60646 Blog

Real estate sales practitioner ranks among some of the most scrutinized professions in the United States, as far as government oversight is concerned. And that’s a good thing, because us real estate sales folks advise you with the sale or purchase of probably some of the most valuable assets that you’ll ever own in your lifetime. It is only natural then that government is interested in making sure that real estate practitioners know the rules and regs of selling real estate, inside and out, when interacting with consumers. And there are lots of rules. In Illinois, our profession is regulated by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation – IDFPR (formerly Office of Banks and Real Estate). Of course, having completed 45 credit hours of instruction in an approved Real Estate Transaction Course, having passed a preliminary test (Transcript) and an additional State test do not necessarily guarantee that a real estate sales genius is born. But at least it proves that an applicant knows the fundamentals of the do’s and don’ts, in theory. For those of us who are actually Realtors^®, meaning real estate practitioners who are members of the National Association of Realtors^®, the rules are even stricter, as we subscribe to an additional set of rules constituted in what we call the “Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice”.But I digress. IDFPR has had for quite some time, a nifty little feature on their website that allows consumers (that’s you, folks) to look up licensees. What for, you may ask. To see whether or not a real estate agent that you are planning on being represented by, has ever been disciplined in the past by IDFPR, complete with details. And believe you me, some of the findings are more juicy than any episode of “Desperate Housewives”. Simply visit this page and browse through a list of who got fined for what. Happy peeking.

According to the latest (third quarter) Housing Market Analysis conducted by National City Corp, a financial holding company, in conjunction with Global Insight, a financial information provider, Chicago is one of the real estate markets in the country that is among the most overpriced. By how much exactly? By 21% (to learn about the current real estate market conditions in most of Chicago’s neighborhoods, take a look here.) As reported by CNNMoney.com in their January 3, 2006 online article, the Naples, FL real estate market though takes the cake, being overvalued by a whopping 84%! For those interested, the CNNMoney.com article outlines the methodology of National City Corp’s analysis and findings, as well as a complete list of results for the nation’s 299 biggest real estate markets, here.Now, aren’t you glad you’re not looking to buy in Naples?