By Agent X
Ah, neighborhoods. There’s the busybody across the street keeping an eye on your house – for your benefit, of course. And then there’s the guy who borrows everyone’s tools and never remembers to return them. Around the corner is the creepy, cobwebbed house with the peeling paint owned by an old man no one has seen for years.
Neighborhoods change, which is a good thing. This change breathes new life into areas in the suburbs and city that were forgotten a long time ago. Embrace this change and use it. Volunteer and make a difference in your own backyard, and maybe your demonstration of commitment to your own neighborhood will get you an extra two or three listings without having to ask.
Agent X hit some cool events recently. Bruce Fogelson held Chicago’s Top Broker Chef’s cook and taste off featuring mouth-watering items from seven area Realtors. Agent X had a fave, but it’s a secret. Then, the ever-friendly Neena Vlamis held her annual A and N Mortgage spring fling event in the company’s new office at 1945 N. Elston Ave. in support of Chicago’s Lake Shore Animal Shelter. Agent X ate six of the crunchy hors d’oeuvres before discovering they were doggy treats. At least I woke up with strong teeth and a new shine to my coat.
Clear your calendar the weekend of June 20, as Koenig and Strey’s CRF Marketing group is doing a push for traffic at their Michigan projects.
Speaking of marketing, Pulte Homes/Del Webb will launch a new national campaign. Promoting the Realtor side of things in Chicagoland will be the company’s new broker coordinator, the lovely Laura Fischer. Keep an eye out for her in an upcoming “My Style.”
To start fresh, Norwood Builders will auction off The Residences at 8200 and The Townhomes at 8200 in Skokie and Park Street Crossing in Roselle, using Rick Levin & Associates on June 26th. I hear there is a 3 percent broker co-op on both projects!
The Mag Mile is about to be slightly less mag when Garrett’s Popcorn closes its doors to make room for the Ritz-Carlton Residences at 664 N. Michigan Ave. Chicago-based Prism Development Co. found some dough to get rolling on the project, which means we have to find popcorn elsewhere.
Britta Rivera recently made the move from her short stay with Toll Brothers – oh wait was it Garrison? No, maybe Lennar? Anyway, she is now V.P. of U.S. Sales for Ireland-based Chieftain Group’s Lexington Park Condos. Grab some Guinness and head down to the South Loop to get hooked up with a 4 percent commission.
Retail developer Curt Bailey replaced Thomas Weeks as head of Related Midwest. Despite Bailey’s lack of residential experience, this hiring squashed nasty rumors about a merger between Related’s local operations and Chicago-based Magellan Development Group LLC.
Agent X finally figured out how to work that new-fangled e-mail contraption, and learned that the mighty Chatam office of Coldwell Banker has closed. That office has combined with the Hyde Park office and will be known as Hyde Park/City South. Apparently, this news came as a surprise to all of the agents.
Incentives for my faithful readers: Renaissance Lofts at the Evanston border is offering a two-year guarantee where if your buyers are not satisfied with their unit, the Kopley Group will buy it back. Wish I had a guarantee like that for my treadmill, because Agent X hasn’t seen a difference in the waistline yet.
Let’s see who had their cake and ate it, too: Matt Shrake and Tom Bredemann on May 26, former CA superstar Jennifer Morrell on May 28 and Colette Marie Davion on May 31. Meanwhile Mollie Denman will have to wait until June 4 for birthday wishes.
Agent X Keepin’ the “real” in real estate
GOT GOSSIP? Submit it to Agent About Town at agentx@chicago.staging312.com.
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