Blogs

The Strangers We Love: Finding Community in Rochester

A shoe repairman on Monroe Avenue. A familiar face at an East Avenue gas station. Mark Siwiec reflects on the people we may barely know, yet come to love, and the everyday connections that make Rochester feel like home.

Is Rochester’s Housing Market in a Horror Movie Phase?

Rochester’s fall housing market is slowing, and Mark Siwiec and Corey Moran have a few horror movie comparisons to match. Explore the latest inventory figures, homes lingering after delayed negotiations and the questions surrounding the next selling season.

Ice Fishing and the Art of Building a Business

What does ice fishing have to do with building a real estate brokerage? Mark Siwiec explores how Clarence Birdseye’s story illustrates the power of curiosity and how ideas from unexpected places helped shape Elysian Homes.

Success is a Contact Sport

In 1990, a soaked and newly licensed Mark Siwiec knocked on doors in Browncroft, hoping to find his first clients. The lesson he learned about effort, fear, and opportunity stayed with him.

Table Diving In Armani

Standing inside Buffalo’s new stadium, Mark Siwiec reflects on the city that raised him, his move to Rochester, and the steel core that has stayed with him through both change and growth.

Mark Siwiec with the Elysian Homes team in Rochester, New York

I built a $92 Million Business That I Hated

From the outside, Mark Siwiec’s $92 million real estate business looked like a tremendous success. Inside, its culture was breaking down. This is the story of why he dismantled the organization, rebuilt it around shared standards, and discovered that a better place to work could also become a better business