Two Illinois REALTORS® have been selected as recipients of the 2015 SRES Outstanding Service Award for work on senior housing issues.

The Senior Real Estate Specialist designation is held by REALTORS® who have gone through training to meet the housing needs of an aging population. Those holding the designation received training to help seniors sell homes, buy homes which are a better fit and finance their housing transactions.

Those honored from Illinois are:

• 

  REALTOR® Jim Kinney

  Jim Kinney, vice president of luxury home sales for Baird & Warner in Chicago and president of the Illinois Association of REALTORS®. As IAR president, he commissioned the Senior Housing Working Group to look at how Illinois was handling an aging population. The working group generated a package of recommendations aimed at raising the visibility of senior housing issues and which looked at ways to provide resources to real estate professionals and the clients they serve.

• 

  REALTOR® Mike Rickert

  Michael Rickert, who served as chair of the Senior Services Task Force for the Mainstreet Organization of REALTORS®. He is owner of Rickert REALTORS® in Des Plaines. Rickert’s task force started with six members and quickly grew to 50 including REALTORS® and other community professionals. Members made presentations to the community on senior housing issues and staged a Senior Resource Rally to help consumers connect with REALTORS®.

The two Illinois winners will be honored at a ceremony on Saturday, Nov. 14, 2015, at the National Association of REALTORS® Conference and Expo in San Diego.  You can get information on going to the ceremony here.