Michael Straley

Under all is the Land. And Michael Straley started his early real estate career at 13 years of age building a referred business of 20+ clients care-taking their lawns, gardens and estates in the town of Edgewood Maryland. His early disciplines enabled him to buy his 1st car at 16 with the early cashflow and pushing the lawnmower from home to home was replaced by the young man with the mower in the trunk.

With a reasonable bankroll and a couple of scholarships, he graduated valedictorian and headed off to the University of Delaware for this burgeoning degree in the next new thing, Computer Science. Freshman year struggles understanding software and technology were replaced by breakthroughs of clarity and another new business tutoring those who also struggled with the new concepts. Paying his way through school with the help of student loans, Michael graduated with only $20,000 in debt. He commends the patience of his genius friend and roommate helped him along during early struggles which led to multiple job offers on graduation, eventually accepting the Washington D.C. position with Andersen Consulting, now known as Accenture. Several years of 60-80 weeks and grooming by senior peers, Michael launched into a consulting job at IBM, then to Fannie Mae. At Fannie Mae, Michael transitioned to a full time employee and helped manage the build out the hardware and software infrastructure during the refi boom years of the early 1990’s.

Building strong relationships, he branched out with two other entrepreneurs and they launched a mortgage backed trading software and consulting company growing to over 150 consultants. Years of disciplined effort resulted in sale of the company to larger firm and they seasoned a 5 year earn-out. Just at the turn of the century, Michael was introduced to a vibrant northern Virginia real estate agent whom Michael’s business partner came across during a real estate search. Rebecca and Michael married in April 2000 after dating just two months. Michael always had the feeling he would marry a real estate agent, maybe it was all that flashy advertising, who knows, but the vision materialized.

After his 5 year earn-out, Rebecca Straley started her recruiting campaign and Michael returned to his real estate roots, this team getting his real estate salesperson license in 2005. Michael jokes, he had a silver spoon introduction to real estate as Rebecca was one sharp cookie, he seems to always be blessed by geniuses at the right time. This was unfortunately followed by the unprecedented market collapse, but it enabled Michael to cut his teeth during difficult times and he recalls doing crazy things like hiring a cow from Maggie Moo’s ice cream to flag customers into an open house, it worked, but they didn’t want the house, he took an overpriced listing, boo! Launch forward 500+ sales and several years as an instructor, Michael says he has seen and learned a lot know, but as all agents know, you have never seen everything, always something new in real estate. He jokingly recalls casting real estate as an easy job to Rebecca and has been eating crow for dinner ever since.

With a heart for education, elevating professionalism and anchored on customer experience, Michael is euphoric when he sees colleagues go through breakthrough moments. He jokes he is more of the tortoise than the hare, but when he gets it, it sticks like glue, making him a compassionate instructor to peers and clients. Michael is honored to be inducted into the ABR® Hall of Fame because it embodies the precious gift of real property ownership that he believes is at the heart of the United States ambitions and dreams. He now dreams of a legacy for his 4 children and their children to be likewise inspired by the soil and to build upon it and to treasure it, it grows our food, it holds up our feet and it provides a platform for our most treasured gift, those we love. And the most important of all things he says, is to love one another. Under all is the land, it is a gift, cherish it! Go Realtors®!  Thanks for reading this longer than normal Bio and P.S. Go REALTOR® University as Michael is just a few classes away from being a Master in Real Estate! That’s It For Now, Go Market Makers!