By Elizabeth SanFilippo Turning the Love of Real Estate from a Hobby into a Business Kristine Farra of Gold Coast Real Estate loves shopping for condos the way some women love shopping for shoes. But Farra may be the

Jim Kinney knows about selling high-end real estate, the homes dotting the Chicago area with prices that start at $1.5 million. As vice president of luxury home sales for the Gold Coast office of Baird & Warner, selling the priciest of residences is Kinney’s specialty.

He knows, then, that moving these homes is no easy task.

By Arthur Czaja, Attorney-at-Law, Arthur Czaja & Associates Condominiums and homeowner associations can make a maintenance-free living a reality for many homeowners.  Imagine not having to worry about cutting the grass when the weather gets nice.  Or, imagine not

Sellers might be upset over what you know is the accurate price they should list their home for; buyers may be dissatisfied with stalled negotiations or blame you for their financing fiascos. Whatever the case, there are difficult clients

By Elizabeth SanFilippo Diary of a Lawsuit In January of 2005, Diane Silverman, now managing broker/owner of Urban Search Realty who represented 55 E. Erie, invited employee Mary O’Connor to breakfast at the Peninsula Hotel. Silverman had an offer:

By Dan Provost Every potential real estate transaction is fraught with challenges, from unrealistic pricing expectations from sellers to incorrectly filled-out forms to short sales that blow up when banks refuse offers that are too far below fair market

By Jimy Shannon Let’s face it – leaving one company for another is never easy. It’s tough to leave familiar surroundings, and it’s a challenge to learn new processes. However, as I’ve seen in working with hundreds of agents

When John Haagenson of Better Homes & Gardens Gloor Realty asked himself, “Where is my business going to be in the next 10 to 15 years?” he immediately knew the answer. He wanted to work in the suburbs, where

By Jeff Ristine Changing companies can be a difficult thing to manage in our current real estate market. In the past, you could plan your transition between transactions. However, today, with short sales and home sale contingencies becoming the

In late 2007, Aaron McDonald discovered that different brokerages offer different learning opportunities when he left MetroPro to pursue an opportunity with another associate

By Dan Provost Barbara O’Connor has spent most of her 20-year real estate career at Baird & Warner. Today, though, she is the managing broker at the Lincoln Square office of Chicago’s Dream Town Realty, a position she’s held

When John Wozniak, president of J. Lawrence Homes, was elected as president of HBAGC, he said he wanted to build the organization “back up to what it once was.” Before Wozniak, the focus of the organization seemed to be

Despite what people may believe about the market, new construction is springing up and selling – selling well, in fact, for some developers and projects out there. Here are the updates from those who know: Alan Lev of Belgravia

Like all realms of the real estate business in today’s market, selling new construction requires more effort, diligence and strategy than ever before. The days of opening the door to your model and taking reservations on several units that

The new construction boom and the bursting of the housing bubble left more than a few projects abandoned by their developers. But that doesn’t mean these projects are “dead.” A few of them are being brought back to life

By Liz SanFilippo Imagine the surprise one pair of buyers faced when, during closing, they learned a pipe in the home they were about to buy had leaked, causing at least $1,000 worth of damage to their new home.