Marking PAR’s 100th Anniversary: Past President Kathy McQuilkin

Editor’s note: The Pennsylvania Association of Realtors® is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. As part of our Member Profile feature, we’ll be highlighting some of the Realtors® who have served as president of the organization.

Name: Kathy McQuilkin
Company: RE/MAX Professional Realty, Exton
Years in real estate: 40 years
Local association: Suburban West Realtors® Association
Year served: 2017 president

If you could go back in time, what advice would you give your younger self?
I would say dream big, set lofty goals and be relentless in achieving those goals.

Why should agents get involved in their local, state and national associations?
I think it’s important for Realtors® to get off the sidelines and join in the race. We need your vision, your input and your ideas to help shape our association and our industry for the future.

What advice would you give someone who was thinking of moving up through the offices in PAR?
Be like a sponge, soaking everything up and continuing to do so throughout your entire leadership journey. Choose association leaders and other business leaders who you respect and learn from their successes and their failures and bring your new visions to help move our associations forward to greater and greater levels of achievement.

What’s the biggest change you’ve seen in the real estate market since you started?
The biggest change that I’ve seen in the 40 plus years of practice is the actual complexity of every facet of real estate.

Do you think the environment or technology will have a bigger impact on real estate in the
next 100 years?
I think technology will still have the biggest impact that we’ll see in the next 100 years, even considering the environmental impacts that could take place. Technology will have to keep up with all outside influences on our industry and real estate.