RE/MAX Northern Illinois Real Estate News Coverage

11/12/09
RE/MAX Executive Lauds Extension of Home Buyer Tax Credit Will Help Chicago Real Estate Market, Especially Condos
Associates | Prudent Press Agency 
The extension and expansion of the tax credit for home buyers that was signed into law by President Obama should help the metropolitan Chicago real estate market continue its recovery, according to Jim Merrion, regional director of the RE/MAX Northern Illinois real estate network. T

11/10/09
Gear Up for a Strong 2010
Realtor Magazine | G.M. Filisko
Though 2009 may prove to be a year many brokers would rather forget, your company’s success going forward may well depend on how effectively you incorporate this year’s results into your future plans.

11/10/09
The 2009 Agents' Choice Awards
Chicago Agent Magazine
The people have spoken once again, and this is what they have to say: the following 17 companies and projects are the best of the best in the Chicagoland real estate industry.

10/23/09
Eyeing a Bucktown Penthouse (Video)
Dennis Rodkin | Chicago Magazine
List Price: $1,175,000. The Property: This two-level penthouse unit is at Aspen 6, a Bucktown building. Its distinguishing feature (not visible from the street) is an enclosed second-story courtyard, shaped approximately like an eye, that all the condos look into.

9/11/09
RE/MAX Northern Illinois Real Estate Network Announces Plans for September Food Drive
Associates |  Chicago Agent Magazine
Responding to the difficult economic times that have put a special strain on area food pantries, the RE/MAX northern Illinois real estate network has announced that it will be holding a food drive throughout the month of September to benefit local pantries.

9/3/09
RE/MAX Only Major Competitor To Increase Share Of Sold Listings In Chicago Real Estate Market During First Half Of 2009
Associates |  Individual.com
The RE/MAX Northern Illinois real estate network saw its market share of listed attached and detached properties sold in the City of Chicago real estate (www.illinoisproperty.com/prweb) market increase to 8.3 percent during the first half of 2009, up from 6.5 percent at the end of 2008.

8/29/09
Buying at the Bottom
Kerrie Kennedy |  Chicago Free Press
Have we hit bottom yet? Many real estate agents seem to think so.

8/18/09
Real estate rebound? Existing-home sales inch upward in Chicago region
Mary Ellen Podmolik |  Chicago Tribune
July sales of existing homes in the Chicago region posted the first year-over-year gain in at least two years, a sign that the local housing market may have, from a sales volume standpoint, bottomed out.

3/11/09
Chicago Real Estate Sales Of Detached Homes Turn In Best Showing In 2008 
Staff |  EMedia Wire
In a notable reversal from the pattern seen during the prior year, 2008 sales of detached homes in the metropolitan Chicago real estate market were stronger than sales of attached homes despite an overall slowdown in housing activity.

2/22/09
RE/MAX Agent Coordinates Nationwide Free Foreclosure Tours; First Chicago Real Estate Tour Is Feb. 28 
Staff | PRWeb
American Foreclosure Tours was created last year by RE/MAX agent Matthew McCarthy, who is affiliated with RE/MAX of Barrington in Barrington, Ill. He began offering foreclosure tours of Illinois real estate last spring in the Chicago suburbs.

2/15/09
$500,000 
Staff | Chicago Tribune
Three suburban homes that have sold recently.

2/8/09
$450,000 
Staff | Chicago Tribune
Three homes that have sold recently—one in the city and two in the
suburbs

1/30/09
Feeling squeezed?
When a compact fits the budget but life doesn't fit a compact, more people turn to rentals
Leslie Mann | Chicago Tribune
Existing home sales in Southern states fell nearly 7 percent in December compared to the same month last year, while the median sales price slid 8 percent to $158,600, the National Association of Realtors reported Monday.

1/26/09
Home Sales Fall 7 Percent in the South in December
Southern home sales down nearly 7 percent in December; prices still falling
ADRIAN SAINZ | AP Real Estate Writer
Existing home sales in Southern states fell nearly 7 percent in December compared to the same month last year, while the median sales price slid 8 percent to $158,600, the National Association of Realtors reported Monday.

1/26/09
Local Survey - Homes Become More Modest As Builders Keep Costs Down
Editors | RISMEDIA
Not long ago, every American family seemed to be seeking a trophy house-and new homes rapidly became bigger and grander as builders responded to those demands in the Illinois real estate and Chicago real estate markets. Today, the situation has changed markedly, especially for Chicago homes priced at $400,000 or less, but even homes in higher price brackets are making a nod toward modesty.

1/25/09
Sales are slow all over, but some neighborhoods see median prices climb
Suzanne Cosgrove | Chicago Tribune
Chicago real estate prices certainly were challenged in 2008, and the number of units sold was down virtually across the board as the economy weakened.

