One of the key factors to a successful career in real estate is hosting successful open houses. They provide an opportunity to expose buyers to homes, grow your client database and expand your business. However, many agents make crucial

As an agent, it is important to act as though a seller is watching you during an open house, but what if they are actually watching you? Today, as nanny cams become less expensive and easier to use, more

Some people steal things from open houses. As the name implies, they’re an easy target. To help mitigate the risk that something will be taken from your client’s home, make sure to hide these commonly stolen items: Cash Don’t

Open houses are an opportunity for potential buyers to get a feel for the property. Here is a checklist of some of the elements all open houses need in order to appeal to both emotional and practical buyers. We’ve

Residential construction spending is up in Chicago. That does not, however, mean that the city’s new home market is in full post-recession recovery. Actually, you could argue that the opposite is the case. “Building is down,” said 2015 Homebuilders

Courtesy of research from Tracy Cross & Associates and MetroStudy, we’ve assembled a number of charts and graphs on the Chicagoland new construction marketplace. Click on the links below for each piece of data: •Chicagoland’s Top Homebuilders in 2015,

There are hundreds of new construction developments throughout the Chicagoland area, from active adult communities and tear downs, to first-time buyer communities and  rehabs. Amidst such variety, we have spotlighted some of the most interesting projects, featuring cutting-edge architecture,

Assessing the strength of Chicagoland’s new construction market is not easy, what with the many trends, statistics and studies that come out on a weekly basis.  To cut through the noise, we separately interviewed two of Chicago’s most respected

There are 297 municipalities and political jurisdictions in the Chicagoland area, and moving between those municipalities – and juggling all of the disparate zoning regulations, building codes and neighborhood amenities – can be quite challenging for builders. So to

It is understood that for most, buying a home is the biggest, most serious investment of their lives. But that doesn’t exempt the housing industry from the power of trends and fads. Every year, building trends emerge claiming to

Homebuilding is in a state of flux in Chicago. With growing barriers in lending and land availability forcing traditionally entry-level homebuilders into the upper ends of the market, it is unclear what the future of the industry and sector

Brian Hickey, the founder of teardowns.com, an online marketplace geared towards the redevelopment of properties, likes to think of teardowns as part of an “evolution not a revolution” within the housing market. “Buyers’ preferences have changed – more buyers

Michael Emery, an associate broker/partner with Urban Real Estate, follows a multi-step process when discussing listing prices with his seller clients, who often have unrealistic expectations for the price they can get. First, he asks the seller what they

Pricing new construction is a balancing act between knowing what a building is worth, how people view its value and how you go about selling it. To get a better idea on how professionals balance those facets, we spoke

Agents who adopt pre-MLS or non-MLS marketing strategies are doing the best they can for their clients. At least that’s the argument agents make in support of the polarizing practice. The logic behind it is simple – according to

“Pricing a home is a little bit like a physics experiment or setting the price of a stock,” says Paul Lazarre, founder and CEO of Leap Real Estate Systems (LeapRE). “You never know what it is until you put