by Stephanie Sims
Despite what you may hear people say, there is still a luxury market, and there are still are homes on the market with listing prices of more than $5 million – case in point: Coldwell Banker Realtor Jeannie Emmert’s listing, pictured on our cover, which is currently listed for $6.2 million.

 Agents today are well aware that using the Internet is crucial to their business. But establishing an effective online presence – the key word being “effective” – is easier said than done. Anyone can create a personal website or Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest accounts, but what does it take for these sites to actually be effective? How can they help your business?

If you’ve never had an assistant before, you’ll just have to trust me when I say that hiring one is life-changing. You have someone there to help with everything that needs to get done but that you just don’t have time for, someone who can provide an extra set of eyes to look over important documents when you’ve been staring at them all day, and someone to help keep you organized.

How much do you know about new construction? Do you know if housing starts in Illinois have increased or decreased since last year? What building materials are most popular, or are gaining popularity? In the cover story for this issue, I wanted to show where developer, builder and interior trends were going, and share statistics for the Chicagoland new construction industry that agents might not have known – and turns out, there are a lot of interesting trends and statistics to report on.

Just kidding! Please ignore that title – being a Pink Floyd fan, I couldn’t resist the urge to title this note that, given this is Chicago Agent’s education issue. But I think we can all agree that the title is false. We do need an education! Everyone, including agents, needs a quality education.

It doesn’t always work with scheduling, but this year, we had our Top Producers issue party the night before we went to press with this issue. Being amongst more than 100 top-producing agents in a single setting (and a fabulous setting I might add – special thanks again to Whirlpool for hosting and Pulte Group for sponsoring the party) is quite humbling.

In this issue’s cover story, we wanted to compare “the big three” – Zillow, Trulia and Realtor.com, – and show agents exactly what they got for their money when it came to advertising on each site. Unfortunately, this was easier said than done.

This year is an election year, meaning several changes to government programs – and laws – are being proposed. Democrats have their views, and Republicans’ views differ, but one thing is certain: we’re all watching with anticipation to see what will be proposed – and maybe even passed – that can further improve the housing industry.

As agents, most of your business is dependent on yourself. You’re the one who has to market your skills and listings. You’re the one who has to get out there and make sure everyone sees your face and accomplishments. Generating leads is a responsibility that’s really almost entirely up to an agent to do.

The end of the year is already here. Is that hard for anyone else to believe, too? My first year with Chicago Agent seemed to go by quickly, but it was, without a doubt, a busy and fun year, and I look forward to many more.
When the end of the year comes, everyone wants to know: what’s the bottom line for this year, and what will happen next year?