Improving Your Business

Stories, articles and advice aimed at improving your business

The Top 20 Most Unsafe Passwords for Your Real Estate Business

SplashData, a security solutions provider, released their annual list of the most commonly used passwords on the Internet. Using any of the passwords can leave people at risk from hackers getting to their information. Since 2013, the two most

What You’re Missing at the NAHB International Builders’ Show

If you’re a serious builder, chances are that right now (this very moment), you’re either at the NAHB’s International Builders’ Show or want to be. If you’re among the unlucky few who weren’t able to make the trip to

3 Ways Twitter’s New Character Limit Will Change Your Marketing

One of Twitter’s greatest weaknesses is also its greatest strength Last week, Twitter announced that sometime in the first quarter of 2016, it is removing its 140-character limit in favor of 10,000 characters. The Huffington Post noted the irony of

Using Technology in Your Real Estate Marketing, Part One

This is the first part in a two-part series on how to use technology to engage with your clients. Read part two here. 7. Recognize that there are 13,000 agents in Chicago and darn near all of them are saying

Microsoft to Cease Support for Older Versions of Internet Explorer

It’s a been a good ride, but it’s over for older versions of Internet Explorer Time to update your version of Internet Explorer! Microsoft has announced that on Jan. 12, it will cease supporting older versions of its popular Web

Twitter to Expand Character Limit to 10,000

Twitter announced that they would be expanding the character limit to 10,000 characters per tweet, effectively removing the limit. The feature is planned to be released by the end of the first quarter, but both the character limit and

Chicago Among Nation’s Most Prominent Smart Home Hubs

A study conducted by realtor.com found that some of the top cities in the U.S. for smart home technology are Phoenix, Dallas, New York, Chicago, Houston, Miami and Atlanta. Smart technology, according to CNET, can include products/tools that control

5 Real Estate Trends to Expect in 2016

How will the 2016 housing market take shape? When all the statistics are tallied, 2015 will likely have been the best year for new home sales since 2007, which has raised expectations for 2016. Realtor.com has highlighted five housing trends

Nearly Half of Homes will have Smart Home Tech by End of 2016

Survey Finds that a Majority of Homes will have Smart Technology in 2016 A new survey released by Coldwell Banker Real Estate, which polled more than 4,000 Americans, found that almost half of homeowners (45 percent) will have smart

Home Price Growth in Chicago Again Nation’s Lowest in October

Home prices in Chicago inched forward only 1.3 percent from Oct. 2014 to Oct. 2015, but month-over-month fell 0.7 percent, according to the new Case-Shiller Home Price Indices from Standard & Poor’s. For another month, Chicago home price growth

5 Chicagoland School Districts Among Nation’s Top 25

Five districts in the Chicagoland area are among the top 25 in the country, according to a new ranking from analytics website Niche. The New Trier Township High School District No. 203 in New Trier Township was the highest ranked

Homebuyers Increasingly Seek One-Stop Home Shopping

One-stop shopping offers benefits to homebuyers, but they still want agents’ help Fifty percent of recent homebuyers used one source, or one-stop shopping (OSS), to procure homebuying services, according to a National Association of Realtors survey. That is compared to 29 percent

What Size Homes Do Consumers Want in 2015?

What is the preferable home size? The median size for homes purchased in 2015 was 1,900 square feet, according to the 2015 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers from the National Association of Realtors. Beyond that median, though, NAR uncovered

How Do American Driving Habits Affect Real Estate?

Although it’s still far from its pre-recession peak, car transportation is up There has been a significant increase in the number of Americans driving, according to a report released by Doug Short of Advisor Perspectives. The report looked at the estimated

Pew Trust: American Finances on Uncertain Footing

The economy continues to recover, but Americans’ finances are still stuck in the mud A surprisingly large share of Americans are in a precarious financial state, according to a new, detailed study from The Pew Charitable Trust. For its study,

Study: The Best Teachers in the U.S. Work in New Trier Township

New Trier Township High School District No. 203 has the best teachers in the U.S., according to a new analysis from Niche. Basing its rankings on student and parent reviews of teachers, teacher salaries, teacher absenteeism, teacher tenure and

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