RE/MAX Great American North In Wasco Area Of St. Charles Now Under New Ownership

Tim Binning, new owner

Joins Group Serving Western Portion of Metro Chicago Real Estate Market

The RE/MAX Great American North office at 40W160 Campton Crossings Dr., in the Wasco area of St. Charles, Ill., recently was acquired by Tim Binning, the broker/owner of RE/MAX All Pro, which has offices in Bloomingdale and Sugar Grove, Illinois. The three offices, serving the DuPage, Kane, Kendall and Will county portions of the Chicago real estate market, will operate as a group although the Wasco/St. Charles office will continue to be known as RE/MAX Great American North.

“We are delighted to expand our reach in the west suburban market. The Wasco/St. Charles area is an outstanding community, and RE/MAX Great American North has a respected name there, along with a highly capable group of agents, so we don’t want to make a lot of changes,” said Binning. He noted that Bobbie Gerbrecht-Grayson, who has been managing the office for several years, will continue in that role.

“We now have what amounts to a triangle of locations serving the metro Chicago real estate market, and all our agents, no matter which office they use as their base of operations, will be welcome to utilize any of our facilities,” said Binning. “Our focus is on supporting our agents, making sure they have the resources needed to deliver the best possible client service and build successful careers.”

Binning had been a RE/MAX affiliate for five years when he acquired RE/MAX All Pro in Bloomingdale in 1997. In 2005, he acquired the Sugar Grove office, which recently added 15 agents. Now, with his newest acquisition, Binning’s three offices serve more than 65 agents.

“We intend to be among those who master the challenges of the current Illinois real estate market,” Binning said. “It seems as if we’ve been seeing an increase in buyer activity over the last four to six weeks, but we’ll have to see if this translates into sales.”

New Ownership Now In Place At RE/MAX County Line In Burr Ridge

Budd Simmons, new owner

Tradition of Leadership in Suburban Chicago Real Estate Market to Continue

New ownership is now in place at RE/MAX County Line, 84 Burr Ridge Pkwy., Burr Ridge, Ill., with Budd Simons acquiring the successful office in late March from Bonnie Kenyon, its founder and long-time broker/owner. Kenyon originally opened the office in 1982, making it one of the earliest RE/MAX offices serving the metro Chicago real estate market.

“Bonnie will continue as an active agent, but after 30 years, she was ready to step away from the day-to-day demands of managing a real estate office,” said Simons, who has been a real estate professional for 12 years.
His real estate career began as an agent in Florida in 1998. Three years later he relocated to the Chicago area to manage a 1.5 million-square-foot portfolio of retail and professional buildings for a group of private investors. In 2008 he left his property management position to join RE/MAX County Line and return to real estate sales.

“At that point, I was ready to go out on my on my own again,” said Simons, 42. “In acquiring RE/MAX County Line, I’ve taken that impulse a step further, but owning my own office was something I’ve been thinking about for several years.”

Simons already has repainted the office and installed a new computer system with wireless network. All new furnishings also have arrived, and the office will soon have access to RSN, the RE/MAX satellite TV channel that provides both training and market information to agents.

“The office had long been quite successful, but it needed some modernization to incorporate the best of contemporary technology and help agents stay ahead of a marketplace that is developing quite rapidly,” Simons said. “The Burr Ridge, Hinsdale, Downers Grove market, which is our primary service area, is a great place to be within the metro Chicago real estate market. It is a stable area with a large supply of mid-priced and high-end homes that has weathered the current real estate downturn better than many areas.”

He plans to add commercial and property management divisions to the office later this year to take full advantage of his own real estate background, which includes work in both areas. A native of Kenosha, Wis., and a U.S. Navy veteran, Simons now lives in Willowbrook, IL.