A Class Like No Other

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When 30 Under 30 applicants describe how they’ve triumphed over adversity—whether of a personal or professional sort—we notice. Those experiences are always an important consideration for the magazine’s staff judges, who assemble a stellar class of young, accomplished real estate professionals from a spirited and highly competitive selection process.

In this year, which marks the program’s 20th anniversary, these high achievers are facing a previously unthinkable set of obstacles stemming from a national crisis. The honorees’ career journeys will be shaped—if not fully defined—by their ability to adjust their business practices and safely serve clients in need during a pandemic that’s thrown everything in our world upside-down.

The coronavirus era has brought into vivid relief how important it is for people to have a place to live where they feel comfortable, safe, and, if they’re really lucky, able to keep working. As hard-driving, tech-savvy industry advocates, 30 Under 30 class members are doing what they can to support clients who want or need to buy or sell real estate now. Many are also moving into leadership roles, championing issues to keep the real estate industry and their community strong.

This group of go-getters was chosen early in the year, during “normal” times, based on a combination of factors: production numbers in 2019, innovative marketing practices, industry leadership, and dedicated community service. When the usual ways of doing business were upended, they—like so many of their peers—figured out how to sustain their business safely.

For clients who didn’t feel comfortable buying a home without setting foot in it, AD Adedapo in Upper Marlboro, Md., took the extra measures needed to enable in-person showings. He provided masks and gloves for buyers, waiting outside so he and the buyers could have a followup cell phone conversation from their respective cars. Emily Beutler says while some activity fell off, she continued to see lots of pending sales and closings in her Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, market. ”The buyers who are out looking are serious buyers in need of housing,” she says. New Orleans practitioner Kristen Boyd says she completed several transactions during the stay-at-home period, working with title companies to help clients close safely. Boyd says she has appreciated the benefits of mobile services and curbside signings. She foresees some of these adaptations becoming permanent options, offering greater flexibility in how sales are transacted into the future.

Learn more about these 30 high performers, who’ve worked hard and smart—and pushed through impediments—to earn recognition as the 30 Under 30 Class of 2020.