When I think about luxury real estate, I picture Georgian-style homes and manicured landscaping with the waves of nearby Lake Michigan hitting the sands of the North Shore. Or sleek finishes, high-end amenities and floor-to-ceiling windows with a penthouse view of the city. That’s luxury real estate.

But there’s another way to think about luxury — and that’s in the service a real estate agent provides to a client. Jennifer Ames, of the Ames Group Chicago with Engel & Völkers, talked to us about that concept of luxury and linking it to service rather than property price. You can find more details in our interview with Ames in this, our annual luxury real estate issue.

Our cover story delves deep into the local luxury market, and we ask agents who specialize in high-end properties about the state of the Chicago luxury market, where things are headed and which neighborhoods and suburbs are hot right now.

In this month’s Top Coach feature, executive coach Shawn Preuss shares her tips for developing a proactive mindset and how it can fast-track your real estate business.

Our Real Issues piece examines the Department of Housing and Urban Development and what the agency’s work means for the local economy, homeownership and the real estate market.

We also have our quarterly installment of Real Data from MRED, featuring the top agents, offices and closings of the first three months of 2023.

We hope the information you find in this issue will help you take advantage of the spring selling season and prepare for the summer ahead. As always, feel free to reach out with your feedback on the issue or features you would like to see in the coming months.