5 Pitfalls to Avoid When Getting Started In Real Estate

Pitfalls to Avoid When Starting a Real Estate Career

Residential real estate is a career field that is exciting, dynamic, and incredibly rewarding — with nearly unlimited earning potential and endless opportunities for learning and growth.

It is also a career path that exemplifies the old adage, “you get out of it what you put into it.” Many of the decisions you make early in your career can have an enormous impact on your future — either setting you up to create the sustainable, lucrative, and flexible business you’ve dreamed about, or limiting your capacity to grow and earn over time. 

Want to put yourself in the best position possible for success? Let’s explore five pitfalls or missteps to avoid when getting started in real estate: 

Continue reading “5 Pitfalls to Avoid When Getting Started In Real Estate”

How to Choose the Right Brokerage for Your Chicago Real Estate Career

How to Choose the Right Real Estate Brokerage

As you get started in real estate, joining the right brokerage is one of the most important steps you will take on your journey. The support of your brokerage is one of the biggest contributing factors to getting your new real estate business off the ground quickly and successfully. But with so many choices out there, how will you find the brokerage that will be the right fit for you — and for where you want to take your career next?

I encourage new-to-the-business brokers to look at seven factors when researching real estate brokerages. From most important to least important, those criteria are: 

  1. Access to management and support
  2. Training and coaching
  3. Office culture
  4. Technology
  5. Broker services
  6. Business opportunities
  7. Commission structure
Continue reading “How to Choose the Right Brokerage for Your Chicago Real Estate Career”

Chicago 2021 Market Forecast

2021 Chicago Market Forecast

2020 was an unusual year, to say the least. In the real estate industry, this past year really reinforced the importance of being able to adapt and pivot to new challenges, in order to keep business moving forward.

As we wind down the year, now is the time to look ahead — and start setting down goals and plans for 2021 and beyond. 

Whether you’re an experienced agent doing some yearly business planning, or you’re considering whether or not now is a good time to start pursuing a Chicago real estate career, it’s important to know what’s going on in the market, and what we might expect to happen throughout 2021. 

Like any marketplace, Chicago’s housing market is driven by two primary forces — supply and demand. Let’s take a look at where we expect those factors to be as we head into 2021:

Continue reading “Chicago 2021 Market Forecast”

The Top 5 Things for New Brokers to Focus on When Starting a Real Estate Career

The Top 5 Things for New Brokers to Focus on When Starting a Real Estate Career

There are as many ways to build a real estate business as there are brokers — but in my experience, people achieve the greatest success when they invest time into executing a well-thought-out business plan that emphasizes their expertise and talents. 

Here at the Baird & Warner Lincoln Park office, one of the first things we do with all new agents is sit-down with them  to strategize how they want to build their business.  In our office, our management team spends as much time as necessary with new brokers to help make sure their business plans and goals are ambitious yet achievable. Our management team also schedules regular check-ins throughout the year to help new agents closely monitor their progress toward their goals. 

What goes into a real estate business plan? Simply put, this is the outline for what your business is going to look like, including your goals for the next year — perhaps even on a quarterly basis. 

As a new-to-the-business broker, there are going to be five main things to consider when putting your plan together: 

Continue reading “The Top 5 Things for New Brokers to Focus on When Starting a Real Estate Career”

What Goes Into a Day in the Life of a Chicago Real Estate Broker?

What Goes Into a Day in the Life of a Chicago Real Estate Broker?

One of the best things about a career in real estate is that no two days are exactly alike. With that being said, the most successful real estate brokers have a very intentional approach to each and every day — and put a structure in place that allows them to make the most of each day, while still allowing for flexibility. 

A “Typical” Day In Chicago Real Estate

An active real estate broker is a true entrepreneur — which means wearing many different hats. On any given day, brokers at Baird & Warner – Lincoln Park might spend time on any number of activities. Generally, the most important pieces of a broker’s day center around two core areas:

  • Generating and facilitating new relationships
  • Servicing existing business opportunities
Continue reading “What Goes Into a Day in the Life of a Chicago Real Estate Broker?”

Lincoln Park Agent Spotlight: John Lyons

John Lyons, Baurd & Warner Lincoln Park

John Lyons is known as one of Chicago’s most trusted real estate agents. As a broker, he is passionate about always continuing to learn and find new ways to improve his business and provide a better experience for his clients. And for John, the support he gets from Baird & Warner Lincoln Park helps him to do all that and more.  

