RE/MAX Northern Shores Makes Its Debut in Skokie; New Franchise Features Full-Service Concept with Local and Global Focus
CHICAGO (PRWEB) January 30, 2016 -- The Chicago area’s newest RE/MAX franchise, RE/MAX Northern Shores, opened its doors on Jan. 12 in the heart of Skokie, Ill. At a grand opening celebration three days later, its ownership team said their brokerage is committed to offering a full range of real estate services while maintaining a sharp focus on both the local and global real estate markets.
The new office is located at 8814 Niles Center Road, adjacent to the intersection of Niles Center, Dempster Street and Skokie Boulevard. The 3,500 square-foot facility provides ample room for its current staff but also space for future growth.
Its debut was celebrated on Jan. 15 with an open house and ribbon cutting that attracted more than 200 guests and was hosted by co-founders Manuel Waldo, Rafay Qamar and Shaheen Pervaiz. Their vision is for RE/MAX Northern Shores to offer not only real estate brokerage, but also in-house access to a range of complementary services, including title insurance, mortgage lending, property management and an experienced real estate attorney.
They also view their new enterprise as a bridge between the North Shore real estate market and investors from around the world who find the area attractive.
Waldo, 52, will serve as managing broker of RE/MAX Northern Shores, and he anticipates that a good deal of the firm’s growth will come from the international investors with whom they have been working for the last decade during which he and Pervaiz were co-owners of Legent WP Realty, based in Lincolnwood, Ill.
“Those investors were drawn to North Shore residential properties during the recession of 2007-2008, and this area continues to attract them. I have active clients from 15 nations who are investing here,” said Waldo, a Chicago native who earned degrees from Loyola University of Chicago and Heriot-Watt University of Scotland. “One reason we wanted to affiliate with RE/MAX is that it is a global brand, and that makes it easier for us to service investors from many nations,” he said.
Pervaiz, 60, enjoyed a long career in IT consulting before turning his attention to real estate 12 years ago and partnering with Waldo. He works primarily with investors seeking either commercial or residential properties.
Adding another dimension to the new brokerage is Qamar, 28, a highly successful real estate sales producer in the North Shore market. He is moving to RE/MAX from Coldwell Banker, where he was named Illinois Rookie of the Year in 2014.
Qamar came to the United States from Pakistan to attend DePaul University in Chicago and stayed to pursue a career in banking at BMO Harris Bank before shifting his focus to real estate.
“Our long-term vision for RE/MAX Northern Shores is to expand our presence in the North Shore market, ideally by opening several offices to serve this area,” said Qamar. “Beyond that, we also would like to take advantage of our international contacts and the global stature of RE/MAX to explore overseas opportunities.”
RE/MAX agents consistently rank among the most productive in the industry. In the United States, RE/MAX agents averaged 15.6 years of real estate experience and 16.0 transaction sides in 2014. RE/MAX has been the leader in the northern Illinois real estate market since 1989 and is continually growing. The RE/MAX Northern Illinois network, with headquarters in Elgin, Ill., consists of more than 2,250 sales associates and 105 independently owned and operated RE/MAX offices that provide a full range of residential and commercial brokerage services. Its mobile real estate app, available for download at http://www.illinoisproperty.com, provides comprehensive information about residential and commercial property for sale in the region. The northern Illinois network is part of RE/MAX, a global real estate organization with 100,000+ sales associates in 90+ nations.
####
EDITOR’S NOTE: RE/MAX® is a registered trademark. Please spell in all caps. Thank you. This release is posted at blog.illinoisproperty.com.
Stephen Johnson, RE/MAX Northern Illinois, +1 (847) 428-4200, [email protected]
Share this article