SEO, or search engine optimization, is a term that’s loosely thrown around by agents when they talk about their websites or blogs. It almost seems like a magical term, the way it’s described by people – as if, just

Forget private funding – the way of the future is crowdfunding, a collective approach to raising funds for both personal and professional activities, where companies and individuals instead seek small donations for their businesses from dozens of contributors from

After years of users struggling with Facebook’s inferior search function, the mighty social media giant has finally launched a new search apparatus: the Graph Search. Infinitely more elegant and detailed than the original search function, the Graph Search promises

What tech tools and training do different brokerages offer agents? We spoke to five tech representatives from five different brokerages: Chris Haran, director of strategic planning and initiatives with Coldwell Banker Jennifer Alter Warden, president of residential sales with

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 show the percent of traffic

In our analysis of both local and national brokerage websites, we used two primary sources: Alexa.com is a site that provides Web traffic data. We measured the traffic ranks and reaches of several national and local brokerage websites. Hubspot.com is

Your website’s strong content should relate to neighborhoods and communities served. You should have valuable and insightful content that people want to read, because the best way to get people to your site and keep them coming back is

New construction sales are fast on the rise in the U.S., outpacing sales of existing homes. While sales of previously owned homes rose 9.1 percent, new construction home sales jumped 28.9 percent in January, the highest annual sales pace

Chicago Agent contacted many Chicagoland developers and have provided all the new property information we received to provide you with listings in the city and suburbs to help determine which newly constructed home is right for your clients. The

The level of builders’ sentiment remained steady at 47 in January, due in part to an uncertain political agenda in December 2012 that stalled the consecutive increase in builders’ confidence. Contributing factors included ongoing debates about government spending, potential

The annual rate of construction for multifamily buildings increased 23 percent to 330,000 in December 2012, hitting a 4.5-year high. This marks the first time the monthly five-plus rate has been over 300,000 since the housing downturn affected the

Chicago Agent sent out its fourth annual Truth About Agents survey, a comprehensive survey to find the truth about agents, and what changes took place from 2011 to 2012. We received hundreds of responses (special thanks to our readers

In an industry full of titles and designations, perhaps no phrase is more desired than that of the “top producer.” Indeed, all one has to do is view the numbers to see why. In Chicago Agent’s Real Data 2012,

1. Give yourself a time audit. Spend the next week documenting every single thing you do in your job. Then, prioritize. If you have an assistant, identify the tasks you can delegate to them. For example, finding leads or

Let’s start with the obvious – the U.S. mortgage market is one complex entity. Indeed, according to the latest numbers from the Federal Reserve, the mortgage market for one- to four-family residences was more than $9.9 trillion in the