Cindy and Tony Banks, the team behind the recent RE/MAX Cornerstone purchase.

Cindy and Tony Banks, a husband-and-wife team that has worked in real estate for 26 years, purchased RE/MAX Cornerstone, a brokerage located at 480 E. Roosevelt Road in West Chicago.

Cindy, who has sold more than $500 million of real estate during her career and has been a member of RE/MAX’s Top 20 for more than a decade, said the time seemed right for the purchase.

“The timing is right for growth in the real estate market, and for an uptick in the residential and commercial real estate markets in the western suburbs,” she said.

The latter remark about an “uptick” in the markets was a key factor in the Banks’ decision to purchase RE/MAX Cornerstone. Though residential real estate has been through some challenging times, the Banks say the market is poised for a turnaround, and they are looking forward to running RE/MAX Cornerstone.

Tony said that among the many advantages the RE/MAX office presents, its efficient systems, marketing efforts, competitive position and high-tech environment are the most notable.

In addition to Cindy’s experiences, Tony has also worked as a mortgage loan officer for more than 10 years, which will also be a big part of RE/MAX Cornerstone, he said. In addition to loans and client service, Cindy and Tony said they will use their connections to recommend local home inspectors and title companies to assist in the short sale/foreclosure process, an increasingly important trend in today’s market.

The two added they will also implement a simple set of goals for managing the brokerage.

“We want to continue to assist first-time and upgrading buyers, as well as our investors, in securing the best values in this market. We will provide knowledge through years of experience to our sellers and all of our clients regarding the entire real estate process.”