Becoming a top producer is the ultimate goal of most folks who get into the real estate business, and if you look at the marketing around town, you’ll find an astonishing number of brokers who claim that mantle. But there are top producers, and there are top producers. That’s one of the reasons we publish Real Data on a quarterly basis and through this annual report.

These are the firm numbers as reported by Midwest Real Estate Data, and if you’re curious about who are the real top producers in 2021, you need look no further. While some discrepancies, such as sales not reported, can skew the numbers slightly, our annual report is the only game in town when it comes to covering Chicagoland’s biggest names in the business. But we don’t stop there. In addition to our Real Data report, our cover story reveals some of the strategies of top producers and gets to the heart of what keeps them at the top of their game.

We also take a closer look this month at a topic so radioactive, many real estate brokers would prefer not to talk about it. In ways, they are legally prevented from doing so, at least with their clients. That’s the topic of crime, particularly the spike in violent crime that has swept much of the nation over the past couple of years and its impact on real estate sales. What are agents and brokers across the nation seeing in terms of sales? What do they do when faced with this tricky question? We take a look in our monthly investigative Real Issues feature.

We also hear from Jim Haisler, chief executive officer of the Heartland REALTOR® Organization, in this month’s Association News column. Haisler gives us his perspective on real estate sales statistics and how his take informs his view of the industry.

We want to congratulate all the top producers who made it into this issue and to all the brokers and other real estate professionals whose commitment to excellence keep the industry thriving year-round. And as always, we want to hear from you with your stories and insights on top producers or anything else we’re missing. Contact us at Tim.Inklebarger@agentpublishing.com.