Chicago Agent sent out a comprehensive survey to find out the truth about agents, and to compare the results for the year 2011 to our results from 2010. We received an overwhelming number of responses (special thanks to our

By Peter Ricci This week, Chicago Agent is proud to unveil a new editorial feature, one that just about every real estate professional should be familiar with – a collection of truly, horribly, awesomely bad MLS

By Peter Ricci The National Association of Realtors (NAR) did some serious political flexing this week with the GOP and its stance on the mortgage interest tax deduction. The Republican Party boldly excluded the deduction – long the third

By Ian McKendry Agents who want to work more efficiently are often turning to technology solutions to help them be more productive. Cartavi, a real estate technology company that teamed up with electronic signature provider DocuSign in January and

By Carlo Calma, Peter Ricci On account of rising mortgage interest rates, mortgage applications fell 7.4 percent for the week ending August 17, according to the latest Weekly Mortgage Application Survey from the Mortgage Banker’s Association (MBA). And indeed, rates

By Peter Ricci New residential home sales increased 25.3 percent year-over-year in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 372,000, according to the latest joint report from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban

By Carlo Calma Chicago-based mortgage lending company, Guaranteed Rate, has been recognized by real estate publications Banker & Tradesman and The Commercial Record, according to an issued press release. The company was listed as “one of the 50 fastest

By Peter Ricci Existing-home sales reversed recent declines in July, rising 2.3 percent from June and 10.4 percent from July  2011, according to the National Association of Realtors. Median existing-home price was equally optimistic for the month, increasing yearly

By Peter Ricci Home sales in the nine-county Chicago area increased 29.1 percent year-over-year in July, according to the latest data compiled by the Illinois Association of Realtors (IAR). For the state of Illinois and City of Chicago, home

By Carlo Calma Chicago-based real estate firm @properties has been listed among Inc. magazine’s  2012 “Inc. 5000″ list of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies, according to an issued press release. Listed for the sixth year in a row, @properties

By Peter Ricci Foreclosure sales present significant benefits to potential homeowners, the biggest one being the price – according to the most recent existing-home sales report from the National Association of Realtors, foreclosures sold for an average discount of

By Peter Ricci One year after Zillow became the latest tech darling on the NASDAQ, the Trulia IPO has been officially announced for $75 million. Taking advantage of a new provision in the JOBS Act that allows midsize companies

By Peter Ricci More than seven months after its initial unveiling, Barack Obama’s refinancing plan will make a return to Capital Hill on September, as the president renews calls for Washington to assist the nation’s underwater homeowners. The announcement

By Stephanie Sims Historically, many of the world’s tallest buildings, like the Empire State Building and the Willis Tower, were built to house offices, but once the idea of living in a massively-tall building grew in popularity about a

By Peter Ricci We’ve been exploring the rapidly falling housing inventory for some time now, and though analysts have offered explanations for the decline, we had not yet seen a consumer-driven survey on the issue – until now with Redfin’s Real-Time Home

Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED), Chicagoland’s multiple listing service (MLS), announced that it has launched the new MREDLLC.com. This redesigned website gives real estate professionals across the Midwest a more interactive and user friendly site with which to learn