The Instructors at Your House Academy

Meet Our Qualified Educators

Vince DePaul - Director, Real Estate Instructor Vince DePaul is Director of Your House Academy. Vince began his real estate career in 1976 and is a real estate broker and a licensed real estate and continuing education instructor. He has taught real estate at College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, and Oakton Community College in Des Plaines, Illinois for several decades. For ten years he produced and hosted a weekly, live call-in radio broadcast in Chicago called “Your House” where he was known as “Mr. Real Estate.” In 2015, Vince received the prestigious Educator of the Year award from the Association of Illinois Real Estate Educators (AIREE). More about Vince »
Pat Cal - Real Estate Instructor Pat Cal began his real estate career in 1977. He has been teaching real estate classes for over 35 years. Pat uses his experience as a broker, managing broker, real estate author and developer to make his courses engaging and full of real world information that his students can really use. Pat is a native of Rockford, Illinois and has 3 children.
Ed Kettley, Jr. - Real Estate Instructor Ed Kettley Jr. has been in the Real Estate business since 1996. He has primarily worked for his family's business, Kettley and Company Realtors, Inc. He has worked as a sales person, managing broker, and as part owner. In 2002 he was voted on the Fox Valley Board of Directors and became the president of that association in 2006. He has also worked with the former Aurora Tri County Board of Realtors as a board member and president elect; and served a term on MRED's Board of Managers. In 2007 he became licensed to teach the Illinois Pre-License class and also licensed to teach Continuing Education for Real Estate in Illinois and has taught for various organizations over the years.
Tigi Tasso - Real Estate Instructor Clients are always amazed when I tell them that I do not sell homes. I take you to locations that you might consider home. The home sells itself. You either fall in love or we continue searching until you find your dream home. My job is protecting you and your investment. Using 20 years of experience and education, I check every detail from the beginning of the dream to the moment you are holding the keys. My passion is education. As a certified licensed continuing education instructor and a certified licensed pre-license instructor, I enjoy teaching people about the business of real estate. From brand new brokers to seasoned team members, real estate education is the foundation to success.
Mike Fair - Director, Real Estate Instructor Mike Fair is the Director and President of the recently merged Illinois Academy of Real Estate and Your House Academy. Mike has developed and instructed real estate courses since 1984 and has helped thousands of students pass their real estate exams. Mike joined the real estate business in 1974 and his experience includes: new home construction, real estate sales, property management, real estate office management, financing, and education. Mike has served as content advisor for Dearborn Financial Publishing, Hondros College and Applied Measurement Professionals (AMP), Illinois’ exam provider. He is a member of the National Association of Realtors®, the Illinois Association of Realtors®, the Real Estate Educator’s Association, and the Association of Illinois Real Estate Educators. In 2016, Mike received the organization’s important Educator of the Year Award, the second year in a row in which Your House Academy’s teachers have won this award. Mike is happily married to his wife Laurie and has five adult children and five grandchildren. His students enjoy and appreciate Mike’s intelligent, gentle, no nonsense approach to teaching.
Michelle Georgiou - Real Estate Instructor Michelle Georgiou has a Bachelor of Arts from Indiana University in Language Arts and Education. After teaching in the private sector for many years, she took a position with Tascor, Incorporated in Raleigh, NC in 1994. Through a joint venture with IBM, she was responsible for training new hires and perfecting the testing and training process for new hires for IBM to fill administrative support positions. In 1996 she took a new position in Boston, MA with New Horizons Computer Learning Center. As a technical trainer she went onsite to teach employees, in a classroom setting, how to use various software programs from Microsoft Office to database platforms. After moving to the Chicago area in 2000, she taught in the private sector for several years, and launched her real estate career in 2012. Getting the itch to get back into the classroom, she became a trainer in her brokerage and began teaching for Your House Academy in 2018. She received her managing broker's license in 2019 in order to continue her learning and to become a better instructor. She is currently also a trainer with her sponsored brokerage as well, and continues to actively help her clients with their real estate needs.
Nancy Freeman - Real Estate Instructor Nancy has been the Broker/Owner of RE/MAX Realty of Joliet for over 35 years. She is licensed to teach CE and Pre-Licensing for Brokers and Managing Brokers. She has authored over 10 courses and a book titled “Go For It”. She has joined AM560 The Answer, Real Estate Revealed radio show. Training and teaching is her passion.
