There is no more integral part of the ‘American Dream’ than owning your own home and many West Indians are anxious to share in this part of the American dream as soon as possible after moving to the States. Mr. Parris, a son of a Jamaican mother and a Barbadian father, migrated from Jamaica to Chicago in 1961. He learned early on about the value of real estate from his father, who dabbled in various real estate investments. After attending Phillips High School on Chicago’s South Side and Wilson College, Mr. Parris was drafted into the U.S. Army to serve in Vietnam. After his service, he returned to Jamaica in 1969 to marry, Kathy, his wife of 38 years. They immediately settled in Evanston and Mr. Parris began to attend real estate training classes, workshops, and seminars to set a foundation for a real estate career.
Mr. Parris’ willingness to make a personal sacrifice to begin investing in real estate is his most enduring sign of the entrepreneurial spirit. Mr. Parris’ desire to provide for his family, help his friends and acquaintances, and to face the exciting challenge of creating tangible wealth, has led him to repeatedly make small and large sacrifices to meet his objectives. He believes that avoiding wasteful or unnecessary spending and having a positive ‘can-do’ attitude are a natural part of building a business and overcoming obstacles. His ability to stay focused, despite the unique challenges posed to immigrants and other minorities, allowed him to achieve his objectives. Most importantly his real estate success depended on his willingness delve into every part of real estate- buying, selling, renting, renovating, financing, improving, rehabbing, building, litigating, and developing real estate. Mr. Parris is not afraid of handling any task related to real estate- he often returns from a construction job site with his attire bearing evidence that he not only supervised but enjoyed assisting with the manual labor required to complete a construction project.
Mr. Parris began Parris-Hall Realtors in the early 1970s. After building a successful sales and rental management operation, he moved to Florida in 1979 where he operated another real estate company and built luxury homes. Before returning to Evanston in 1983, his real estate company evolved into Manchester Realty and for the past 20 years he has enjoyed managing apartment rentals, providing assistance to real estate buyers and sellers, and his favorite- developing properties by rehabbing houses and larger buildings and building new ones from scratch. Mr. Parris has completed a multi-million-dollar shopping center and over three-dozen homes or dwelling units in Evanston, Rogers Park, and Miami, in addition to several rehab projects for dozens of other properties. In many cases Mr. Parris built a house, sold it, provided the financing, coordinated a low down payment, and offered rental management services or advice on home ownership. His detailed understanding of all aspects of real estate has allowed Mr. Parris to assist many people in making wise real estate choices to create wealth and realization of the ‘American Dream.’
