It’s been a little more than a year now since the frenzied real estate market downshifted into something closer to typical. Compared to a couple years ago, things today can seem bleak. But they’re just closer to what was “normal” before the pandemic, according to the data. One person’s bleak is someone else’s normal. It’s all about perspective.

As our publisher Marci Sepulveda sometimes reminds us, today’s mortgage rates in the high sixes or low sevens seem like a steal compared to when she broke into the industry as an agent, when rates were in the teens. And even then, people still bought and sold homes. See, perspective changes everything.

We were struck by a recent social media post from Tommy Choi, co-founder and owner of Weinberg Choi Residential, and also the treasurer of Illinois REALTORS®. He wrote about his dismay when he realized that his team’s sales volume was down nearly 50% year over year. Senior Editor Emily Mack reached out to Choi, and in this issue she writes about Choi’s change in perspective about that seemingly negative stat. I won’t spoil it for you. Go check it out.

There’s no better place to find perspective than a colleague, a mentor or, if you happen to be part of a team, one of your real estate teammates. In this, our teams issue, we examine three Chicagoland teams — one large, one midsize and one small — to find out how they each make things work. Each one has a different origin story and way of doing things, but one unifier is the benefit of collaboration and teamwork.

Also this month, we hear from real estate coach Dennis Jones, who explains why working in this industry is not just a job, but a calling, and we share news about MRED bringing back Realist (I know many of you are happy about that).

There’s plenty more in these pages that will inform, educate and, hopefully, entertain. Please enjoy, and thanks for reading.