With questions circling about how the lending industry is changing and what’s staying consistent, we decided to ask questions of five prominent lending industry professionals and feature their answers in our cover story. From industry trends and how to

$957 million. The real estate industry, between Realtors, builders, lenders and other professionals, has spent a total of nearly $957 million in the last 14 years lobbying Congress, with the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) spending making up 20

By Carlo Calma At press time, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) has contributed a total of $2,178,830 to federal candidates in the 2012 election cycle, according to data released by The Center for Responsive Politics from the Federal

By Carlo Calma  With Election Day getting closer and closer, where do President Barack Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney stand on the state of the real estate

By Amber Statler-Matthews  An improved job outlook, a stabilizing real estate market and a quality, luxury product may help to increase condo sales in Chicago. At least, that’s what Related Midwest is forecasting. The real estate development firm has

By Christian J. Barron Selling new construction takes additional skills than selling an existing home. Agents need to be educated about what goes on in the building process and how this relates to buyers’ needs. Here are four tips

Chicago Agent contacted many Chicagoland developers about their new construction properties, and all up-to-date property information we received is printed on the following pages. Organized by town, consult this grid when helping your buyers find their newly built home.

By Kristi Waterworth  Housing starts are climbing – up 21.5 percent year-over-year in July nationally and a whopping 33 percent year-over-year for the Chicago area, according to the US Census Bureau. Based on July’s numbers, 2012 could see as

Back to results index page The industry looks like it’s on its way back up – the average income in 2011 was $95,000, compared to $70,000 in 2010. In addition, by percentage, 21 percent of agents’ annual income is

Back to results index page  REO sales may be decreasing – 91 percent of agents were involved with less than 20 REO deals in 2011, while 2 percent of agents handled over 100. In addition, rentals make up a

Back to results index page Last year, 27 percent of agents intended to change offices, but this year, only 11 percent of agents intend to make a switch. However, 21 percent of agents are dissatisfied with brokerage

Back to results index page Agents spent more on marketing – about $3,500, or 5.8 percent of their income last year, compared to $2,335, or 4.9 percent of their income in

Back to results index page Agents are spending more and more time online during the day – 81 percent spend more than two hours; only 73 percent of agents spent that much time on the Internet in 2010. The

Back to results index page After seeing an increase in agents moving to 100 percent commission deals in 2010, last year, we saw a shift away from these transaction/desk fee deals towards the more traditional brokerage splits. In 2011,

Back to results index page Agents felt a little friendlier towards associations, with 67 percent saying they would still join if they had access to the MLS without membership, up from 64 percent in 2010. When it comes to

Back to results index page What is the average number of years that Chicago’s real estate agents have spent in the industry? How many years have they been with their current company? Do the work in the city or