"Relay" connotes a competition. That's why Michael Orbino (whom we snapped at a Starbucks) and his team within brokerage John L Scott chose that name three years ago for a new division, which promotes new construction sales and marketing. With fellow senior partner David Mills, they—and their team of 420 agents—work with builders and developers to accelerate sales of homes and multifamily, big and infill, luxury and foreclosure. While the company is 82 years old, Relay was started just three years ago.

Here's a modern offering Michael represents by builder WestTier Homes that just wrapped in Kirkland overlooking Lake Washington. Michael sees this as the best new construction market since '06, in areas from Seattle to Bellevue, Bothell, and Renton; he expects condos may also kick into the picture in a big way by the end of the year. On the personal  side, Michael volunteers for charter schools—for the last 10 years helping underserved districts in areas like Tacoma and South Seattle, and serving on the board of Summit Public Schools.