Real estate success requires more than finding a property and getting a contract signed. Karolina Klinowski and Mahmoud Faisal Elkhatib discuss construction due diligence, conflicting soil reports, investor deal analysis, client education, lender relationships, building a professional team, and the systems required to manage complex transactions. Karolina explains how more than 200 completed transactions shaped her approach to protecting clients, evaluating risk, and building a business that can grow beyond one agent doing everything alone.
Karolina Klinowski believes a real estate professional should do far more than unlock a property and collect a commission at closing. Her clients are expected to understand the transaction, the terminology, the financial consequences, and the risks connected to the property they are buying or selling.
That philosophy has shaped her six years in the business and more than two hundred completed transactions. Every deal becomes another opportunity to identify what worked, what could have been handled better, and what information the next client should receive earlier.
The professional creates value before the closing by helping the client understand what could affect the closing.
Lots, construction projects, investment properties, and complicated purchases can involve title, zoning, municipal, financing, and property condition issues that are not obvious from the listing. EV Häs helps Chicagoland buyers and investors identify the legal questions before additional money is committed.
Mahmoud Faisal Elkhatib is a Chicagoland real estate and foreclosure attorney, investor, entrepreneur, and former real estate broker. His work includes transactions, foreclosure matters, building code cases, title disputes, and complicated property ownership issues.
Through The Bow Tie Edge, Mahmoud brings together professionals who can explain the legal, financial, construction, and operational decisions that affect real estate beyond the purchase contract.
Karolina Klinowski is a real estate broker affiliated with Coldwell Banker Realty and licensed in both Illinois and Indiana. She works with residential buyers and sellers, investors, builders, first time homebuyers, multifamily clients, and people relocating between the two states.
Her approach centers on transparency, education, detailed research, and maintaining strong relationships with attorneys, lenders, inspectors, contractors, municipalities, and other professionals who may become essential during a transaction.
Karolina describes a transaction involving a property where a buyer intended to build a new home. Even though a house already existed on the site, she recommended conducting soil testing before proceeding.
The first report identified poor soil conditions near the front of the property. According to the professional conducting the test, the soil remained soft several feet below grade and could create additional foundation and construction requirements. The estimated additional cost was approximately fifty thousand dollars.
The seller then obtained another soil report that reached the opposite conclusion and described the soil as acceptable. Because both reports appeared to use similar testing locations and methods, the parties were left with a serious question about which result could be trusted.
When two professional reports disagree on a condition that could change the construction budget by tens of thousands of dollars, the disagreement itself becomes a due diligence issue.
Karolina tries to investigate potential development problems before her client spends money on surveys, soil testing, attorneys, and other transaction costs.
She contacts the municipality to ask about setbacks, flood zones, utilities, sewer access, wells, septic systems, and other restrictions that may influence what can actually be built on the parcel.
A property may appear large enough for the planned house while setbacks dramatically reduce the buildable area. A property without municipal water or sewer may require additional infrastructure. A flood zone or soil issue may require expensive engineering.
The lot price is only one number. The investor must understand what the land will require before it can support the intended project.
When Karolina evaluates a potential renovation project, she begins with the realistic resale value. She looks for comparable properties that are genuinely similar in size, location, condition, and characteristics rather than relying on the most attractive sale in the neighborhood.
She then asks the investor to estimate the renovation budget. The purchase price, construction cost, carrying expenses, professional fees, financing, and expected resale value must leave enough margin for the project to make sense.
A house listed forty thousand dollars below another property is not automatically a good investment. If the renovation requires seventy thousand dollars and the neighborhood supports only one hundred thousand dollars of additional value, the apparent discount may disappear quickly.
A cheap property and a profitable property are not the same thing.
Karolina uses consultations and written educational material to explain the transaction from the beginning. Buyers learn about financing, inspections, taxes, closing costs, attorney review, and the restrictions that apply while the mortgage is being approved.
Sellers receive an explanation of commissions, title charges, tax credits, assessments, and the other expenses that may reduce their final proceeds. Karolina also requests a net sheet so the seller can understand the likely result before reaching the closing table.
This preparation becomes especially important during the final days. Without education, buyers may suddenly question the amount they need to bring to closing or the interest rate on the loan. Sellers may be surprised by credits or closing expenses that were always part of the transaction.
The goal is not to eliminate every surprise in real estate. It is to eliminate the surprises the professional could have explained earlier.
Karolina keeps relationships with multiple lenders, inspectors, contractors, foundation professionals, attorneys, and other specialists because different properties require different expertise.
A first time buyer may need access to assistance programs. An investor purchasing a larger multifamily building may require commercial financing. A builder may need soil, structural, municipal, and construction professionals. A foundation problem may require an entirely different specialist.
Karolina prefers giving clients several professional options rather than making the transaction dependent on one person. She also continues building relationships because a professional who works well for one type of deal may not be the right fit for another.
A strong real estate agent does not need to perform every job. The agent needs to know when another professional should enter the transaction.
Construction, investment, financing, title, municipal requirements, and contract obligations can overlap quickly. EV Häs helps buyers, sellers, investors, and brokers coordinate the legal side of the transaction with the professionals responsible for the other moving parts.
Karolina reached a point where continuing to grow required changing the structure around her. She added a virtual assistant to manage feedback, prospecting activity, communications, and administrative tasks that did not require her direct attention.
She is also preparing to expand her real estate team and train a transaction coordinator. The objective is not simply to remove work from her schedule. It is to protect the time that creates the greatest value for clients, including consultations, negotiations, property analysis, relationship building, and problem solving.
Karolina recognizes that building a team involves risk. Her decision to move forward came from accepting that waiting until everything felt perfectly safe would prevent the next stage of growth.
The same principle applies to investing. Research the risk, build the professional team, understand the numbers, and then make the decision. Progress requires preparation, but eventually preparation must become action.
Soil conditions can affect foundation design, drainage, excavation, construction cost, and the long term stability of the structure. Testing may identify conditions that are not visible from the surface of the lot.
The investor should evaluate the purchase price, realistic resale value, comparable properties, renovation costs, financing, carrying expenses, taxes, insurance, neighborhood conditions, municipal requirements, and an appropriate contingency for unexpected work.
The municipality can provide information about zoning, setbacks, utilities, sewer and water access, flood conditions, permits, and other requirements that may affect whether the buyer can complete the intended project.
Potentially. A purchase may be contingent on the sale of another property, and several transactions can sometimes be coordinated to close in sequence. These transactions require careful communication among lenders, attorneys, title companies, brokers, and the parties involved.
Different transactions may require lenders, attorneys, inspectors, contractors, engineers, title professionals, municipal contacts, and other specialists. A reliable network allows the agent to connect the client with the appropriate expertise when a problem or opportunity appears.