John got started in real estate after losing a corporate sales job, which forced him to think differently about his career options.

“That failure made me realize what I didn’t like, and pushed me towards entrepreneurship,” John says. “I was just burnt out and tired, and I realized I didn’t want to work for anybody anymore, particularly a middle manager.” 

Continue reading “Lincoln Park Agent Spotlight: John Lyons”

How New Agents Can Become True Market Experts

How to Learn More About the Market as a New Real Estate Agent

As a real estate broker, one of the core parts of your day-to-day responsibilities is helping buyers and sellers navigate the real estate market. In a city like Chicago, that can be more easily said than done. 

As a city, Chicago is dynamic and ever-changing. No matter how much time you’ve spent here, there’s always something more to see and learn. As the writer Dominic Pacyga once put it: “there seems to be a different Chicago around every street corner, behind every bar, and within every apartment, two-flat, cottage, or bungalow.” 

So, as a new-to-the-business broker, how can you learn more about all of the wonderful aspects that make our area unique — and develop the skills and understanding you need to provide a top-tier experience to your clients? 

Continue reading “How New Agents Can Become True Market Experts”

The Benefits and Opportunities of a Chicago Real Estate Career

Reasons to Start Your Chicago Real Estate Career

Considering launching a new career in real estate? Whether you’re starting with real estate as a first career or transitioning from another field, you should know that you’re entering an industry that is fast-paced and ever-evolving. 

Real estate is a field that can empower you to build up your community, and make a real difference in the lives of countless people. It can be rewarding, exciting, and dynamic — while offering high-earning potential and lots of opportunities to continue learning and growing. 

Debating whether or not to pursue a career in Chicago real estate? On the fence about exploring this field, or getting started with pre-licensing training? One great place to start finding answers may be to think about your why. Why commit to this career — and why now?

Continue reading “The Benefits and Opportunities of a Chicago Real Estate Career”

How Our Support and Training Help Our Experienced Brokers Thrive In Any Market

Baird & Warner Lincoln Park Offers Support and Training Help Our Experienced Brokers Thrive In Any Market

The COVID-19 pandemic has had far-reaching effects on our Chicago community, and the economic impact may continue to be felt for months, if not years to come. This is an unusual and unpredictable time, to say the least — including in the world of real estate. 

We’ve faced some significant challenges in the last 10 years from a real estate perspective, whether it was the financial crisis back in 2009 or the pandemic that we are facing right now. 

In these challenging moments, it’s important to take stock, and think about where you are, and where you’d like to go

Do you have the tools and resources you need to rise to this moment? 

Are you getting the support and training it takes to thrive in any market?

Recently, I’ve been having a lot of conversations with experienced brokers from across Chicago. Market-wide, companies are pulling back on the support and resources that they are offering to the brokers and their offices. This means delegating more to the brokers, while limiting the staff at the office level. 

In moments like this, I believe that support that we offer on the office-level is an important resource to help brokers stay ahead of the curve, pivot quickly to new challenges, and offer a better experience for their clients. 

Continue reading “How Our Support and Training Help Our Experienced Brokers Thrive In Any Market”

Is a Chicago Real Estate Career Right For You?

Is a Career In Real Estate Going to be the Right Fit for You?

“Is a career in real estate going to be the right fit for me?”

As the Designated Managing Broker for Baird & Warner – Lincoln Park, I get this question a lot — both from people who are considering real estate as their first career, and people who are looking to transition from another field. 

Residential real estate is a career that exemplifies the old adage, “you get from it what you put into it.” There is no one right way to be a successful real estate broker, and all kinds of people will be able to achieve incredible things in this field. It doesn’t matter whether you’re introverted or outgoing, or whether or not you already have a large professional sphere in place. Whatever point you’re starting from, there are opportunities for you to learn and grow, as long as you commit to training and developing a plan that will allow you to work toward your goals.

I believe in an individualized approach that encourages every broker to maximize his or her own natural style, strengths, and opportunities with my support and the support of our office as a whole. It is important that we formulate a custom business plan for each broker, and provide support that is ongoing and constantly evolving as the broker’s career path and goals change.

Continue reading “Is a Chicago Real Estate Career Right For You?”