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It seems most of Chicago Agent’s readers have high hopes for next year, but with their results from this year on the incline, who’s to be skeptical?
In 2011, 43 percent of agents surveyed had increased sales, and in 2012, 73 percent of agents expect their sales to increase even more. In terms of total dollar volume, 61 percent of agents surveyed expect that number to be higher next year; in addition, 77 percent of agents expect their total number of listings to be higher, too. Not-so-personal matters, such as when …

According to Chicago Agent readers, the top quality agents look for in a brokerage is a supportive managing broker – and similarly, a lack of support makes the majority of agents want to leave a brokerage. Thirty-eight percent of agents look for a supportive managing broker, followed by 18 percent who look for support in general, 17 percent who look for a good commission split, 16 percent who look for fair lead generation, 8 percent who look for a brand name brokerage, and only 3 percent care about sales and …

Realtors can count on referrals for more than just clients, according to our readers – 39 percent were referred to the most important contact in their “little black books.” Thirty-seven percent of agents did business with their most important contact, and therefore, know firsthand the great work that person is capable of.

Agents understand the use of technology and how it affects their business today – 46 percent of agents use an app daily to help them in their business in some way. However, 24 percent of agents never use apps day-to-day. These agents don’t know what they’re missing out on – lots of apps help agents to streamline their business (see our cover story on page 14)!

Are agents actively involved in online agent rating systems? According to Chicago Agent’s recent survey, only 17 percent of agents participate in these types of rating systems – 83 percent do not. Of these agents, 80 percent say they are not being rated in any current agent rating system. Despite these statistics, it appears that whether agent ratings systems are beneficial or detrimental is split; 49 percent of readers say these online rating systems are beneficial to the industry, while 51 percent say they are not.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“The rating system would only …

Modern beats vintage when it comes to the type of architecture buyers are looking for. According to a Chicago Agent survey, 69 percent of agents’ clients prefer modern homes to 31 percent who prefer vintage homes. This may be due in part to modern homes requiring less maintenance, and therefore, less money for upkeep.

Although more than half of Chicago Agent readers believe the green movement is still relevant in this economy (57 percent), only 15 percent of agents have had buyers request green features or green properties. In addition, it appears the number of agents getting their green designation has decreased from last year – 17 percent of agents surveyed last year had a green designation; this year, only 4 percent of agents surveyed have a green designation.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
“I believe that buyers appreciate ‘green’ features, but they are not yet ready to pay extra …

The second home market might not be at its strongest currently, however, 43 percent of Chicago Agent readers have clients looking for a second home – a rather large number for this time of year. Fifty-four percent of readers have worked with clients from out of town, and judging from results, most of those out-of-town clients probably wanted a home in downtown Chicago (35 percent) instead of the suburbs (16 percent). Florida, Wisconsin and Michigan follow in terms of second home location popularity; 14 percent of clients buy in Florida, …

According to our survey, not too many Chicago Agent readers are unhappy with the way issues are dealt with in their brokerage – only 5 percent are unsatisfied, while 39 percent are very satisfied. More than half of readers are very satisfied with their managing broker and consider the managing broker to be an important deciding factor when making the switch to a different brokerage.