen by a lottery drawing to receive a total of $42,000, during the bank’s opening celebration for the new facilities.
Waters Elementary
Heather
Chicago
When Heather, the proud aunt of two nieces at Waters Elementary School in Chicago, got a new job in Washington D.C., she needed a real estate broker for her home sale in Boise, Idaho. Heather used Investing In Communities® to find her broker and by doing so, generated $1,766 for Waters Elementary, at no cost to her. It was a win-win-win; Heather found the right agent, the agent was happy to have the referral, and Waters got funding.
Journey Center of Chicago Gets $2,240 from Supporter’s Home Sale and Purchase. Zero. Cost. to. Supporter.
Perfect Timing
Like so many of us, John Knoff and Eva Sullivan-Knoff had come to a place in life where changes were in order. They sold their longtime home and bought a smaller one. In the process, their favorite nonprofit, Journey Center, received $2,240 at no expense to themselves. They were able to do that because of Investing In Communities (IIC), a resource that John had used earlier in his career.
Real Estate for a Cause
John learned of IIC when he was Director of Finance at Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, which received over $14,000 through Investing In Communities as a result of two office leases. IIC is a free platform that consumers use to be referred to a broker they already know or to find brokers that are a good match for each consumer’s desired transaction.
Choosing the Right Agent to Sell Your Home and to Buy Your Home
John and Eva used IIC to find brokers that specialize in their price range, type of property, and even the neighborhood where they were selling and the neighborhoods where they were interested in buying. But often we already know a broker we might want to work with, especially if we are selling. (See our post about Heather, who used IIC to be referred to a broker she knew in Boise and another broker she knew in Portland to handle her home sale and subsequent home purchase.) So it’s important to note that IIC can make the same arrangements, as long as you use IIC to be referred to the broker of your choice, even if you already know them.
John and Eva decided to use the same agent for their home sale and their home purchase.
Grassroots Fundraising
Anyone planning a real estate transaction in the U.S. can use IIC and support Journey Center of Chicago.