Name
Greg Wilson
Company
1st Cornerstone Realty
E-mail
Contact Greg Wilson (1st Cornerstone Realty)
Website
http://www.1stcornerstonerealty.com
Office Phone
(847) 985-0045
Cell Phone
(630) 707-4734
Fax
(847) 985-0063
Description
A home in IL is a major commitment. As a real estate agent and loan originator, I can help you make the best possible deal by saving you time & money. I am always available to help you. Call my cell

All About Me

A real estate agent is more than just a "sales person."  I act on your behalf as your agent, providing you with advice, guidance, and doing a job - helping you buy or sell a home.  I have a comprehensive marketing plan for marketing your property as well as providing exceptional service.  Coming from the IT world, I have a vast amount of skills that I can leverage in advertising, listing, as well as selling your property.  I'm also a licensed loan originator.  That means I can save you time/money/fustration of dealing with other people.  You deal with one person that can handle all aspects of the real estate and the loan processing.

I originally grew up in North Carolina.  I attended Rockingham Community College and graduated Cum Laude(with honors) with an Associate of Arts Degree.  From there I attended North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro, North Carolina.  I majored in Computer Science.  I graduated Magna Cum Laude(with high honors) with an Bachelors of Art Degree in Computer Science.  Before I graduated, I received several job offers from the following companies:  Microsoft - Charlotte, NC, Cargil - St Paul, Minnosota, GE - Tampa, Florida, Proctor and Gamble - Cincinnati, Ohio, and Motorola - Schaumburg, Illinois.  I decided to go to work for Motorola because it was close to Chicago. 

I've worked in the Information Technology field all my life.  I've been a technical trainer, developer, and consultant.  I have a number of certifications from Microsoft.  I'm a MCT, MCP, MCDBA, and a MCSE.  MCT = Certified to teach official Microsoft courses; MCP - Microsoft Professional; MCDBA - SQL Server Professional; MCSE - System Engineer.

I decided to become a real estate agent/broker because I do enjoy helping people.  My experience of buying a home was a good experience and I like to share that with other people.  Since I have a technical background, I've been able to provide an extensive amount of marketing for my clients.  Furthermore, I have a team of mortgage brokers and other real estate agents that I work with at the office. 

Coming to Chicago was a great opportunity for me.  I also know sign language so I can also help with clients that are unable to hear.  I hope that other people get to enjoy Chicago as much as I have.  Here's a brief list of some of the attractions in Chicago: Adler Planetarium, The Art Institue of Chicago, Brookfield Zoo, Chicago Architecture Foundation, Chicago Auto Show, Chicago Bears, Chicago Blackhawks, Chicago Botanic Garden, Chicago Bulls, chicago Children's Museum, Chicago Cubs, Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago History Museum, Chiacgo Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Trolley Company, Chicago White Soxs, Chicago Wolves, Du Page Children's Museum, Empress Casino Joilet, Field Museum, Hancock Observatory, John G. Shedd Aquarium, Lincoln Park Zoo, Millennium Park, Museum of contemporary Art, Museum of Sciene and Industry, Navy Pier, Ravinia Festival, Sears Tower Skydeck, and Six Flags Great America.  Is that enough stuff to do?  I haven't begun to touch all the festivals like the Taste of Chicago and Blues Festival.  The list goes on and on.

Areas of Expertise

I believe in treating people the way I would like to be treated.  That goes for buying or selling real estate.  I make sure than my clients get the best deal possible no matter how many hours I have to put into the transactions.  Everyone should enjoy having a home or have the experience of selling your existing home for the top dollar amount. 

