It has been my lot in life to have been born and raised in Buffalo, NY.  Yes, I've heard my share of bad Buffalo jokes.  Yes, I grew up eating spicy hot chicken wings. Yes, like Cub fans, I know the agony of defeat--think humiliating Super Bowl losses in 1991, '92, '93, and '94.  And yes, I like snow!  If these things are metaphors for life, then Buffalo folk share some common traits--the willingness to laugh at ourselves, an ability to make great things out of the ordinary, and a resiliency and patience--that serve me well in real estate.

At the University of Detroit, the Jesuits instilled in me a sense of public responsibility, while my engineering professors taught me how to critically think and problem solve. In San Francisco, I practiced civil engineering before heading back east to get my MBA from the Wharton School of Business. From South Philadelphia, I moved to South Brooklyn, continuing my tradition of living in neighborhoods where mine was the only last name that didn't end in a vowel. I helped a co-worker in New York rebuild his property in the South Bronx before beginning my own gut-rehab in Chicago. Along the way, I became a student of cities, architecture, and preservation, learning first-hand the nuances that distinguish the uncommon from the commonplace. I am a member of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Chicago Architectural Foundation.

No matter where I have lived, regardless of my career (in public transit, organic foods), I have never defined myself by how I make a living. I maintain a personal passion for people, and I most admire those who excel at their chosen field of endeavor and are not apologetic for loving what they do. We all know the type: the folk artist who whittles a personality into a bare piece of wood; an acupuncturist who cures a nagging tennis elbow after months of failed physical therapy; the carpenter who hand-crafts a child's rocking horse or a Windsor rocking chair with equal dexterity and aplomb. These are people who think of their work as craft and who recognize that every job is a reflection of themselves.

Beyond real estate, I maintain an interest in cooking, alternative medicine and nutrition, the stock market and investing, folk art, and music--especially country and jazz. I have been described by others as "a doer, thinker, and a talker.  Mark likes to solve practical problems, get things done, build, and work with his hands.  He is perceptive, agreeable, conscientious, and cautious.  He shows confidence and ease when negotiating.  He is a listener." 

Clients know I care and I am sincere.

I am married to a City of Chicago firefighter. Meg is my best friend, my confidant, my soul mate, my personal trainer. I am very proud of what she does. The City is a safer place when she is on the job.

Please tell me more about you.  What's prompting you to look now?