The results are in! With all the news and changes in the mortgage market, we wanted to know what mortgage professionals thought about the market and recent changes, and what their predictions are for this year. We sent this

After months of speculation, on Jan. 10, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) finally announced its qualified mortgage standards, which are the new, defining lending guidelines for the nation’s banks. Designed to avoid any of the exotic, risky mortgages that

There have been recent reports that certain products have changing guidelines, and that some loans are becoming harder for homebuyers to qualify for. But you should be careful what you read, according to Jon Goldman and Matt Kennedy, senior

As stated in our cover story, one of the main benefits of joining a Realtor association is to access the multiple listing service (MLS). Though syndication sites such as Trulia and Zillow, and online brokerages such as Redfin, offer

With the “broker’s choice” model in place, Chicagoland’s real estate agents are free to join whichever Realtor association suits their fancy, regardless of what region it represents. Why should agents, though, choose one association over another? And how do

As the Senior Director of Communications and Media Relations for the Chicago Association of Realtors (CAR), Barbara Matthopoulos is one of the most widely recognized individuals at the association, and for good reason – her position encompasses nothing less

Many in the industry predicted the housing market would fully recover by 2014. Do you think the market will recover this soon? Why or why not? I agree with that statement, but I think the market will recover quicker

In addition to all of the professional responsibilities of the position, which involve nothing short of direct supervision over the brokerage’s business and the agents it employs, managing brokers are also responsible for setting the tone of the office,

We asked managing brokers and marketing/public relations staff of several brokerages for the information on the following pages. Check out what other companies have to

By Carrie Gable In many industries, real estate in particular, you work for yourself. You may belong to a brokerage or work for a team. In fact, you may get all of your leads and clients from the broker

By Stephanie Sims How can you make sure you’re working with the cream of the crop? How can you assemble a team of top producers? Look for agents with these 10

By Stephanie Sims There are many ways to compose a team – some are a team of two agents, some have a team leader and some have licensed or non-licensed personnel who work on admin, IT, social presence, transaction

Click through to see larger

By Stephanie Sims The need to constantly adapt is the new reality for many, even beyond the information technology business. It’s not just real estate professionals – virtually everyone whose job is touched by computing are being forced to

  Click through for full

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