IT’S IMPORTANT TO KNOW WHO YOU ARE DOING BUSINESS WITH.

Hi, I am Awni Mikhail. Can you say “Awni?” Picture someone who has fallen down on the ski slopes and yells Ow! My knee! Awni. Say it with me, “Ow-Nee.” Very good.It’s important to know who it is that you’re doing business with, so let me tell you about myself.

I’ve been a REALTOR in Athens for a little over twelve years and a college teacher for eighteen years. I teach Composition, Moral Philosophy, and, you guessed it, Real Estate. That’s quite a combination, I know.My family moved to Athens in 1967, when I was a wee lad. I attended Morrison Elementary, Athens Middle School, and Athens High School (Class of ’84). So Athens is my hometown, my “beloved, fair city,” and I know it quite well.

I went on to study English at Ohio University, receiving a Bachelors in 1988. Then down to Chapel Hill to attend The University of North Carolina for a Masters in English in’91. Then back to Athens, the place few can get out of their system, to start my career.

I soon met Jean, my future wife, and together began building our family. We travelled to Guatemala in 2000 to adopt our beautiful daughter, Marina. Returned in 2001 to bring home our spritely son, Gabriel. We thought we were finished but not eighteen months later we had our son, Samuel. Those early years were busy ones.

I got in to the Real Estate business to add to the financial stability of my family and in it found a real passion for helping people.

MY PROFESSIONAL PHILOSOPHY

To me Real Estate is less about selling houses, than it is about taking care of people. Helping people find a house is a huge opportunity to take care of them. So too is selling a house for someone—it’s a big deal. I don’t want to be the stereotypical real estate agent who drives a big fancy car (I drive a Toyota Prius) and shmoozes you into some illusion that your house is something it’s not.

For some agents, the deal’s the thing. For me, my clients are most important—what’s good for them, what’s in their interest. That’s my professional philosophy. Pretty simple, I guess.

I’ve sold hundreds of houses (though I don’t keep close count) and with every new client I get psyched all over again. I hope now you’ll feel comfortable calling me, even if it’s just for some real estate advice, and we can sit down at Catalyst Café for coffee and get to know each other better.

GIVING BACK TO MY COMMUNITY

I strive to be objective and have a talent for being honest. I just don’t know how to be any other way. Being out there, visible in the community, is important as well. I try to add the small, but full, measure of my ability and energy to make the place we live a better place.

In 2006 I formed a business sponsorship with West Elementary PTO and have contributed thousands of dollars; I have also coached soccer for City Recreation and supported community initiatives like Walk for the Homeless, NAMI, Arts West, Good Works, and Appalachian Progressive Education.

ON A MORE PERSONAL NOTE

On an even more personal note, Athens is the ideal place to live if you can leave for a few weeks every year to get your fill of a city or the beach. For me, the Outer Banks of North Carolina is where I want to be for those few weeks. It satisfies a yearning that the hills of Athens County cannot satisfy. The kids and I are lighthouse enthusiasts so we look forward to our annual pilgrimage to NC and arduously climbing the steps of another lighthouse. Cape Lookout, here we come!

Sometimes more exotic locations beckon as it did here for a trip to the world cup to Germany in ’07. Here I am with my nephews and a performance artist (probably a starving real estate agent) by the Brandenburg Gate, during the World Cup in Germany.

Happily aboard the ferry service from Hatteras to Ocracoke!

“FOR ME, MY CLIENTS ARE MOST IMPORTANT … THAT’S MY PROFESSIONAL PHILOSOPHY…”