First RE/MAX Office in Round Lake Plans June Opening

Round Lake, Ill., will get its first RE/MAX office later this year when RE/MAX Royal opens its doors at 147 W. Belvidere Road. Offering real estate agents and their clients the Royal treatment will be Corinne and Jonathan Guest, a husband-and-wife team whose roots in the United Kingdom lend an undeniable logic to the name selected for the new office.

The new office is expected to be open by June 1 with accommodations for 25 sales associates and support staff.

“Anyone familiar with Lake County real estate recognizes the tremendous growth that is occurring in the Round Lake area,” said Corinne, who previously was affiliated with RE/MAX Advisors in Deer Park, Ill. “We are delighted with the prospect of joining this vibrant community and meeting its needs for top quality real estate brokerage services.”

According to Corinne, the Guests were first attracted to Round Lake several years ago when they purchased, rehabbed and sold a home there.

“We got to know the area well and were impressed with its potential, so when this opportunity developed, it seemed like a perfect fit,” she said.

The Guests and their two sons moved to the United States in 1996, settling in Lake Barrington, Ill., while Jonathan worked as an executive at Motorola Corp. Corinne joined RE/MAX as a sales associate in 2005, but said she always planned to transition from agent to office owner. Now, she and her husband are making that entrepreneurial leap together.

“When I first entered the real estate business, I found myself in an office that didn’t fit me very well. Before moving on, I looked carefully at the business models of other real estate companies and decided that the RE/MAX model was right for me,” said Corinne. “Once I made the move, I wasn’t disappointed. So, when it came time to become an office owner, RE/MAX was the obvious choice.”

As to why she wanted to become an office owner, Corrine said, “I’ve always preferred being my own boss.”

This won’t be her first experience running a business because her background includes owning and operating a commercial embroidery company here in the U.S., as well as a stint in mortgage banking while still in the U.K.

The new 1,600-square-foot RE/MAX Royal office is located in a new shopping center along busy Route 120, an ideal location for a real estate office, according to the Guests. When the new space is complete it will include a reception area, conference room, six offices of two sizes and approximately 20 other workspaces.

“We’re thrilled to see the RE/MAX banner unfurled in Round Lake,” said Jim Merrion, regional director of RE/MAX Northern Illinois. “Lake County is a strong market area for our network, in fact in 2007 RE/MAX agents listed 29.6 percent of all properties sold in the county, according to data form the MLSNI. This new office will help us build on that success.”