PROOF
It takes a particular kind of person to move from Chicago to the Front Range, especially at the tail end of the analog age before cell phones and the internet kept connection to family and friends relatively easy. Mark Bossert is a particular kind of person, a person who has an eye for potential, not only in a home that needs some work, but in a market that doesn’t look too promising.
It’shardtoimaginetheFront Range,especiallyBoulder County,lookinganything likeanunpromisingmarket, buttheregionstruggled duringthe1980swhen Markfirstlivedinthe region.Whiletherestof thecountryexperienced theRonaldReagan economicboom,much ofColoradoexperienced backtobackrecessions.
Markwasundeterred.
“Iwenttocollegeatthe UniversityofColoradoin Boulder,”heexplains.“I’m fromChicago,andjustfell inlovewithBoulder—300 daysofsunshineayear,no humidity.Duringmylast coupleofyearsofcollege,I starteddoingalotofreading onrealestateandflipping houses,soIgravitated towardrealestate.
“Icalleduparealtorand said,‘Hey,mydadisgoingto buymeahouseinBoulder, canyoustartshowingme houses?’Andhedid,but afterheshowedmeabout10 houses,Ithinkherealized Ididn’thaveanymoney,” Marksayswithalaugh. “Thebrokeraskedtospeak withmydad,andIvery reluctantlygavehimmy dad’snumber.So,hecalls mydad,andmydadhadno clue.”Markisstilllaughing aboutthislittletrickheused totourhomesinBoulderin themid80s.
PROOF
As much as he wanted to get into real estate in Colorado at the time, the market kept him out. “I went back to Chicago, got my license, and started working for a company called Inland Real Estate Corp. They were the largest landlord in Illinois at the time. They had a commercial division, and I started working commercial real estate in a business suit every day, selling multifamily properties.”
He’d walk around downtown Chicago with a tape recorder, taking audio notes about potential properties that Inland could list. He’d then return to the office and cold call for prospects. On the side, he bought a triplex with a friend. They renovated it together, and then put it on the market for a rental. Mark enjoyed the work, but by 1990, he made it back out to Boulder. He found more work in commercial real estate and started investing in property himself.
“You could buy houses back then for a hundred grand, so I bought a couple houses and renovated them,” Mark remembers. In a short time, though, he realized he had a knack for helping people see homes the way he saw them—not for what a house looked like immediately, but for what
a house could become. “My brain is always asking, ‘how do I add value?’” he says. He leveraged his eye for potential and struck out on his own as a residential realtor in the early 90s. “The property values started to go crazy right when I got here, so my timing was good. Right now things are a little bit on the flat side, but nonetheless, it’s been a good ride. I have people that help me out when I need assistance, but I’m the only broker with Bossert Residential,” he says without self aggrandizing. There’s gratitude and maybe even a bit of surprise in his voice as he realizes what he’s been able to do over the last thirty-nine years.
In that time, Mark has become a bonafide Boulder local even though his accent and midwestern manner betray his Chicago roots.
He describes that transition—“I remember in Chicago after I graduated from college, I was getting ready to go on a date, and I didn’t have central AC. I got out of the shower, and I put this shirt on and I just
drenched through it because of the humidity. I just sat there, and I cried. I’m like, ‘Why do I live here? I can move back to Boulder.’ And I did. Now I live right smack next to Folsom field, and many of my friends park in my driveway for football games. I walk to the football games, I walk to the basketball games. My wife and I walk through campus on Sunday mornings; it’s a beautiful campus. We do a lot of walking and I used to be a skier, but I finally sold my skis two years ago. I play golf—not as much as I would like, but that’s a good way for fun networking.”
But the thing that matters most to Mark is the people in his life, whether it’s his fraternity brothers from college, his clients with their project houses, or his wife and kids.
“There were thirty guys in my pledge class and to this day nine of us out of that thirty are in a fantasy football league,” Mark says. “We travel every year in August to spend three days together, and pick our
PROOF
teams. We’re on a group text together, and it keeps us connected. It’s just tangible.”
He talks with pride about his daughter, Grace, who works in wealth management back in Chicago, and his son, Jack, who’s made his own life in Boulder. Mark is a beaming father who’s really happy his kids are finding their way in the world.
Oh, and it would be remiss to not mention Mark’s deep affection for the miniature long-haired dachshund named Bucky and the two cats he keeps nearby.
Mark met his wife, Emily, while showing a potential house for a client. He remembers, “I was showing a house and there’s typically not someone from the listing side that’s there, but I walk up to the front door and the door’s open. I walk in, and here’s this woman, Emily, sitting at the kitchen table and she looks like Jennifer Aniston.”
Mark saw lots of potential. “I’m like shazam, you know? I ran through this house as quickly as I could even though it was like a 6,000 square foot house so that I could come back to the kitchen and start asking her all the questions,” he laughs. “ When I was single, I would want to know things like, ‘Where do your parents live? Do you keep in touch with your parents? When’s the last time you talked to your mom?’ I mean, those were the kinds of questions I’d ask. So, I drilled her on all these questions, and then I reached out to her on LinkedIn and said, ‘Hey, you know, I really enjoy chatting with you. You’d be a cool friend. We
PROOF
shouldgettoknoweach otherbetter.’”
ButEmilywasina relationshipatthetimeand politelyrefused.Hewrote back,“Hey,whenthatdoesn’t workout,youcallme.I guaranteeyou,we’regoing tohaveagoodtime.”
Itdidn’ttakelong. “Twoweekslater,”Mark says,“sheactuallybroke upwiththeguy,called meback,andwe’vebeen togetherfortenyears now,marriedforseven.”
“She’ssobeautifulwith suchabigheart,andit’s superfuntobeabletotalk shopwithmywife,”he continues.“IfIcomplain aboutsomething,she’sasks, ‘Areyoumakingyourcalls? Areyouwritingyournotes?’ Shehasalltheanswers.We haveacoupleinvestments togetherandwetalkabout themarketallthetime.It’s justfuntohaveaspouse whoreallyappreciates thebusinessandissuper successfulonherown.”
Andthebusiness,for Mark,isallaboutthepeople hegetstohelp.“Icareand Itreateachcustomer’s purchaselikeIwouldmy own.I’mnottryingto shoveadealdownpeople’s throat,“heexplains.“I’ve talkedpeopleoutofbuying houses.I’vesaid,‘Hey,this foundationisgoingtobe challenging,’oranothertime ahousewasonasemi-busy road,andImentionedto theclient,‘Sinceyouhave ayoungchild,Iwouldpark yourcarandhangout andlook—watchtheroad aroundfiveo’clockinthe afternoon.Makesureyou feelcomfortablelivingon thisroad.’
“ThosepeopleendedupnotbuyingthehouseandmovingtoDenver.Ididn’tmakeasale,butI’minitfor thelonghaulandIwanttoalwaysdowhat’sright.”MarkBossertseeslotsofpotential,butheseespeople irst,andthat’swhattrulysetshimapart.