The RE/MAX network will arrive in Morrison, Illinois on May 9 when Smith & Associates Real Estate, 300 W. Main St., becomes RE/MAX Property Associates. Located 17 miles west of Sterling, Illinois, Morrison is a community of 4,600.
Office broker/owner Louise Clark, as well as agents Jackie Woodman and Sandy Prescott, look forward to being part of Northern Illinois’ leading real estate organization.
Clark spoke about the benefits of joining the RE/MAX Northern Illinois real estate network. “Affiliating with the RE/MAX real estate network brings a lot of pluses to our office,” said Clark. “It gives us a brand name that has worldwide recognition and respect, plus a new level of technological sophistication and enhanced training opportunities that will benefit each of our agents and all of our customers.”
Clark, who lives in rural Morrison with her husband, John, and three children, first entered the real estate industry in 2001. She became a broker in 2003 and purchased Smith & Associates in 2005.
“We feel that being part of the RE/MAX network will give us the opportunity to increase our market share in what has been an extremely active real estate market,” said Clark. “Last year’s real estate activity was the best we’ve had here for a long time. We had a 37 percent increase in transactions in 2007 when compared to 2006, and through the first quarter of this year, we are well ahead of last year’s pace.”
One of Clark’s goals is to add more agents who serve the western portion of Whiteside County, especially those licensed in both Illinois and Iowa. Clark plans to earn an Iowa real estate license because it will enable her office to serve customers in the west end of the county.
“We frequently serve clients who either want to move to the Clinton, Iowa, area or who are moving to Morrison and wonder if we can sell their house in Iowa,” Clark said.
“Our affiliation with RE/MAX should allow us to more effectively serve a broader geographic area, both because of the name recognition that RE/MAX brings and the technological capabilities that the RE/MAX network will allow us to access,” she said.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
RE/MAX Comes To Morrison As Independent Illinois Real Estate Office Joins Top Real Estate Network In Northern
RE/MAX Cityview, Serving Chicago Real Estate In Sauganash And Edgebrook, Plans On Summer Opening
The newest RE/MAX franchise in Chicago will begin serving the Northwest Side communities of Sauganash and Edgebrook this summer.
The broker/owner of RE/MAX Cityview is Robert Padron, a Chicago real estate expert and Edgebrook resident who has operated an independent real estate brokerage and insurance agency for the last five years in the Peterson Park community.
Now, Padron plans to focus his energies on the real estate brokerage business, and is currently looking for an office location near the intersection of Cicero and Devon avenues.
“We are looking forward to establishing RE/MAX Cityview as an integral part of the Sauganash and Edgebrook communities, and we will work hard to earn the business and trust of our neighbors,” Padron said.
He noted that the biggest hurdle he faced as an independent real estate brokerage was name recognition.
“Affiliating with the RE/MAX brand, which is number one in the Chicago area, goes a long way to resolving that issue. Just as important, RE/MAX provides the kind of Internet tools, marketing support and training programs that any brokerage needs if it wants to be successful in the 21st Century real estate marketplace.”
Reared in Skokie and Lincolnwood, Padron started his business career as a partner in a business that provided computer training. That background makes him comfortable dealing with the increasingly technology dependent real estate industry and was a key reason for his interest in RE/MAX.
“My computer skills are quite helpful when training agents. It also will help them take full advantage of the opportunities available through the RE/MAX Web site, www.illinoisproperty.com, and other easy-to-use technology that RE/MAX offers its affiliated agents,” said Padron. “Agent training will be one of my major focuses once the office is up and running.”
Another of the skills that Padron hopes to share with the agents in his office is his familiarity with both residential and commercial real estate transactions.
“The focus of our office will be primarily residential because that is the nature of the community we are serving,” he said. “However, my goal is to have about 20 percent of our sales volume come from commercial real estate because developing and maintaining those skills means we will be positioned to help clients with the full array of their real estate needs.”
In delivering real estate services to his clients, Padron works as a team with his wife, Ramina Padron, an arrangement that will continue once RE/MAX Cityview opens its doors. In addition, both of the Padrons will have management roles in the new office.
RE/MAX Regions Add RealtyTrac Foreclosure Data To Their Real Estate Web Sites
Starting today, April 23, 2008, thousands of RE/MAX Web sites in Northern Illinois, New Jersey, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Michigan have gone live with a new consumer foreclosure property search feature.
The respective RE/MAX Web sites for these states are:
- Illinois real estate site - www.illinoisproperty.com
- New Jersey real estate site - www.remax-nj.com
- Missouri real estate site - www.remax-midstates.com
- Oklahoma real estate site - www.remax-oklahoma.com
- Arkansas real estate site - www.remax-arkansas.com
- Alabama real estate site - www.remax-alabama.com
- Louisiana real estate site - www.remax-louisiana.com
- Mississippi real estate site - www.remax-mississippi.com
- Michigan real estate site - www.remax-michigan.com
The same search feature is also available through individual agent Web sites in these Regions.
This new feature is the result of a strategic partnership between RealtyTrac (www.realtytrac.com), the national leading source of foreclosure data; Reliance Network, a leading developer of Web-based applications for real estate companies and four independently owned RE/MAX Regions.
In 2007, more than 2.2 million foreclosure filings – default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions – were reported on more than 1.2 million properties nationwide. This represents a 75 percent increase in total filings from 2006. The number of foreclosures continues to increase significantly in 2008 as millions of adjustable rate mortgages with teaser rates are reset.
RealtyTrac’s foreclosure data has been added to the comprehensive property search feature on the RE/MAX Web sites so that consumers can access pre-foreclosure and foreclosure properties (including auctions and bank owned) in the same Web site as MLS listings, recently sold properties and neighborhood valuation tools -- thus providing a true 360-degree view of the market.
RE/MAX has a strong commitment to facilitating the interaction between RE/MAX agents and the public. Offering state-of-the-art technology and integrating it with all of the data consumers want to see, enhances the real estate process.
“This is an exciting partnership,” said Rick Sharga, vice president of marketing at RealtyTrac. “This new search application will pull real-time data directly from our nationwide foreclosure database and provide consumers with a method to access distressed properties.”
“We are always looking to enhance our product service offering to our client’s customers,” added Mike Soroker, CEO, Reliance Network.
Monday, April 21, 2008
RE/MAX Real Estate Expert Sponsors Hot Air Balloon Visit To Freedom School In Plainfield Illinois On May 3
An Illinois real estate expert is sponsoring a visit from the RE/MAX Hot Air Balloon to a school in Plainfield, Illinois. The balloon will be part of the annual spring carnival at Freedom Elementary School located at 11600 Heritage Meadows Dr., Plainfield, which runs from 3 to 6 p.m. on May 3. The balloon and its crew will present a special interactive educational program at 4 p.m., and the public is welcome.
The visit is part of an on-going balloon education program developed by RE/MAX Northern Illinois. The presentation covers various aspects of ballooning, its history and the scientific principles involved and will include a demonstration on how the balloon functions. If weather conditions permit, the 75-foot tall balloon will be fully inflated with hot air.
Paula See, a sales associate and Naperville real estate expert with RE/MAX of Naperville in Naperville, Illinois, is sponsoring this event.
