As I was working on this month’s issue, it stood out to me how supportive those in the Chicagoland real estate industry are of their colleagues. It’s something you just don’t see in a lot of other industries. In response to our posts soliciting votes for our annual Agents’ Choice Awards, there were dozens of comments from our readers for candidates in our 19 categories. “A true professional.” “Excellent lender and loan officer.” “Good luck to all the participants.” The stream of accolades goes on and on. And it reveals what many of you already know — there’s something special about this business.
It’s our 17th year holding the awards, and we broke all records on participation. Readers cast more than 44,000 votes, a number so large that even we were a little surprised. What didn’t surprise us, though, was the list of truly professional candidates at the top of their game who were chosen by you as finalists. It made voting a challenge even for us! We’re proud to present you with your top picks of the year, and we want to extend a heartfelt thank you to all of the participants and our readers.
This issue is special not just because of our best-of-the-best roster of agents, brokers, developers and more. We also take a close look at a growing trend in residential real estate that brokers, elected officials and others across the nation are taking note of — the rapid increase in institutional investors purchasing single-family homes and turning them into rentals. Agents we spoke with for our November Real Issues feature say the trend is making it increasingly difficult for first-time homebuyers to achieve the dream of homeownership, and its cutting local brokerages out of the mix.
We also hear from Jeff Berger, founder of the National Association of Gay & Lesbian Real Estate Professionals (NAGLREP), in this month’s Association News feature about finding your niche in real estate. Looking ahead to 2023 (can you believe it’s only a couple of months away?!) we hear from real estate coach Sherri Johnson, who offers six proven strategies for growing your business in the coming year. Although this month’s focus is on your votes for the best in the business, we also present Chicagoland’s top producers and brokerages in our Q3 Real Data report. Learn who sold the most in our collaboration with Midwest Real Estate Data.
There’s been no shortage of input from our readers this month, but we always want to hear what’s happening in your world. Contact me at tim.inklebarger@agentpublishing.com, and let me know what’s on your mind. Cheers!