Chicago Real Estate Expert To Bring RE/MAX Hot Air Balloon To Bristol Grade School On May 29

Chicago real estate expert Mary Ann Schaper will delight the students at Bristol Grade School located at 23 Hunt St., Bristol, Ill., when she and the RE/MAX balloon team bring the RE/MAX Hot Air Balloon to the school on May 29 to present a special interactive educational program. Schaper is a sales associate at RE/MAX Great American II in Yorkville, Illinois. The visit is part of an on-going balloon education program developed by RE/MAX Northern Illinois, the Chicago real estate leaders.

The 330 students at the school will see a presentation that covers various aspects of ballooning, including its history, the scientific principles involved and a demonstration on how the balloon functions. The program will be presented at 1 p.m. The presentation will begin in the school gymnasium, and if conditions permit, the 75-foot tall balloon will be fully inflated with hot air outdoors on the school grounds.

Yorkville Real Estate Professional To Bring RE/MAX Hot Air Balloon To Yorkville Intermediate School On May 30

Yorkville real estate professional Mary Ann Shaper has a special treat in store for the students at Yorkville Intermediate School located at 103 Schoolhouse Road, Yorkville, Ill. On May 30, she and the RE/MAX balloon team will bring the RE/MAX Hot Air Balloon to the school to present a special interactive educational program. Schaper, is a sales associate with RE/MAX Great American II in Yorkville, Illinois. The visit is part of an on-going balloon education program developed by RE/MAX Northern Illinois, the Chicago real estate leaders.

The 580 students at the school will see a presentation that covers various aspects of ballooning, including its history, the scientific principles involved and a demonstration on how the balloon functions. The program will be presented at 9 a.m. If weather conditions permit, the presentation will take place outdoors and the 75-foot tall balloon will be fully inflated with hot air. Should the weather fail to cooperate, indoor programs will be held at 9 and 10 a.m.

Willow Springs Real Estate Agent Finds Fun, If Not Fortune, On TV’s ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire’

It was an exciting few days in New York for Willow Springs real estate agent Linda Saracco when she was chosen to be a contestant on the popular TV show, “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.” Saracco is a sales associate at RE/MAX Market in Willow Springs, Ill., which is part of RE/MAX Northern Illinois, the Chicago real estate leaders.

Her TV adventure started late last summer when she received, within minutes of each other, calls from two relatives urging her to attend a Chicago-area audition for a special once-a-year version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” in which the questions are all about the movies. Saracco is legendary among friends and family for her encyclopedic knowledge of films.

To qualify for the show, Saracco joined 4,000 would-be contestants to audition on a rainy day. She took and passed two tests, one for the special movie edition of the show, which is co-sponsored by Netflix, and another for the regular version of the program. Then, over a five-week period, she went through a range of additional tests and interviews before learning she was one of 10 potential contestants who would be invited to New York. The 10 were selected from among 20,000 who auditioned around the country for the Netflix show.
However, not all 10 contestants were guaranteed a chance to play because of time limitations. Saracco never got the chance to sit in the Hot Seat, as the contestants’ chair is called on “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” but because she also had qualified to play the regular version of the game, the producers offered her a chance to do that the next day.

“I felt very fortunate to get that opportunity, but I hadn’t prepared at all for the regular version of the game,” Saracco recalled. “All my studying had been for the movie version, and all the folks I had lined up as potential phone-a-friends were also people whose expertise was in movies. But my family came to the rescue and found several people who would sit home the next day and be ready to offer help if I called.”

When the game began, Saracco progressed smoothly, successfully answering the first eight questions. Then, she was asked to which of four musical instruments the word “tantara” would apply. As it turned out, Saracco’s lifelines didn’t help her puzzle out the answer, and she decided to take her $8,000 in winnings and depart. By the way, tantara is the word for the blast of a trumpet or other horn.

“I relished the experience of qualifying for and playing the game and met a lot of terrific people, especially some of the other contestants,” Saracco said.
When the show on which she appeared finally was aired this May, Saracco and her friends and family held a viewing party at a local restaurant to celebrate.

“That made the whole thing an even more memorable experience,” said Saracco. “In the final analysis, the money wasn’t that important though it was nice to win enough to cover my expenses. It was just a lot of fun all around.”

RE/MAX World Long Drive Announces 2008 Northern Illinois Competition Schedule

RE/MAX, the Chicago real estate leaders, is hosting World Long Drive qualifiers in northern Illinois for the 2008 season beginning June 21. All golfers can experience the challenge and excitement by competing in one of five divisions: the highly competitive Open Division, Women’s Division, Men’s Senior Division (45 to 52), Men’s Super Senior Division (53 to 60) and Men’s Grand Champion Division (61 and over).
The RE/MAX WLDC, organized by the Long Drivers of America, Inc. (LDA), provides an unsurpassed competitive arena testing how far and straight participants can drive a golf ball.

As part of the championship competition, a series of local qualifying events are scheduled this summer in northern Illinois. The RE/MAX WLDC gives competitors a chance to test their long driving skills against their friends as well as some of the world’s biggest hitters.

The entry fee is $40 for men’s Open and Senior divisions, $30 for the Women’s, Super Senior and Grand Champion divisions. It entitles a competitor to hit six golf balls at a 40-yard-wide measuring grid. Men’s drives must travel 250 yards to reach the grid; women’s drives must travel 200 yards.

Time permitting, a competitor may enter more than once, but a separate entry fee must be paid each time. Golf clubs used by competitors must be on the USGA list of conforming clubs.

