Broker Spotlight: Eliot Kijewski

Taking exceptional care of clients comes naturally to Eliot Kijewski. Although he initially thought he wanted to climb the corporate ladder after graduating from John Carroll University, he quickly realized his passion for sales so he shifted course to becoming a rep for a local industrial giant.

He always had an interest in real estate, but it was his step father, local broker Simon Caplan, who advised him to get his real estate license – just in case. Not long after, the market changed and many of Eliot’s clients found themselves needing help offloading their properties. The opportunity was too good to ignore.

The confidence and loyalty Eliot had established with his clients over the years made it easy for them to entrust their real estate needs with him. And for Eliot, he knew they would be in good hands working with Simon and his team.

“I have been in customer service for most of my life – and a lot of these relationships I had built over many years. I knew I had to see their transactions through to the end, and they knew I would do anything I could to take care of them. Simon was already an established industrial real estate expert, and being a member of my family he’s also someone I trust explicitly. The relationship between his team and my clients was an easy one.”

In 2006 Eliot decided to make his career in real estate official and joined the Cushman & Wakefield | CRESCO team. For him, CRESCO had long been a leading industrial firm, and their reputation for collaboration over competition meant he would be joining a place that valued mentorship, which is something he knew he would be critical to his success.

“I thought I could drop into the industry without a problem. But every smart, successful broker will tell you that it’s really more like a 3-year process. It takes a lot of time to truly understand the market, how transactions or negotiations work, etc. I came from an industry where I could fulfill client needs pretty instantaneously. But in real estate, that instant gratification is not there. You really have to learn how to be patient, and work with a mentor that can show you the ropes in the meantime.”

Eliot’s extensive experience in the industrial industry along with his loyal customer base meant that Eliot had a built-in list of clients from the beginning, which is extremely rare. Today, Eliot attributes his success to his ability to fully immerse himself into a client or transaction – for better or for worse.

“I always tell people – don’t do what I do. I sometimes feel like I’m fully embedded with my clients, where I actually feel like I’m the one who’s moving. To me, it’s so much more than just collecting a commission. I’m definitely a person that goes all-in with a client.”

When he’s not thinking about his clients, Eliot spends as much time as he can traveling with his family. His wife of 20 years, Stacey and their 3 children, Logan, Lilly and Ella make sure to take a ski trip to Park City, Utah every year, and they visit Mexico often. Although he’s officially retired from coaching his kids’ soccer teams, Eliot will forever be known as the coach who lead his daughters’ Gesu soccer teams to their first-ever city Championship (3 of 4 Championships and 6 overall).