One of the smartest moves Darlene Umina made was to focus on the buy/sell transaction. While some agents can say they’ve sold hundreds of homes, it’s not common to say you’ve sold hundreds of this particular transaction. “There is an art to it, a proven process to be successful,” explains Umina, team lead at Darlene & Company, the top team at Lamacchia Realty. “While this is the most challenging transaction in real estate, it has been where my passion lies.”

     Though 2021 certainly presented challenges different from those of 2020, many of the main themes rang true. #LoveWhereYouLive was still more important than ever before. “Whether that be bigger space, smaller space, space closer to ‘home,’ space out of the city, space with swimming pools, priorities shifted for everyone,” she says. “Working from home was still prevalent, and Zoom calls remained a main way to communicate. We loved settling into this new normal with our clients, all while helping them achieve their dreams and goals.”

     Umina and her team specialize in Greater Boston and MetroWest, areas in which she’s spent her entire life. With a client concierge and a team agent on board, she’s better able to serve clients, and it shows: Her business is almost 100% referral-based.

     A cornerstone of Darlene & Company is giving back. One of Umina’s favorite drives is her Giving Tree Drive for single moms in MetroWest. “To give where you live is of the utmost importance to me,” she notes. To that end, this year she formed her own charitable foundation, Give Where You Live, to better give back to the communities she services.