Michael Crist

Photo Courtesy: OPEI By Kris Kiser, President & CEO of the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute (OPEI) As the spring selling season kicks into high gear, real estate and staging professionals can help their clients enhance their listings by creating an outdoor space that is attractive to buyers. The family yard not only can expand living… Continue Reading How to Prep a Yard for Spring Buying: 5 Tips

By Dale Swanton You’ve no doubt heard the term “exclusive” or “pocket listing,” referring to a listing that is not promoted on the MLS but is marketed to the listing agent’s brokerage only or to a select group of “in-the-know” agents. Although not illegal or even unethical in and of itself, the practice is rather… Continue Reading Pocket Listings: An Ethical Conundrum

Space photos, supervolcanoes, pickle sandwichs, planting trees by drone, and much more, compiled by Anne-Marie Siudzinski, Senior Library Information Specialist. Goodbye Discovery’s DIY Network, Hello Chip and Joanna Gaines’ new unnamed network to be launched in 2020. Beautiful photos from the International Space Station, taken by Scott Kelly. Scientists are looking out for the next… Continue Reading What We’re Reading: April 15-19

International clients are an important niche market for residential and commercial REALTORS® alike. In the latest 2019 Commercial Real Estate International Business Trends, NAR reported that foreign buyers purchased $4.8 billion of U.S. commercial real estate in 2018.[1] The median value for a buyer-side transaction was $600,000, while the median value for a seller-side transaction was $1… Continue Reading Foreign Buyers Purchased $4.8 Billion in U.S. Commercial Real Estate in 2018

By Kyle Malnati I have handed keys to many people at real estate closings over my 15 year career, but my most memorable career experience happened last week. I was part of a group that gifted a house we built with our own blistered hands to a loving family of three. This experience was part… Continue Reading Real Estate With a Mission

At the national level, housing affordability is up from last month but down from a year ago. Mortgage rates were down from last month at 4.60 percent this February, and up 4.1 percent compared to 4.42 percent a year ago. Housing affordability declined from a year ago in February moving the index down 2.8 percent… Continue Reading February 2019 Housing Affordability Index

Photo Credit: VHT Studios / Chrissy Barrett The real estate professional: Cris Grayson, broker associate at Baird & Warner in Glen Ellyn, Ill. About the home: The five-bedroom home in Glen Ellyn, Ill., was built in 1975. The home has been meticulously maintained, and the homeowners had recently made some updates to the interior as well.… Continue Reading Staged to Sell: A Virtual Transformation

Finding affordable housing can be a challenge. Rents are often compared to the price of housing and many of those who rent desire to own a home. The typical renter has to factor in what portion of their income will they have to commit to housing. Based on NAR’s home affordability index[1], the Midwest has… Continue Reading Which States Have Affordable Housing?

Younger Boomers, buyers aged 54 to 63 years, made up 18 percent of all home buyers in 2018, consistent with the previous year. The median age for this group was 59 years old and they were born between 1955 and 1964. One in four Younger Boomers was a single female buyer (25 percent), the same… Continue Reading Younger Boomers: Largest Share of Single Female Buyers