How is the commission split after the 2024 NAR settlement?

Since August 2024, the listing agent's commission and the buyer agent's commission are negotiated separately and in writing. The seller is not obligated to pay the buyer's agent — that's now a direct negotiation between the buyer and their agent. Many sellers still offer to pay the buyer's agent as a competitive move, but it's optional. I walk every seller through the tradeoffs before we list.

How long does it take to sell a home on the North Shore?

Well-priced homes under $1.3M typically receive offers within 10-30 days and close 30-45 days after that. Homes between $1.5M and $2.5M usually take 45-75 days to go under contract. Over $2.5M can take 90-180 days depending on condition and pricing. Timing also matters — May through September are the peak listing months; December and January are rare but target motivated buyers.

Do I need to stage my home to sell it?

Not fully — but you do need a clean, decluttered, and neutrally-colored baseline. I recommend a consultation with a staging professional first to identify which rooms will benefit from rental furniture. For most North Shore homes, partial staging (living room + primary bedroom + dining) is the sweet spot. Full staging adds $3K-$8K in cost; partial is $1K-$3K and often yields 90% of the impact.

What's the difference between a CMA and a Zestimate?

A Zestimate is an automated algorithm using public records. It cannot see inside your home, assess condition, account for recent renovations, or factor in micro-neighborhood patterns. A CMA (Comparative Market Analysis) from a working REALTOR® is built from recently-sold and under-contract comparables, adjusted for your home's specific features. For North Shore homes above $1M, Zestimates are frequently off by 10-20%. A proper CMA is the foundation of pricing strategy.

When should I start preparing to sell?

Ideally 60-90 days before you want the home on the market. That gives you time for any repairs, a painter, deep clean, decluttering, professional photos, drone/video if the home warrants it, and the marketing launch sequence. For a spring listing, that means starting in February or early March. For a fall listing, late July.

Can I sell my home bilingually to reach Latino buyers?

Yes — and for North Shore homes in the $1M-$3M band, that's an increasingly valuable angle. Corporate relocators from Mexico City, Monterrey, and Miami are a real and growing buyer pool. I market every listing bilingually — Spanish-language versions of the listing description, Spanish-speaking showings when requested, and direct outreach to my bilingual network.

Sell Your Home on Chicago's North Shore | Bilingual REALTOR®

Step 1. Start with a real CMA, not a Zestimate

The single biggest mistake North Shore sellers make is pricing off a Zestimate. Automated valuations cannot see inside your house, cannot assess condition, cannot adjust for renovations you completed last year, and cannot account for the fact that three comparable homes on your block sold last spring at a premium that has since softened. For homes above $1M, Zestimates are routinely off by 10-20%.

A Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) from a working REALTOR® pulls recently-sold and under-contract homes that genuinely match yours — same school district, similar square footage, comparable lot, similar condition — and adjusts for the differences that actually matter. When I run a CMA for a North Shore seller, I include the comps from the last 6 months, the active listings you’re competing against right now, the days-on-market pattern for your price band, and a recommended list price with a realistic range.

Start there: request a free CMA. No obligation, no follow-up unless you want it.

Step 2. Price right on day 1

The North Shore has a phrase every working realtor knows: the first two weeks are the listing. If your home is priced correctly, you see the majority of your serious showings and offers in the first fourteen days. Overpriced homes that sit and require price reductions typically close lower than correctly-priced homes that attract multiple offers in week one.

The temptation to list high and “see what happens” costs sellers real money on the North Shore. Buyers in this market are informed — they track the MLS, they see price reductions, and they interpret an old listing as a red flag. I would rather have a tough pricing conversation the week before listing than have you chase the market for 90 days.

Step 3. Prep the home (60-90 day runway)

For most North Shore homes, I recommend starting prep 60 to 90 days before the target listing date. That window covers:

Deferred maintenance. Roof, HVAC servicing, plumbing leaks, exterior paint touch-ups. Buyers order inspection; better to fix now than negotiate later.
Paint and finishes. Fresh neutral paint on any tired rooms. Replace yellowed caulking. Polish hardware. Small cost, big photo impact.
Declutter and depersonalize. Family photos to a drawer, countertops cleared, closets 60% full so they look spacious. Pod rental if you need storage.
Staging consult. Even if you don’t pay for full staging, a two-hour consultation with a professional stager pays for itself in room-by-room guidance.
Professional photography + video. Real-estate-quality photos are the difference between 4 showings and 40. Baird & Warner covers pro photography on every listing; for homes over $1.5M I typically add drone, twilight, and video.

