Brenda Bendis

Twenty years, one town, a lot of front doors

I have been selling real estate in McHenry County for over two decades. In that time the market has been hot, frozen, and everything between, and the thing that has stayed constant is that people mostly want a straight answer from someone who has done this before.

My specialty is Sun City Huntley — the Del Webb active-adult community that is, depending on how you count, the largest of its kind in Illinois. I know the floor plans; all fifty-six of them are drawn out on that page. I know which lots get sun. I know what the assessment covers this year and what it covered five years ago. That knowledge is not a marketing line; it is the difference between a listing that closes and one that sits.

The rest of my business is the surrounding towns: Huntley proper, Algonquin, Lake in the Hills, Crystal Lake, Gilberts. Move-up families, first-time buyers, and — often — the adult children of my Sun City clients, buying their own homes nearby.

How I work

I answer my own phone. Clients mention this often enough that I have concluded it is unusual, which says something unflattering about the industry.

I would rather talk you out of the wrong house than into it. I would rather tell you to wait until spring than list you in November for the sake of a sign in the yard. Most of my business comes from people I have already worked with, or from their neighbors, and that only works if the advice is honest the first time.

Recognition

• Five Star Real Estate Agent — Chicago market award recipient
• Del Webb / Sun City resale specialist — Recognized go-to broker in the community

Outside of work

Two or three sentences from Brenda: family, how long she has lived in the area, what she does when she is not working, any community or charitable involvement. This paragraph gets read more than anyone expects — it is where people decide whether they would like working with her.