At the Creig Northrop Team of Long & Foster Real Estate, Elaine Northrop is considered a true legend and we were excited to celebrate her birthday this past January. Elaine has been in the real estate industry for over 40 years and is considered a backbone of the Creig Northrop Team. Her achievements in the real estate industry have served as examples for many real estate professionals, especially for her son, Creig Northrop. Creig and the team are all extremely thankful to have Elaine as one of our role models.

Humble Beginnings

Elaine’s success in real estate was not something that was handed to her. Despite humble beginnings, she was able to accomplish her dreams and so much more. She attributes her success to her mantra of: if you can conceive it, you will believe it, and you can achieve it.  

Elaine’s real estate career began in 1975 by a stroke of luck! Her then-husband was making a career change to become a realtor and was getting ready to take the Maryland real estate exam. He spent weeks studying and Elaine helped him prepare. The weekend before her husband took the exam, he suggested that she take the exam as well. Although she was reluctant, and had no interest in real estate as a career, she decided she would go for it. As fate came into play, Elaine passed the Maryland real estate exam without any formal classes or studying!

After the wonderful achievement of passing the Maryland real estate exam, Elaine delved into her real estate career. Despite her strong people skills and personable demeanor, the first six months of her career were a complete failure. She sold nothing. In fact, her manager at the time tried to convince her to find another career. In an attempt to persuade her, he had her take an aptitude test that would tell her what type of job she would be best suited for. The test came back and said, “This person should be in a people-business like real estate” so her manager gave her another shot. After her dismal first six months, Elaine switched up her sales tactics and sold over $1 Million in her second six months. After that, she never looked back. 

Extraordinary Accomplishments

Elaine has created a legendary career out of selling real estate in Howard County. She attributes her success to her innovative marketing strategies and being able to capitalize on selling new home developments during the growth of Columbia, MD.

Elaine was one of the first to utilize many strategies that are now coveted by those in the real estate industry today. For example, she was the first agent in Howard County with her own real estate team, and she was the first agent in Howard County to personalize and offer her own moving trucks. She was also the first agent to put out personalized advertising showcasing her own name instead of relying on generic advertising by the brokerage. In her advertising, she would give each home a title and a clever story to go along with it. She eventually became well known for these ads and people liked them so much that they would choose to work with Elaine so that she could write creative ads about their home. 

Over the course of her career, Elaine has completed thousands of transactions and has sold as many as five homes to the same family. The pinnacle of her career was when she was recognized as the #1 International Coldwell Banker Agent for three consecutive years between 1999 and 2001. To this day, she is the only person to be recognized as the #1 International Agent three times in a row. 

Creating a Family Legacy

Elaine has had the pleasure of training many other real estate agents, including her son, Creig, who is proud of all his mother’s accomplishments and has worked hard to create his own success story. . Creig has built a team of over 100 individuals with five office locations in Maryland. The Creig Northrop Team is currently considered the number one team in Maryland for all brokerages and the number two team in the Nation! Elaine is extremely proud of Creig and all that he has achieved. 

Elaine’s success has plenty to do with her core beliefs, which revolve around the idea that if you have a dream, you can make it a reality by putting your mind and energy to it. She has used this philosophy in creating her dream home, having a dream career, and even finding her soul mate. In 2011, she wrote a book based around this belief titled Create Your Own Fate. 

Even as a 40-year real estate veteran, Elaine still considers her career “a way of life”. She is still a full-time agent and is showing no signs of stopping.  When she does decide to retire, she wants to keep an active hand in real estate while traveling, promoting her book, and being a motivational speaker. 

For Elaine Northrop, real estate has always been more about caring than about the commission. She dedicates the majority of her time to helping her clients achieve their real estate goals. If someone wants Elaine to sell their home, there’s no question, that is exactly what she will do.

Elaine Northrop truly is one-of-a-kind. Her work ethic, creativity, and belief in herself have helped her achieve and surpass every goal she has ever had. The Creig Northrop Team of Long & Foster Real Estate is thankful to have Elaine as a core member of our team. Just as Elaine Northrop’s success has stood the test of time, the Northrop Team plans to follow her lead.  Here’s to Elaine! We hope she has another wonderful and prosperous year.