Steve Johnstone - Real Estate Instructor Steve was born and raised in the Chicago area, and now lives and works in Naperville. He has a Masters degree in Teaching from Chicago State University. He spent many years working in the home building and remodeling industry, and he has been a Real Estate Broker for many years. All of this gives him the background to effectively teach Real Estate classes and help his students understand the Real Estate business. Steve is a Viet Nam Veteran and an Eagle Scout and is still active in Scouting.
Jennifer Mark - Real Estate Instructor Jennifer Mark is an outstanding Real Estate Broker and workshop leader. Before starting her real estate career, Jennifer received her Master of Business Administration from Northern Illinois University and received Bachelor degrees in Business Finance and Business & Economics from Benedictine University. Jennifer’s students appreciate her real world examples and value her knowledge of the topics and her positive attitude in her classroom.
Bob Parsons - Real Estate Instructor Bob Parsons is a Real Estate Broker, Appraiser, and Licensed Instructor. He began his career at Starck Realty in 1998 after taking the pre-licensing class from Your House Academy. He has been a Certified Residential Real Estate Appraiser since 2002. He is a life-long Elgin resident, loves dogs, and walks in the parks daily.
Gina Clifford - Real Estate Instructor Gina is a Real Estate Managing Broker and has been in the Real Estate industry since 1997. She started her career in Corporate Relocation and began investing in Real Estate. She has been a licensed Broker since 2005. Gina spent several years traveling the country teaching Foreclosure and Short Sale techniques to Realtors and Investors. As a former radio show host of ‘The Real Estate Coach’ on WIND am560 and WLS am780, Gina loves sharing stories and real life scenarios with her students to help them remember terms. Word association is one of her favorites. In her years as an instructor with Your House Academy, students continually rave about her teaching style and open interactive training environment.
Nancy Doherty - Real Estate Instructor Nancy brings over 35 combined years of customer service, training, sales and education. She has been a Real Estate Broker for over 15 years, holding a Managing Broker's License as well as Pre-Licensing and CE Instructor Licenses. Designations include At Home with Diversity (AHWD), Short Sale & Foreclosure Resource Specialist (SFR), and Accredited Staging Professional (ASP). Nancy is passionate about helping others become great Realtors and entrepreneurs through a step by step process and using "real-life" examples while instilling the skills, mindset and confidence to obtain their Real Estate License. Nancy has been a director and volunteer on many committees and involved in various children's organizations. When Nancy is not selling real estate or teaching, she is enjoying her time with family, friends and attending functions with her grandchildren.
Tom Poziwilko - Real Estate Instructor Since 1998 Tom has been affiliated with the Starck brokerage, currently Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Starck. Tom has possessed a Florida real estate license where he held the position of Statewide Property Management Trainer for Coldwell Banker Corporate, providing property management education to licensed real estate agents. During the course of his real estate career, Tom has provided clients with education, sales, marketing, leasing, purchasing, and consulting services. Tom draws upon his real estate experience with required pre-licensing itinerary, tying together textbook with real world.
Dawn Toll - Real Estate Instructor I commit to providing my residential real estate expertise with the utmost honesty, integrity and patience. I specialize in working with buyers and sellers in the Northwest suburbs. I enjoy taking the time to explain every step of the buying and selling process to my clients. With the help of a vast network of industry experts, I am also able to answer any questions that arise. I have lived in the Northwest suburbs my entire life and have been an active member of my community for many years. Along with helping my clients find their next home sweet home, I am a member of the MP/PH Rotary Club, chair events for the District 23 PTO, was an executive board member of the Prospect Heights Football Association, coached my children's soccer teams and currently help out with their swim team.
Jill Insco - Real Estate Instructor Jill Insco earned her Business Administration Degree from National Louis University and began her real estate career in 1975. She has enjoyed an outstanding professional career as a Realtor and a successful Managing Broker. Jill is a licensed instructor and has been teaching pre-license and broker classes since 1997. Students continually rate her overall performance a “10” and appreciate her ability to “stay on track.” Her reviews are excellent and to her credit … “Her students pass the state exam!”
