As you know, our industry is experiencing significant adjustments, my early ascension into the role of president being one of them. Amid these shifts, I want to assure you that we, your leadership team at the Chicago Association of REALTORS®, are committed to supporting you in smoothly and successfully navigating these developments.
I’ve been in this industry for 18 years and have witnessed its many transformations; for example, I started my career in 2005, well before the housing crash of 2008! What I have learned through it all is that we are adaptable, and the best way to navigate these shifts is through continued education and planning.
I’m currently preparing myself and my team for these new changes. We have been meeting and working together to make sure we are continuing to be trusted buyers’ agents; this means making sure we all understand how to explain buyer agreements to our clients and how this may change the homebuying process for them. We have also been preparing our sellers so they are well-informed and understand their options on the selling process.
I’m also making sure that I refresh my knowledge and learn how I can continue to be an asset to my buyers. The association’s REALTORS® Real Estate School is doing this by offering the Accredited Buyers Representative course for free in 2024, and it is a great way to learn how to understand and demonstrate your value to today’s buyer, acquire skills and resources to succeed as a buyer’s agent and to help your buyer find the right place at the right price with the right terms.
Over the last few months, our Forms and Contracts Committee has been hard at work revising some of our core contract offerings in response to the terms of the settlement. They have released revised versions of the Exclusive Right to Sell Listing Agreement, Exclusive Right to Lease Listing Agreement and Exclusive Buyer Broker Agreement, as well as a new Non-Exclusive Buyer Broker Agreement. These forms are available to download in our forms & contracts library on ChicagoREALTOR.com.
We will continue to keep you as informed as possible on the settlement, its terms and how it will affect you at ChicagoREALTOR.com/NARsettlement.
I know that we will be able to face these changes together. I’m proud to be a REALTOR® and advocate for housing every day. We will continue to support one another and provide value to our clients.
Erika Villegas
2024-2025 President
Chicago Association of REALTORS®