With over a billion dollars in sales and 20+ years of real estate experience, Carrie McCormick is one of the most recognized names in Chicago real estate. Carrie has an unsurpassed reputation for white glove client service, ingenious marketing strategies and outstanding results. An award-winning and top-ranked real estate broker, Carrie has earned coveted industry accolades for her performance, as well as consistent compliments from her vast network and clients who repeatedly refer her business. Honest, trustworthy and reputable are just some of the qualities she possesses.
“It is hopeless for the occasional visitor to try to keep up with Chicago-she outgrows his prophecies faster than he can make them. She is always a novelty; for she is never the Chicago you saw when you passed through the last time.”―Mark Twain, Life On The Mississippi 1883
What is Carrie’s secret? McCormick is available to clients 24/7. “I communicate often and educate them on the market,” she says. “My clients and I are a team. It is important that we work together to create a successful outcome.” Selling real estate is about knowing what you are selling and articulating what the value is. Year after year, that focus has led to her placement in the top 1% for the Chicago Association of Realtors. She has also earned the association’s Bronze, Silver and Gold awards and been named a Top Social Media Contributor. Last year, she started a podcast to share tips and market information with her colleagues and clients. “My job is to provide a perfect real estate experience for my clients. I have built a support system that does just that”.Questions for Carrie:
1. Understanding Chicago. Who is moving there and why? We’ve come a long way from meatpacking and manufacturing so what keeps Chicago relevant in the 21st century?
2. The Luxury Market. Let’s define what luxury means in Chicago. What are luxury buyers demanding in terms of high-end design, space considerations, amenities, location. What’s in store for the luxury market here during 2023 and beyond?
3. Luxury Neighborhoods. Talk to us about the key neighborhoods. Where is the luxury market in Chicago and how is that changing? Has the pandemic influenced the change?
4. Negotiability. We are all starved for inventory and its made for a strong seller’s market and record-price appreciation in luxury markets. Are we seeing the first cracks in seller’s armor? Are sellers standing firm or are we seeing greater flexibility to deal?
5. Technology. Everybody’s talking about it. How is technology changing the business of selling luxury real estate? Are you leveraging technologies such as artificial intelligence, video, social media or is your success still a function of your reputation, creativity, experience, drive and personal relationships?
6. Your Team. How are you organized for success? High-end clients are high-demand and they want you, Carrie. You can’t be everywhere. Talk to us about the day to day, create and manage a team that delivers at your same high standards.
7. New Construction. You started in the business selling new high-rise condo development. It must be a big part of why you are consistently #1 in the Chicago market. Is that still the biggest part of your business? How is selling new development different?
9. Midwestern nice. I watched your interviews and this is an important part of who you are. The billion dollar queen of Chicago real estate who has a reputation for getting deals done reminds us (twice) the importance of being nice, being kind, and doing the right thing. Is this your secret to success in Chicago? Is this part of “white-glove service”
John Engel – John Engel can be found at http://www.JohnEngel.com. He is a consistently top-producing agent in Fairfield County, Connecticut. John recently won the Realtor of the Year Award in New Canaan where he is has been Chairman of the Town Council and is currently a member of the Planning & Zoning Commission. John also brings an insight into internet-based marketing that is unsurpassed. Before going into real estate he was the founder of two successful internet businesses, Paper.com and e-Media for which he won the prestigious Entrepreneur of the Year Award. John spent his earliest years in Stuyvesant Town in lower Manhattan and went to New Canaan High School before attending Davidson College in North Carolina. After graduating, he served as an officer in the U.S. Army and spent some time leading a military intelligence platoon on the front lines of the first Gulf War. He currently lives in New Canaan with his wife Melissa and four children. In addition to hosting this podcast on the market each week, John Engel produces an easy-to-understand and in-depth monthly market analysis called the Market Report for the 16 towns of lower Fairfield County.
Roberto Cabrera – Roberto can be found at http://www.RobertoCabrera.com. With 24 years of experience, I have been recognized throughout the industry for achieving outstanding results: Ranked nationally by REAL Trends as one of “America’s Best Real Estate Agents” for avg. sales price of $4.350M. Sold a single family Townhouse faster than any other on the Upper West Side over $10M. I live with my wife and daughter on the Upper West Side, the neighborhood I have called home for the past 23 years. I was originally born in Richmond, Virginia and grew up in Maryland, just one mile south of the Mason Dixon line. After graduating with a degree in Mathematical Economics from Hampden-Sydney College, the 10th oldest school in the country, I spent 5 years in Washington, DC working as a financial consultant. I also studied at The National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts and I’m a former actor who once moonlighted as a stand-up comedian. Many years ago, I authored APPLE PIE – The Real Ingredients for Buying and Selling Your Slice.
If you’re thinking about purchasing a co-op, Carrie and co-op lending specialist Mark Olley discuss what it is, how it works and how to decide if it’s the right type of home for you. A co-op, or housing cooperative, is a type of housing owned by a corporation made up of the owners within the co-op. The corporation owns the interior, exterior and all common areas of the building. Instead of buying property as you would in a traditional real estate transaction, you’re buying shares of the corporation – the co-op association – that controls the co-op, which entitles you to living space.
Articles on Chicago Real Estate we enjoyed this week:
“A controversial contest for a casino. Unrelenting demand for luxury housing in the face of rising interest rates. A tech giant’s emergence as a potential savior of the Loop’s pandemic-battered office market. And losing the state’s richest man. These were the topics that dominated Chicago real estate news in 2022, and will continue to drive conversation in the industry well into next year as buyers, sellers, tenants and developers contend with uncertainty amid an economy on the brink of recession.”
I am a big fan of Jonathan Miller’s Housing Notes every Friday. I recommend you all subscribe. These are the reads, listens and visuals he and now we enjoyed this week:
