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Welcome to the Chicago Association of REALTORS® blog and news hub. Explore magazine articles, industry updates and more. You can filter by category or tag based on your interests.
As human beings, we receive all types of communications through our own personal filters. Prejudgments, expectations, and built-in defenses can affect how we interpret information and respond. As a result, if we don’t reflect on whether our observations and emotional reactions are based on the correct information, we may make a situation worse. How else […]
Sellers definitely see the value in a broker who will take the time to stage, because a lot of brokers want the seller to do it on their own. Staging is not a trend, but rather a mandatory asset to have in your marketing strategy for any listing; it results in shorter market times and better […]
In 2006, the skyline was filled with cranes, and buyers could sift through the surplus of homes under construction to find the shiny new home of their dreams. But when the market turned, the cranes disappeared, new development came to a near-standstill and most new projects hit the market as rental properties. Today, we are […]
Every minute, there are 277,000 tweets sent, 72 hours of new kitten videos uploaded to YouTube, 416,000 swipes on Tinder, and 27,000 reviews left on Yelp. The world is full of data. It is estimated that there will be more data created in the year 2015 than since the invention of the Internet. We’re capturing […]
REALTORS® must take steps to ensure their safety. A topic of national discussion following last fall’s kidnapping and murder of an Arkansas agent, the industry’s typical practices — working alone, meeting prospective clients at empty homes, and revealing personal details in online bios – have come under great scrutiny. And those who brush off safety […]
In May, the Chicago Association of REALTORS® Foundation invited a panel of three top producing agents from different North American markets to share the secrets to their extraordinary success. Their strategies for defining a clear vision, implementing support systems and building a great culture were too good to keep to ourselves. Once I got focused, […]
NAR 2015 Profile of Home-Buying Activity of International Clients
A rehabilitation of the former Diplomat Hotel into modern, affordable housing, Buffett Place is a unique addition to the Lakeview area. With 51 fully-furnished apartments for individuals with special needs who are at risk for homelessness, 3208 N. Sheffield Ave. serves a need in the neighborhood. However, it also beautifies it, with a rooftop deck […]
Stretching 2.7 miles along a former elevated railway through the Humboldt Park, Logan Square, Bucktown and Wicker Park neighborhoods, the 606 is Chicago’s buzziest new park/trail/art space. Taking its name from the prefix of Chicago’s zip codes, the 606 is a textbook lesson in adaptive reuse, taking a long-abandoned industrial infrastructure and turning it into […]
I am constantly asking my brokers the question, “Are you running a business, or do you have a busy-ness?” We all love time management because we feel like we can control time with to-do lists and the latest apps and gadgets, but that could not be further from the truth. Controlling time is like controlling […]
Now, more than ever, real estate developers throughout the United States are taking advantage of EB-5, a government program aimed at granting permanent residency to foreign investors. The program has an annual cap of 10,000 for these visas, which was reached last year for the first time since the policy was started as a pilot […]
Why does it matter? Misclassifying an employee as an independent contractor excludes an employee from benefits, overtime and unemployment insurance. As an employer, misclassification can lead to severe employer penalties and fines. Misclassification resulted in a $97 million settlement in Vizcaino v. Microsoft. Estrada v. FedEx resulted in an award of $5 million in compensation […]