Clayton Waite - Real Estate Instructor Clayton Waite began his award winning real estate career in 1987 and has loved it ever since. He served as a Marine Corp Sergeant and graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a degree in Education, English and Public Speaking. Clayton taught as a Graduate Teaching Assistant, high school teacher and a County Public School Speech Therapist for several years. As a licensed real estate instructor since 2000, his students continually remark about his teaching skills, sense of humor and his ability to make a tough subject easy to understand.
Lynn M. Dahl - Real Estate Instructor Lynn's over 30 year Real Estate career has led to her passion of sharing her knowledge. Students often compliment her for bringing the text to life with her stories and funny experiences related to the topics she teaches. She will be teaching in McHenry and the surrounding areas. Some of her favorite pastimes includes watercolor painting, entertaining and spending time with family.
Michele Nixon - Real Estate Instructor Michele began her career as a Realtor in 2000. Since then she has obtained her CE Instructor’s license, Pre-Licensing Instructor’s license and has been the Company Designated Trainer for her office. Michele has always felt Education is Key for both consumers and real estate agents. To that end, she currently serves as Chair of the Professional Standards Committee and is a member of the Education Advisory Group through her local association. She is also an Ombudsman for her association and Illinois Realtors and serves on the Grievance Committee at the state level.
Ljubica "Libby" Popovic - Real Estate Instructor Libby Popovic, JD, MPA is the managing partner of Popovic Law PC with 24 years of experience. She focuses on residential real estate, estate planning, business matters and commercial real estate. She has taught as an adjunct law professor and a certified real estate instructor. She holds a real estate broker license in Illinois and Indiana and is a licensed loan originator.
Ellen Nissen - Real Estate Instructor Ellen has been successfully assisting home buyers and sellers in the Chicagoland area for over 20 years. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices has recognized her as a top-producing broker and a member of the Leading Edge Society. She holds a degree in Construction Management from Michigan State University and a Master’s Degree in Business from DePaul University. Her market knowledge is encyclopedic and she prides herself in being an expert negotiator and trustworthy advisor to her clients. Being an expert is essential in real estate, but the secret of her success is that she cares about her clients. She says the bottom line is "I care!" She is passionate about delivering superlative customer service experiences. She makes sure that all of the details are handled so that they don’t have to worry. She is with you every step of the way, not because it’s her job, but because she is invested in the client's success. Whether you are buying, selling or taking a real estate class from her, she cares. She will make every effort to ensure that you have a positive experience with the results you are looking for.
Jodi Kloska - Real Estate Instructor Jodi Kloska brings over 25 years experience to the Real Estate industry. Being a life time resident of Illinois, she began her career on the Northwest side of Chicago and continued to grow her business to include the Chicagoland suburbs. Her experience in the real estate industry has included being a Managing Broker on the NorthShore, an Illinois Pre-License Instructor, a Baird & Warner Career Institute Instructor (for newly licensed agents), and has earned several designations and awards along the way. Jodi is passionate about her career and every person she is able to assist in their real estate goals and dreams. As she likes to say to anyone in need of real estate services, "Don't Make A Move Without Me!"
Raquel Goggin - Real Estate Instructor Raquel Goggin's real estate career started at Your House Academy & she is excited to see things come full circle & begin teaching her own class. Raquel is the perfect example of how you can succeed in real estate with hard work & determination while keeping your clients' best interest at heart. Since beginning her real estate career in 2017, she has closed over 275 successful transactions totaling over $75,000,000, become the owner & Designated Managing Broker of her own brokerage, Goggin Real Estate, & owner of real estate holding company, Goggin Referral Network. Raquel will bring her knowledge & passion for real estate to her students. Raquel truly believes the sky's the limit when it comes to real estate & can't wait to be a part of something so special for her students as her instructor was for her!
Michael Farrior - Real Estate Instructor I am a seasoned realtor, with experience selling residential and commercial real estate. I started my professional career as a high school teacher, and have now channeled my love for real estate through my passion for education. I started my real estate career as a solo agent, then swiftly joined a team. I was quickly promoted to sales manager and became an expert on team building and recruiting talent. My motto is "Saving Lives, One House at a Time", and I am extremely excited about helping everyone save a few lives themselves.