The past 18 months brought ups and downs to the housing market throughout Chicago and the city’s suburbs. With pandemic restrictions lifted and COVID-19 cases at lows not seen since last spring, agents and clients are still dealing with a lengthy inventory shortage and high demand that pushed prices up in many markets.

What are some of the tried and true methods of successful branding? How has it changed with social media and the tumultuous year that had brokers reinventing themselves? We talk with some of the biggest names in the Chicagoland real estate industry to find out more.

While masks and social distance requirements may eventually fall by the wayside, much of the new real estate technology that has surfaced during the pandemic is likely to stick around for the foreseeable future.

Agents are swearing by the year-old Clubhouse app that allows more than 10 million users to host town hall-style audio-only forums on various topics.

To update you on all the exciting new changes in the luxury market, we went directly to the source: luxury brokers. With much candor, they reveal how the market held up this past year, the types of properties that are moving, how the city compares to the suburbs, buyers’ evolving needs and their exciting predictions for the post-COVID world.

LaFido has spent more than 20 years in the industry working in luxury sales and training agents to work in the field. In 2016, he launched his Luxury Listing Specialist (LUXE) certification program.

In this year’s Truth About Agents survey, we go beyond the statistics with an analysis that contextualizes your responses with prior years’ survey results; the 2021 survey also serves up your comments on topics such as agents’ opinions of their brokerages, what their plans are for the future, how much they expect to earn in the coming year and much more.

Have you attempted to renegotiate your commission split in the last 12 months? See what other Chicagoland agents had to say in our 2021 Truth About Agents survey.

Which area of training do Chicagoland agents say they wish they had more of? We asked them in our 2021 Truth About Agents survey.

What kind of agents are managing brokers targeting for recruitment? What’s their biggest challenge in training new agents? The answers are in the 2021 Truth About Agents survey.

Are Chicago agents happy with their teams? Has joining a team helped them grow their business? Find out in our 2021 Truth About Agents survey.

What is the typical Chicagoland homebuyer looking for in a new construction home? We have the answer in our 2021 Truth About Agents survey.

How long have Chicagoland agents and brokers been at their present company? What percentage of them plan to move to a different brokerage over the next year? We have the answers for you in our 2021 Truth About Agents survey.

Explore the demographic makeup of Chicagoland agents and brokers in our 2021 Truth About Agents survey.

To help you best serve clients in these uncertain times, we consulted with three of the city’s top lenders to find out their expectations for 2021 and what changes caused by the pandemic are here to stay.

In our new cover story, hear expert advice from three top producers in Chicagoland.