Step 4. Marketing — what Baird & Warner actually provides

I list with Baird & Warner because their marketing machine is genuinely differentiated on the North Shore. Every listing includes MLS syndication to Zillow, Realtor.com, Homes.com, Redfin, Trulia, and 150+ other sites; full photography; Baird & Warner’s print and digital advertising; broker-to-broker marketing through the B&W agent network; and inclusion in the weekly Baird & Warner newsletter distributed to tens of thousands of past clients and registered buyers.

On top of that, what I bring personally:

Bilingual marketing. Spanish-language versions of your listing description, Spanish-speaking showings when requested, and direct outreach to my network of bilingual buyers and relocators from Mexico City, Monterrey, and Miami.
Targeted social campaigns. Instagram and Facebook campaigns on HSD Creative’s ad engine, targeted to the exact demographic most likely to buy your home.
Agent-to-agent outreach. I personally call five to ten agents in the Baird & Warner Winnetka office and neighboring brokerages to ask if they have clients shopping in your price range and town.
Pre-MLS soft launches. When the situation warrants, I can quietly shop a home to my buyer network for 7-10 days before the listing goes public. Not right for every home, but powerful when it is.

Step 5. Showings and open houses

The first Sunday open house is usually 2-4pm; for a broker open house (agents only, first Tuesday morning), 9:30-11am. Evening private showings happen throughout the first 7-14 days. Your job is to be somewhere else during showings — coffee shop, park, friend’s house, anywhere but home. Buyers cannot comfortably imagine themselves in a space when the owner is watching.

I attend every open house personally. Buyer agents attend with their clients. I collect feedback after every showing and share it with you the same day. If the feedback patterns point to pricing, staging, or condition issues, we address them in the first 14 days — not later.

Step 6. Offers, negotiation, and contract

When offers come in, I present each one with a written breakdown: offer price, earnest money, contingencies (inspection, appraisal, mortgage), closing date, personal property inclusions, and any unusual terms. You decide which offer to accept, reject, or counter — I give my professional recommendation but the choice is yours.

Multiple-offer situations are common on the North Shore under $1.5M. When that happens, I typically set a highest-and-best-offer deadline 24-48 hours out so every buyer gets a fair shot. Not every highest offer is the best offer — I also look at financing strength, closing timeline, and contingency waivers.

Illinois uses attorneys at closing rather than escrow. You’ll want a real-estate attorney to review the contract and handle closing; I can refer bilingual attorneys I work with regularly.

Step 7. Inspection, appraisal, and close

Under contract, the buyer typically orders an inspection within 5-10 days. Expect some findings; nearly every home has them. The buyer will request credits or repairs for major items. We negotiate. I push back on nickel-and-diming requests and help you stay firm on cosmetic concerns.

The lender orders an appraisal within 1-2 weeks of the contract. If the home appraises at or above the contract price, closing proceeds. If it comes in low, we negotiate — sometimes the buyer brings more cash, sometimes the price adjusts, sometimes you walk.

The final walkthrough happens the day of or day before closing. You hand over keys at the closing table. Illinois closings take about an hour.

Commission transparency (post-NAR 2024)

Since August 2024, the National Association of REALTORS® settlement changed how commissions are negotiated. Two important changes:

Buyer-agent commissions are no longer advertised on the MLS. Whatever you offer a buyer agent is negotiated separately, outside the MLS, and disclosed directly between buyer and buyer’s agent.
Buyers now sign a representation agreement before their first showing that specifies what their agent will charge. You, as the seller, are not obligated to pay that. Many sellers still choose to offer a buyer-agent commission to stay competitive; others don’t.

I walk every seller through the tradeoffs — listing commission, optional buyer-agent concession, closing credits — in writing, before we sign. No surprises at the closing table.

Bilingual sellers and international buyers

If Spanish is your first language, you can run the entire selling process in Spanish. I draft your listing description bilingually, handle buyer and agent conversations in whichever language is needed, and attend the closing to translate if required.

If you’re targeting Latino buyers specifically (estate owners in Mexico, corporate relocators, second-home buyers), I have a direct marketing pipeline to bilingual buyers through my network and HSD Creative’s bilingual ad campaigns. For the right home — especially in the $1M-$3M band — this is a meaningful differentiator versus listing with an English-only agent.

For more on how relocators move to the North Shore, see the relocation guide.

Sell your North Shore home with clarity