His passion for real estate dates back decades.
Olin Eargle used to draw house plans as a youngster and even helped his dad design and build their home in the Carolinas. Eargle then worked as a leasing agent as his summer job and became a resident assistant in college for three years.
"There was always something about housing/real estate that I loved and I immediately knew it's what I wanted to do as a career," he said.
But that field didn't bring him to the Windy City. Rather, he moved to Chicago to work for The Oprah Winfrey Show. Eargle worked as the executive assistance to the director of media and public relations.
Eargle did, though, get his real-estate license in 2007—and he now brings a "fresh perspective" to the business, he said.
"So many times agents use the same techniques, [the] same old systems to an ever-changing business and it actually can hurt the clients more than help them," Eargle said. "I know what it's like to be a first-time buyer and a first-time seller, and I work to make the transaction smooth, navigating from [the] first meeting to [the] first year in the new home."
The first home Eargle ever sold was "a cute, one-bedroom condo in East Lakeview on Briar [Street]," he said. "It was a friend of mine who fell in love with the place and the location, and it actually was a very smooth deal with no hiccups."
Eargle said the best part of his job is simply "seeing the happiness and joy a client feels when they see the home that speaks to them. I literally had a client stand in the back yard of a home and break into tears saying, 'This is our home; this is going to be our home,' and we all stood there and cried, before even making an offer.
"I love making dreams become a reality for my clients."
About half of Eargle's clients are LGBT, and many come through referrals. "I love being able to take care of folks in our community," he said. "When I was a first-time buyer with my first boyfriend, before I got into the business, there was an agent who looked down on us as two men buying a home together, and [the agent] verbally made that known to us. I vowed to never let that happen to anybody else."
Eargle is a member of the Illinois LGBT Chamber of Commerce and has been in the Pride Parade for eight out of 10 years with some group or another, and is a founding member of the Cabaret Project, a gay owned and operated cabaret performance troupe.
He also is active within the Chicago Metropolitan Sports Association ( CMSA ), as he has played softball for the past eight years, primarily as a middle infielder. This year, he has ventured into CMSA beach volleyball, and the team name is the "Olin Sells Chicago" Beach Bums.
Eargle also has had what he called an embarrassing sporting moment several years ago while playing in the annual Gay Softball World Series: "I took a line drive straight to the eye, knocking me on my back. My eye swelled up and turned purple just in time to join thousands of people in the March for Equality down Pennsylvania Avenue [in Washington D.C.] … and who do I look over and see I'm marching beside? Lady Gaga."
- Age: 32
- Neighborhood: West Andersonville
- Relationship status: Married for four years
- Job title: Real estate broker for @properties; singer/actor
- Hobbies: Running, tennis, volleyball, softball, traveling, watching college football and singing
- Favorite TV show: Law and Order
- Favorite movie: A Walk To Remember
- Favorite professional athlete: Kris Bryant
- Favorite app: Words with Friends
- Favorite Chicago restaurant: Select Cut
- Little-known fact: "I used to weigh 210 pounds, [then during] my freshman year at Appalachian State University, [I] lost weight while being a cheerleader."
