Marc Murphy

Co-owner, Lock and Key Realty: Age 39

Marc Murphy

Marc Murphy’s trajectory in the real-estate world has been impressive, to put it mildly.

After graduating from Western New England University in 2008, he entered the real-estate world in 2011, then launched Lock and Key Realty with a business partner in 2019. Starting with three agents, the firm has grown to 60 agents and recorded $230 million in sales last year, with a portfolio of commercial and residential properties, including apartment complexes, commercial offices, and industrial sites.

“We continue to be in the top five in Hampden and Hampshire County. We’ve definitely been very busy,” Murphy said, crediting much of that success to the team he’s built and the work environment he’s tried to cultivate.

“We’re able to attract a lot of the top talent in the area through our training of agents and our culture,” he told BusinessWest. “We believe in top-tier service for our clients, whether it’s a first-time homebuyer or an investor or a commercial client. We have resources to solve any problem and make the process as easy as possible with attorneys, lenders, insurance brokers, accountants, and so forth.”

In short, he added, “when we split off, we wanted to create a company with a win-win culture. Every scenario we create should be a win-win for agents, customers, everyone involved.”

Murphy gives back to the community through an annual golf tournament the firm started four years ago, with all proceeds donated to nonprofits; over the last four years, the event has given $20,000 to Habitat for Humanity and the Hartsprings Foundation.

“They’re both heavily involved in real estate, and they’re great organizations; we’ve become close with them over the years,” he said. “We’re trying to do our part.”

Meanwhile, most of his free time centers around his wife, Danielle, and three children, all under age 9. “That keeps me very busy, from traveling to practices to spending time with them. It’s very enjoyable.”

So is real estate, even though it’s been more challenging the past few years, he explained. “Inventory has been the biggest challenge in this area. And there have been a lot of law changes and rule changes around real-estate transactions. We’ve been at the forefront of training our agents in how to deal with it.”

That’s one aspect of what Murphy enjoys most about this career — the people he works with. “They’re awesome. We’re able to problem-solve using our resources and experience, and that’s the fun part.”

—Joseph Bednar