With more than 1.2 million members as of Aug. 2016, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) is the largest trade association in the U.S. Its strength is in its numbers, as its collective voice is heard by government at

The real estate industry is no stranger to tech revolutions. The Internet forever changed how people buy and sell real estate, while the advent of high-resolution photography changed the art of listing a home. Listing homes on the Web

It was an experiment straight out of “2001: A Space Odyssey.” In an effort to gauge the accuracy of AI technology, researchers presented real estate journalist John Rebchook with several recommended listings. The recommendations, which were based on a

What apps do you recommend to your clients to help them with any part of the homebuying or selling process? A few agents indicated that they do not have have any: “None. They usually have a favorite they are

In use for more than 25 years and the preferred credit scoring system for 90 percent of top lenders, the FICO Score has long been the dominant metric of creditworthiness for auto lending, credit card decisioning and, of course,

We invited local agents to answer a few questions and give us their perspective on the financing process. Here’s what they said: “Being asked to continually update info they have already provided.” “The various loans at their disposal based

When TRID came into effect in Oct. 2015, the big fear was a consumer-facing one. “TRID is going to delay loan closings,” the industry said. But it hasn’t – at least not for the majority. In Ellie Mae’s most

When Britain voted to leave the European Union back in June, many Americans saw the pound tumble and were left wondering how Brexit could affect them. So what effect did Brexit have on American real estate? In a nutshell,

We reached out to our many homebuilder contacts to get an idea of what developments are happening in Chicagoland. Here’s a look at the new homes that are available or coming soon in the city and the suburbs. Chicagoland

Nearly half of Chicago adults spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing. Seventy-three percent think that housing affordability is a serious problem. And 67 percent believe it is harder to find stable, affordable housing today than

Code violations happen. They do not have to, though, and the better the understanding builders have of each violation and its cause, the better their chances of avoiding them. The National Association of Home Builders released a survey of

What are today’s new homebuyers looking for? A multitude of factors influence the designs, features and materials consumers want. Here are eight trends agents should watch out for and be ready to sell in 2016. According to the American

We surveyed local agents to learn what they think about MRED: what they like, what they dislike, and what features they think the system is missing. Here is a sampling of the anonymous responses: And here are some thoughts

What are agents allowed to say in their listing descriptions? There actually are no specific rules dictating what a real estate agent can and can’t include in an MLS listing, for the simple reason that there doesn’t need to

1. Greet the client and develop rapport – Help the client get comfortable with you. Build trust through authentic interactions. 2. Ask qualifying questions – Ask about what the client is looking for, their financial situation, buying motivation, and timeframe. 3.