1/18/09
Return trip
Many Poles who once flocked to Chicago are going back to Poland. Life may be kinder there than here.
Tom Hundley | Chicago Tribune
When Poles dreamt of America, more often than not they dreamt of Chicago.

1/17/09
Take a peek inside million dollar homes, even if you cannot buy
Deborah Donovan | Daily Herald Staff
Let's say you're in the market for a home listed at $1 million or more. What would you see in houses that merit this rarefied price range?

1/16/09
Hidden Oak Brook
Bustling DuPage community is open for living as well as business
Leslie Mann | Special to the Tribune
Named for the polo club that its founder, Paul Butler, had organized in 1922, Oak Brook is one of Chicago's youngest suburbs, although it doesn't fit most people's definition of a suburb.

12/23/08
Existing Home Sales Sink in South
Existing home sales in South sink nearly 24 pct in November, prices off 11 pct from last year
ADRIAN SAINZ | AP Real Estate Writer
Existing home sales in Southern states sank nearly 24 percent in November compared to the same month last year, while the median sales price fell nearly 11 percent to $154,500, the National Association of Realtors reported Tuesday.

12/14/08
Selling strategy during holidays 
Bill Cunniff | Sun-Times Staff Writer
Many homeowners around the Chicago area think the best Christmas present they could receive would be a full-price offer on the home they've been trying to sell. For just that reason, many sellers may be tempted to go to special lengths to attract buyers during the holidays.

12/14/08
Ho, ho, no!
With Scrooge putting a chill over the economy this season, a home for sale needs special sparkle
Suzanne Cosgrove | Chicago Tribune
November through January are always slow months in the real estate market, and sellers may be tempted to put on all their holiday best to stand out this year. But classy and low-key are the watchwords, real estate experts say.

12/5/08
Homes near train stations possess extra sales appeal
Marcy Marro | Special to the Sun-Times News Group
In suburban Chicago, home sales in communities served by Metra commuter trains have declined less sharply than suburban Chicago as a whole has. While these homes aren't selling any more quickly, an analysis of recent sales by RE/MAX looked at three factors: the number of homes sold, the average number of days those homes spent on the market and the average sales price.

11/25/08
Housing gamble: Rent to sell
Some Chicago Realtors pushing homeowners to sell and/or rent languishing properties
Deb Quantock McCarey | Contributing Reporter Chicago Journal
Jim Merrion, regional director of the RE/MAX network in northern Illinois, asserts that in the Chicago area, for his real estate franchise, homes that sold during the third quarter of this year were on the market an average of 153 days, or five months.

11/17/08
2008 Agents' Choice Awards
Editors | Chicago Agent Magazine
The people have spoken, and this is what they have to say: the following 14 companies and projects are the best of the best in the Chicagoland real estate industry.
2008 Favorite Sales & Marketing Company Suburbs
2008 Favorite Brokerage Web Site

08/25/08
Life as a Rookie: Succeeding as an Industry Novice
Meghan Boyer | Chicago Agent Magazine
From working in a tough market to existing on a commission-based income, there are many challenges new industry members must face. But with a lot of hard work and perseverance, rookie agents and lenders can achieve the same success as any veteran.

10/08/07
Facing Advancing Technologies
K.K. Snyder | Chicago Agent Magazine
Are you frightened by new technology? If so, now is the time to step out into the world and face the software and technological advances seemingly offered at every turn. Though you might feel overwhelmed, it is important to be in the know. Many have already begun to utilize these advances and you don’t want to be left in the dust. The strides made in software products equal powerful tools in your Realtor arsenal.

05/21/07
How High Tech Are You?
K.K. Snyder | Chicago Agent Magazine
Blogging, PDAs, Bluetooth, Smart Phone; you know the buzzwords, but are you taking advantage of the technology to increase your sales and networking opportunities? If not, you may be losing out to those in the industry who embrace the efficiency of new technology, especially when it simplifies day-to-day tasks.

05/07/07
Chicagoland’s Rising Communities
Stephanie Sims | Chicago Agent Magazine
It’s funny how a Chicago neighborhood or suburb that people once claimed had “nothing there” or was “a bad neighborhood” can sprout condos, townhomes and retail over a relatively short period of time, turning the area into a bona fide hotspot and attracting residents like flies to honey. Chicago Agent has compiled several spotlights of progressive areas that show no signs of slowing down. If you haven’t been in these neighborhoods lately, you don’t know what you – or your buyers – are missing.

03/13/06
Make Your Web Site Work For You
John Upton | Chicago Agent Magazine
What’s better: a unique Web site or a Web site that earns money? Yes, they’re mutually exclusive. Our virtual selves are fickle gluttons for immediate gratification. In the seconds it takes a surfer to meander through a complicated site, he will more likely quit and ask Google for an alternative than continue to navigate.