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BUSINESS TIPS7 THINGS TOP AGENTS DO TO STAY AT THE TOP Top performing real estate agents build businesses that do well in any market. Here are the things experts say top performers consistently do to ensure their businesses grow. Start every day generating leads. Top agents put getting new business above everything else. First thing, they […]

QUOTE OF THE WEEK“Never make predictions, especially about the future.”—Casey Stengel, American professional baseball player and manager NATIONAL MARKET UPDATEThe median monthly payment of purchase mortgage applicants fell in June, showing affordability is improving. This has spurred buyers, as applications for purchase mortgages are now 18% higher than a year ago.The National Association of Home […]

HOW TO PROTECT YOUR HOME DURING A POWER OUTAGEThe U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports that electricity customers experienced an average of 5.5 hours of power interruptions in 2022, 7.3 hours in 2021, and 8 hours in 2020. When the lights go out, it’s not only inconvenient—it can cause major problems. Here’s how to protect […]

QUOTE OF THE WEEK“Every exit is an entrance somewhere else.”—Tom Stoppard, English dramatist NATIONAL MARKET UPDATEThe Pending Home Sales index of signed contracts on existing homes dipped slightly in June, but the National Association of Realtors is unconcerned, as mortgage applications have been rising, a trend that’s likely to continue.Annual home price gains have slowed. […]

QUOTE OF THE WEEK“A person always has two reasons for doing anything: a good reason, and the real one.”—J. P. Morgan, American financier and investment banker NATIONAL MARKET UPDATESales of new single-family homes kicked off the summer buying season with a small gain in June. Best news: median sales prices have fallen nearly 3% the […]

8 STEPS TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM RANSOMWARE ATTACKS Ransomware is malware that infects computers and encrypts files or locks the operating system until a ransom is paid through Bitcoin or some other form of cryptocurrency that’s hard to trace. Once one computer is infected, the ransomware tries to spread to shared storage drives and other […]

  QUOTE OF THE WEEK “I did not have three thousand pairs of shoes. I had one thousand and sixty.”—Imelda Marcos, Filipino politician   NATIONAL MARKET UPDATE   Both Housing Starts and Building Permits rebounded in June, though the gains were all due to multi-families, as single-families slipped. But buyers are looking at the largest […]

Here’s your monthly Chicago Housing Stats video, courtesy of The Jim Passi Team at Alameda Mortgage Corp. For all of your home financing needs in Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Georgia, Tennessee, or Florida, call The Jim Passi Team today at 847-899-1813! Follow our social media pages for more informational tools!

  QUOTE OF THE WEEK “It’s a strange world of language in which skating on thin ice can get you into hot water.”—Franklin P. Jones, American journalist   NATIONAL MARKET UPDATE   The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported purchase mortgage applications surged 9% on the week, to the highest level of activity in two and a […]

    QUOTE OF THE WEEK “Cure for an obsession: get another one.”—Mason Cooley, American aphorist   NATIONAL MARKET UPDATE   Residential construction spending slowed a trifle in May compared to the revised estimate reported for the month before. Homebuilders are curtailing spending as they focus on completions to meet growing buyer demand. The Mortgage […]