Northern Illinois local qualifying events currently are scheduled on the following dates (additional qualifying events are likely to be added):
June 21, Saturday
Two events -- 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 1:30 to 4:30 p.m., Golf Shack, 1631 Bell School Rd., Rockford, Ill., 815-332-9998. Event director is Glen Stroberg.

June 28, Saturday
1 p.m. to 5 p.m., Deer Creek Golf Club, 25055 Western Ave., University Park, Illinois, 708-662-6667. Event director is Dave Zajac, Sr.

Sept. 5, Friday
Two events -- 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 1:30 to 5 p.m., Golf Shack, Rockford, IL Event director is Glen Stroberg.

The Illinois-Wisconsin District Championship will take place Sept. 6-7 at the Golf Shack in Rockford, where top finishers in all divisions from local qualifying events will compete for slots in the world championship finals.

In the finals, competitors in the Women’s, Open, Senior, Super Senior and Grand Champion divisions can earn a share of a $600,000 purse (the largest in the history of the competition). The finals will be held Oct. 20 through 25 at the Palms Golf Club in Mesquite, Nev.

For more information about the RE/MAX World Long Drive Championship, call 888-233-4654 or go to http://www.longdrivers.com/.

Naperville Real Estate Agent To Bring RE/MAX Hot Air Balloon To Yorkville, IL, Middle School On June 5

Naperville real estate agent Lisa Koonce will help the students at Yorkville Middle School, 702 Game Farm Road, Yorkville, Ill., learn about hot air ballooning on June 5

The RE/MAX Hot Air Balloon team and its crew will come to the school to present a special interactive educational program. The visit is part of an on-going balloon education program developed by northern Illinois real estate professionals of RE/MAX Northern Illinois network. Koonce is an agent in the RE/MAX of Naperville (South) office located in Naperville, Illinois.

The 560 seventh-grade and eighth-grade students at the school will see a presentation that covers various aspects of ballooning, including its history, the scientific principles involved and a demonstration on how the balloon functions. The program will be presented twice, at 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. If weather conditions permit, the presentation will take place outdoors and the 75-foot tall balloon will be fully inflated with hot air.

20 RE/MAX Chicago Real Estate Offices Ranked Among The Nation’s Most Productive Real Estate

Twenty Chicago real estate offices and office groups in the RE/MAX Northern Illinois network, operating a total of 50 offices across the region, recently were spotlighted in the nation’s most prestigious survey of real estate office productivity.

The 2008 Real Trends 500, an annual report from Real Trends magazine, is a ranking of the 500 leading real estate offices or office networks with common ownership in the nation. The offices are ranked based on prior-year transaction volume, as well as by sales volume.

Nine Chicago real estate RE/MAX firms operating a total of 30 offices were ranked in the Real Trends 500 for both transactions and sales volume. One firm with a single office ranked among the top 500 firms in sales volume only. Ten RE/MAX firms operating 19 offices in the region made the Real Trends Up-and-Comers list for closing 500 or more transactions. RE/MAX Northern Illinois offices accounted for 11 percent of the 186 RE/MAX affiliates in the United States recognized by Real Trends.

The top ranked RE/MAX organization in northern Illinois was RE/MAX Suburban, which has offices in Arlington Heights, Glen Ellyn, Libertyville, Mt. Prospect, Schaumburg and Wheaton. It was ranked 130th in sales and 141st in transaction activity.

The Real Trends rankings for RE/MAX Northern Illinois offices are:

RE/MAX Suburban, Arlington Hts., Glen Ellyn, Libertyville, Mt. Prospect, Schaumburg, Wheaton

Transaction Side Rank: 141st
Sales Rank: 130th

RE/MAX TEAM 2000, Orland Park, Palos Hts

Transaction Side Rank: 250th
Sales Rank: 248th

RE/MAX Unlimited Northwest, Algonquin, Cary, Crystal Lake, Lake Zurich, Palatine

Transaction Side Rank: 302nd
Sales Rank: 243rd

RE/MAX ‘10’, Oak Lawn, Palos Park, Homer Glen

Transaction Side Rank: 326th
Sales Rank: 342nd

RE/MAX City, Realtors®, Chicago

Transaction Side Rank: 363rd
Sales Rank: 335th

RE/MAX Showcase, Gurnee, Lake Forest, Long Grove, Waukegan

Transaction Side Rank: 382nd
Sales Rank: 358th

RE/MAX Professionals/Excels, Geneva and St. Charles

Transaction Side Rank: 401st
Sales Rank: 310th

RE/MAX Central, Roselle, and RE/MAX Central West, West Dundee

Transaction Side Rank: 457th
Sales Rank: 453rd

RE/MAX Great American/Town & County, Aurora, North Aurora, St. Charles, Yorkville

Transaction Side Rank: 477th
Sales Rank: 489th

RE/MAX Professionals Select, Naperville

Sales Rank: 466th

REAL TRENDS UP-AND-COMERS:

RE/MAX Realty of Joliet, Joliet

RE/MAX On Track, Aledo and Rock Island

RE/MAX South Suburban, Flossmoor

RE/MAX Action, Lisle and Oak Brook

RE/MAX Properties, La Grange and Western Springs

RE/MAX Property Source, Rockford

RE/MAX Experts, Buffalo Grove

RE/MAX Sauk Valley, Sterling

RE/MAX Affiliates, Aurora and Naperville

RE/MAX Horizon, Elgin

“The recognition Real Trends gives each year for the exceptional productivity of so many of our offices makes it clear that RE/MAX agents have the skills and commitment to deliver results in all types of market conditions,” said Jim Merrion, regional director of RE/MAX Northern Illinois. “Our network takes real pride in the offices honored by Real Trends for their 2007 achievements.”