I've been working with 1st time home buyers, investors, and sellers.  While helping 1st time home buyers look for homes, I've been able to find special deals to help them make the move.  There are so many special programs in Chicago for the first time buyer but not everyone knows about them.  I've educated myself on these different programs and so as a result, I can tell my clients about the programs as we're going through the process.  One of my most rewarding experiences was helping one of my clients move out of his apartment.  He was over 40 years old and had always lived in an apartment.  I spent a lot of time giving him the advantages of having his own home.  He was only making his landlord rich and he wasn't looking out for his future.  By helping him pick out a new property, it has helped him to focus on happy retirement.  I still get calls from him now telling me how happy he is with his new home.  He's referred all of his friends to me.  Another one of my clients is an investor.  The investors are always interesting to work with because they want to get the best value for the money.  I help to save them time buy hand picking out the best properties with the criteria that they give me.  Then we run CMAs and determine a fair offer for the property.  I've worked with single townhomes all the way up to multi-unit apartment complexes.

I'm a HUD agent also.  I am able to access any house in Illinois that is under HUD foreclosure.  I always go and inspect all the HUD homes before I bring clients in to view the properties.  From my experiences, I've found that it saves both of us a lot of time if I can give them a heads up on the properties.  The HUD homes can be a good bargain but they can also be a bad bargain.  My job is to eliminate the bad choices.

As a real estate agent, I'm available 24/7 for my clients.  I'm not the type of person to let all my calls go to voice mail after 5pm.  I'm a perfectionist at heart.  I don't settle for second class service and nor should any of my clients.  I treat them as I would want to be treated.  By providing great service, I feel that I am able to meet everyone's needs.  If for some reason I can't work for a particular client, I have a list of referrals that I will gladly pass the clients on to.  Also if you are deaf and need a real estate agent to work for you, then please let me know.  I do know sign language and I am more than happy to help you with your needs.

Links That Helped Me Get Started on Active Rain...

I've been a member of Active Rain for a little while now.  I've taken the time to blog about different things someone new might have questions about.  I've added these links to help out.  If you have any questions, shoot me an email and I will be happy to answer it.

Unofficial Tech Support ~  Adding My Blog Log to Your Active Rain Profile

Unofficial Tech Support ~ Adding photos and wrapping the text

Unofficial Tech Support ~ Adding side by side photos

The Active Rain Dummies Guide for Boosting your Points

The Official Unofficial Guide to Creating a Blog

How to Create a Link

How to Add Pictures to Your Blog

So You want to be a blogger?

Blogging for fun or profit?  How about both?

Getting started on the active Rain Community

These are just a few links to get you started in the Active Rain community.  The best thing to do is just to start blogging and you'll be surprised at how addicting it can be.  Don't have anything to write about?  Then go read some of the other blogs that are out there.  There is no right or wrong answer when blogging.  Its just typing some words on the screen.  I have found great value in Active Rain by getting a number of my questions answered in my blog comments.  So not only can I get my questions answered, I can also get referrals for new business.  I think its absolutely great to be able to have your cake and eat it too. 

If you're a new agent, then I would recommend that you join your local MLS so that you can have access to see all the properties.  Realtor.com is also a good site with the listings also.  I'm a firm believer that you learn better by doing than by reading about it.  So just get started.  Whether its door knocking, emailing, seminars, mailings, or whatever, just get out and do something.  It doesn't hurt to try.  Are there other agents out there that will make it hard for you?  Of course there is.  Any field you go in is going to have competition.  The trick is to figure out what you provide that makes you stand out from the other agents.

There are a number of resources on the internet for learning more about real estate.  I find myself reading and coming up with new ideas every day.  As long as you pace yourself, then you will do a good job.  There's just so much to know and to learn that no one can learn it overnight.  When I first started, I was lucky enough to get a sale.  So as I was getting my license in the mail, I had a deal that was already in progress.  So not many agents can say they had a deal while having the 45-day work permit.  By being a hard worker, it doesn't matter how bad the market is... there are deals out there that are happening everyday. 

Please don't hesitate to email me or call me if you have any questions.  I'm always willing to help anyone out if I can.  There are a number of knowledgable people on Active Rain and I'm just happy to be part of this community where I can get help as well as help other people in the profession.