Annual Agents’ Choice Awards Honor RE/MAX As Favorite Chicago Real Estate Web Site And Sales & Marketing Company

RE/MAX, the Chicago real estate leader, captured two top awards in the annual Agents’ Choice Awards poll conducted by Chicago Agent Magazine, a professional trade journal.

The Chicago real estate agents participating in the poll named RE/MAX their Favorite Sales and Marketing Company in the Chicago suburbs, and the RE/MAX Web site, www.illinoisproperty.com, their Favorite Web Site in the city and suburbs. This was the third consecutive year that www.illinoisproperty.com named the Favorite Web Site for the suburbs and the first time it won that honor for the City of Chicago.
The winners of the 2008 poll were announced in the Nov. 17 issue of the magazine and were selected based on results of a survey distributed to thousands of Chicago-area Realtors®. Winners in 15 categories received their awards at a ceremony on Nov. 18.

“It is an honor to capture these two important awards,” said Jim Merrion, regional director of the RE/MAX network in northern Illinois. “A tremendous effort goes into making sure our Web site keeps pace with the increasingly sophisticated needs of consumers who use the Internet to find a home or real estate agent. Our Web site is a very productive and user-friendly tool for both agents and the public. It consistently ranks as one of the most visited sites in Chicagoland by compete.com, an online competitive intelligence service.

“We are also delighted that RE/MAX has been named the favorite Sales and Marketing Company in the Chicago suburbs. The award is really a testament to the outstanding service and expertise that agents, owners and managers in RE/MAX offices across the Chicago suburbs provide to the public every day,” said Merrion. “We are pleased they have received this recognition from their peers.”

Chicago Real Estate Agents Raising Funds For CMN At Twice 2007 Pace Despite Difficult Market

The 3,300 northern Illinois real estate agents of the RE/MAX network more than doubled the funds they raised for the Children’s Miracle Network (CMN) through the first 10 months of 2008 despite a real estate market that is among the most challenging in recent memory.

Last year, the northern Illinois real estate network raised $105,000 in the January-October period, before finishing the year at $241,000. Through the first 10 months of this year, donations totaled $218,000. It seems likely the RE/MAX Northern Illinois network will to top its 2007 annual total because a large percentage of annual donations usually are made during the final two months of the year.

RE/MAX is the official real estate sponsor of CMN, and most funds raised for that organization in the northern Illinois region go directly to Children’s Memorial Hospital of Chicago. Contributions from RE/MAX agents in the western part of the region benefit the Children’s Hospital of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa.

The donations to CMN are generated in many ways. A significant portion comes through the Miracle Office program, in which every agent in a RE/MAX office pledges to donate a set amount for each property sold or makes a single annual gift.

Gifts from RE/MAX agents in other offices and donations raised by special events created by RE/MAX offices are the other key sources of support. This year, these special events have included an inter-office softball game, bowling party, Las Vegas night, Hawaiian luau, St. Patrick’s Day party and Miracle Day fund-raising event in Hinsdale co-sponsored by two RE/MAX offices.

“The fund-raising efforts of our agents so far in 2008 have far exceeded our expectations, particularly in relation to the activity level in the real estate market,” said Jim Merrion, regional director of the RE/MAX network in northern Illinois. “It has been a challenging year for all real estate professionals, yet our agents have been persistent in their efforts for CMN reflecting their ‘Above the Crowd!’® commitment to this charity.”

“With the holiday season still ahead of us and several major fundraising events on the calendar, I’m confident we will substantially exceed last year’s total,” Merrion said.

In addition to its sponsorship of CMN, RE/MAX is the exclusive real estate partner and a Platinum Sponsor of Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

The 3,300 RE/MAX associates in northern Illinois are pleased to support the efforts of the hospital through a variety of fundraising activities as they continue to lead in residential real estate.

REMAX.COM Remains Consumers’ Top Choice Among Real Estate Brokerage Web Sites In October

The www.remax.com Web site once again was identified as the most visited Internet destination among all real estate brokerage brands during October, according to Hitwise, a leading online competitive intelligence service that looks at how Web sites are used.

The RE/MAX site ranked seventh in online traffic among all real estate related sites during October and was the top ranked brokerage site. The RE/MAX site captured 1.74 percent of all real estate traffic among Web sites in the real estate category.

“When it comes to real estate brokerage brands, consumers clearly have a strong sense of confidence in RE/MAX. Plus, they find the site delivers the features they want in a user friendly fashion,” said Jim Merrion, regional director of the RE/MAX northern Illinois real estate network. “For millions of consumers in the United States and dozens of other nations, RE/MAX is the first name that comes to mind when they think about real estate.”

Consumers using www.remax.com have access to 95 percent of multiple listing services in the United States, as well as property listings in more than 60 other nations. Buyers can use the site to search listings all across the country, and sellers use it to obtain valuable data about neighborhood property values. In addition to property for sale, many RE/MAX agents also list properties for rent that can be accessed through www.remax.com.