By Peter Ricci 2012 has been a great year for Chicago real estate, with its Case-Shiller home price, year-over-year sales data, and now, condo sales, posting their best results in some time. Indeed, after going 11 months without a single

By Peter Ricci The National Association of Realtors’ Confidence Index Report (RCI) is one of the broadest measures around for Realtor business, and the latest index’s finding on average listing time seems to be one of the most optimistic

By Peter Ricci Foreclosure filings in July fell by 10 percent from a year ago, according to the latest U.S. Foreclosure Market Report from RealtyTrac. Encompassing default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions, there were 191,925 filings in July,

At Chicago Agent magazine’s Who’s Who party, we asked agents in attendance how they would handle an appraisal that came in below a home’s contract

By Peter Ricci Let’s be frank – there are some really stupid apps out there. After all, when Apple coined the now iconic phrase “There’s an app for that,” they probably didn’t have Airport Sounds in mind, an app

By Tara Steele, AGBeat After the “Nationwide Open House” held in April, one brokerage asserts through its new report that the effectiveness of an open house is not consistent from city to city. Looking at a quarter of a

Q: How can I make sure prospective buyers at my open house know their financing options? A: Now, more than ever, it’s absolutely imperative your potential buyers know their financing options while they are at an open

LeapRE found that 15.67 percent of properties in the Chicagoland area have hosted open houses so far in 2012. It also appears that most open houses, 58.6 percent, occur on Sunday, then Tuesday (18.7 percent), and then Saturday (7.6

By Ian McKendry According to the National Association of Realtors, nearly 50 percent of all homebuyers use open houses as part of their search, and a new wave of apps for the iPad are taking advantage of leads that

By Peter Ricci It’s one of the titanic arguments in the world of real estate – rent or buy? Indeed, few arguments in our beloved business inspire such fervent support, and few have been fueled more successfully by the

By Carlo Calma Chicago-based non-profit organization Historic Chicago Bungalow Association (HCBA), has announced their partnership with Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s Retrofit Chicago initiative, according to an issued press release. Retrofit Chicago’s Residential Partnership will bring together various organizations to,

By Peter Ricci According to analysis of government documents, the three big government housing institutes – Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) – have decreased their REO housing inventory by more than

By Stephanie Sims With so many agent ratings systems out there, which rating system will show up in Google searches so potential clients can find your stellar ratings? Here are quick snapshots of a few of the top online

By Peter Ricci The seasonally adjusted delinquency rate for mortgage loans on one-to-four unit residential properties declined by 10 percent year-over-year in 2012’s second quarter, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) latest National Delinquency Survey. Though the delinquency rate

By Peter Ricci Real estate website Trulia is reporting that, boosted by fewer housing vacancies and relatively impressive job growth, asking prices have risen in its Trulia Price Monitor for the sixth straight month. A leading indicator on home

By Carlo Calma Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage has announced that brokers Phil Barone and Lori Wyatt have been appointed as co-managing brokers of its Lincoln Square office, while Realtor Susan Swift has been appointed to the managing broker position