James D'Astice and his team, Moda Group, have something special going on. Since their formation in 2019, they have not only become one of Chicago’s top-producing teams, but have also developed a reputation among agents looking for mentorship, accountability, and a fun culture. While there are many reasons for their success, James sums it up with just one word: “housepitality.”

“We have a very strong culture of collaboration and mentorship with a heavy focus on support, systems, and team operations. That allows each of us to provide a very high-level experience for our clients, each other, and anyone we encounter, which is what we call ‘housepitality,’” James explains. 

Having come into real estate from the hospitality industry, James has focused his business on customer experience and service from day one. It’s how he grew from a recent college graduate looking for a job to the leader of a top-producing real estate company. 

“I remember I was waiting tables—with a degree in marketing and advertising under my belt—trying to figure out my career path,” James recalls. “My wife had her real estate license, and I thought it may be a good option to explore with my background in hospitality and service.”

James was definitely right about that one. While he had the right mindset entering real estate—focusing on hospitality and serving his clients—it took some time for him to really grow. A major turning point in his life, both personally and professionally, occurred when he decided to face his struggle with alcoholism. 

“Once I got sober, my life and career really took off,” James emphasizes. “Sobriety gave me a totally different outlook on life. I was always a big dreamer, but felt like I was chasing those dreams. As I started to focus more on my own personal growth in sobriety, I was able to realize those dreams and have a more positive impact on everyone around me.”

Having a positive impact on the lives of others was central to the founding of Moda Group. James has navigated many business relationships over the years, and while some were challenging, those experiences taught him both what to do and what not to do when working with people, which reinforced his personal concept of “housepitality,” and made him a better agent, and eventual team leader and business owner.

The professional relationship that changed everything for James began the day he met his current business partner, Lauren Herskovic. Lauren was, in fact, a client of James’s former business partner. When she decided to leave her previous job as the COO of a Chicago-based consulting company and enter real estate, she approached them.

James and Lauren quickly realized that they aligned on pretty much everything. So when James decided to make a move to Compass to grow a team, Lauren was the first person he approached, not just for her business philosophy, but also for her background in operations and leadership. 

“I knew real estate and I knew I wanted systems and a strong operation, but I needed Lauren to actually make it happen. In the first year we worked together, she helped me build all the systems that our team now runs on,” James explains, then adds, “Not only do we have a great time and make each other laugh, but we just complement one another really well with our different skill sets and the way we think, so we really balance each other out.”

Just as James and Lauren complement each other, every person in the Moda Group brings something unique and valuable to the team, which has become central to their success. “We are a collaborative team where everyone’s voice is heard and everyone has ownership in the brand,” James shares. “This is not ‘the James D’Astice team’ for a reason: we want everyone to be part of this and what it becomes.”

Consisting of five agents, a transaction manager, and a director of operations today, the Moda Group has grown organically because of its culture and reputation vs. recruitment. That culture comes from James’s passion for mentoring, building and inspiring others through their philosophy of “housepitality.” 

“We feel that service is given but hospitality is felt,” he says. “And we want that to resonate internally and externally with everyone we encounter. We’re going to continue to deliver our housepitality experience to anyone that joins the team while always finding opportunities to fine-tune and get better.” 

Outside of real estate, James enjoys traveling and dining out with his wife, Agnes, and their daughter, Stella. James also loves to cook and just recently got into baking bread, specifically focaccia. Although you may not guess it, he is also a lover of the outdoors who is really into fishing and golf. James has a creative side, too, especially when it comes to real estate—it comes through not just with the aesthetics of homes, but in marketing and advertising as well. 

Whether it's through caring for his clients, empowering team members, or baking the perfect loaf of focaccia, James D'Astice proves that in real estate, as in life, the best foundations are built on genuine care and a commitment to excellence. With the Moda Group, team members and clients alike have found that they experience more than a partnership. They’ve found that they join a community of professionals who are dedicated to elevating the standard of service in real estate, proving that Moda’s “housepitality” doesn’t just open doors, it opens hearts.