How easy is your brokerage’s website to use? Chicago Agent magazine looked at a number of common Web features, and how they are reflected in different brokerage websites. Click on the image below to see how the sites stack

In our analysis of both local and national brokerage websites, we used two primary sources: Alexa.com, a site that provides Web traffic data; and Hubspot.com is a website that has a tool called a Marketing Grader, which analyzes a range of online marketing

The 10 largest real estate listing sites capture nearly half of all non-mobile Web traffic in a consumer’s online home search, according to data compiled by Experian Marketing Services (formerly Experian Hitwise). The metrics below show the percentage of

During the housing boom, loans were easy to come by. After the housing bubble burst, the reaction was extremely opposite from banks: tighten all guidelines. Now, although the market has improved, it can still be a challenge for buyers

After years of speculation, it finally happened – on Dec. 10, 2013, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), the regulatory agency that oversees government housing behemoths Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, finally had an official director. Indeed, it was

In 2013, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), home sales were at their fastest pace since Feb. 2007, when they were 5.79 million. In addition, home sales have remained above year-ago levels for the past 26 months.

In 2013, our cover stories ran the gamut, from examinations of the MLS to in-depth analyses of where Chicagoland’s housing markets are heading. Which stories generated the most interest from our readers? Click through to find

What’s on the horizon? We asked an expert panel for their predictions for what will happen in terms of inventory, mortgages, new construction and more. Read on for an outlook of what next year

Good agents are dependable, reliable, proactive and diligent; great agents possess those qualities and a few more skills: adapting quickly to shifting priorities, publicly praising others, privately discussing sensitive issues and speaking up when others won’t. Managing brokers want those

We’ve all heard cringe-worthy stories of some recruiting methods – mass texts; the same email copied and pasted to several agents within the same brokerage and being pushy. So, what are the biggest faux pas a hiring manager can

If you’re like most agents, recruitment strategy isn’t top of mind until you decide to join a new brokerage. But when the time comes to make a change, it’s wise to consider the mindset of a managing broker. Think

An agent looking to join a new firm might hear the same sales pitch from each managing broker they visit. How does a broker differentiate their firm from other brokerages? When it comes to recruitment, managing brokers need to

Agents tend to get a bad rap. According to a poll last year that Gallup, a research-based, global performance-management consulting company, conducted last year, only 20 percent of consumers believe that agents have high ethical standards. In addition, a

What are the top complaints that are funneled through the Illinois Association of Realtors’ legal hotline? We asked the organization, which keeps track of the topics agents call in to get advice about. Below are the top 10 most

Getting confused or forgetting what the specific articles are in NAR’s Code of Ethics? Here’s a simple breakdown of the code by section: In summary, here are the main takeaways from each section of articles: Articles 1-9: When representing a