Real estate in 2024 will be remembered for the legal action that forced changes in the industry and the sky-is-falling reaction we all heard when those changes were announced. The agents who blocked out the noise and navigated the turmoil found ways to deliver for their clients, just like always. You will see many of them in our latest Real Data report, which highlights Chicagoland’s top agents and offices in the region.

If you look at the Real Data report each quarter, like I do, you’ll see some of the same names consistently delivering top results. How do these top producers maintain their success? To find out, we sought the expertise of some of them in this month’s cover story, which features the perspectives of Danielle Dowell of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago, Grigory Pekarsky from Vesta Preferred and Beth Wexler, Joey Gault and Liz Salinas with The Wexler Gault Group at @properties Christie’s International Real Estate. If you aren’t quite on that elite level yet but have aspirations to get there, be sure to check out this month’s sidebar report, which asks top producers for their best advice to up-and-coming agents.

Also this month, our Top Coach columnist Ali Al-Asady explains the “healthy home” trend and how agents can carve out a niche in that market. North Shore-Barrington Association of REALTORS® CEO Jeff Lasky offers his insights in our Association News column, and Agent X has the intel on all the Chicagoland real estate events from the past month.

As always, I welcome your thoughts on this issue and your ideas about what we should cover next. Thanks for reading.