Zillow Showcase partnership gives Baird and Warner listings priority. Chicago-area brokerage offers pay-per-listing access with no monthly contract, plus guaranteed Showcase inclusion. Article Summary. Baird and Warner signed an exclusive agreement with Zillow to offer agents Zillow Showcase at 40% off standard pricing. The program adds priority placement, enhanced media, and pay-per-listing access with guaranteed inclusion. AI Summary Baird & Warner has signed an exclusive agreement with Zillow to offer its agents access to Zillow Showcase at a 40% discount from standard pricing, giving the Chicago-area brokerage's listings prioritized exposure and enhanced media on the portal. The customized program, announced by the company on Thursday, is designed to drive more engagement for Baird & Warner listings on Zillow, according to the announcement. Baird & Warner agents will now have access to Zillow Showcase features like priority placement in search results, interactive floor plans and 3D tours, exclusive listing email alerts to buyers, highlighted markers on mapped search results and prominent agent branding with direct contact options on listing pages. According to a statement from Dean Rouso, the senior vice president of strategic initiatives at Baird & Warner, "Every aspect of Zillow Showcase is designed to create an immersive experience and increase time spent viewing a listing. Our agents will be able to tap those capabilities for a heavily discounted rate and have the benefit of a supportive team in place to handle coordination with the platform as well as exceptional visual assets from Baird & Warner Image Services." The program also incorporates AI-powered photo organization that is intended to better communicate a home's layout and key features, guided room-by-room touring, and an exclusive staging visualization tool that lets consumers view multiple furnishing and style options. Zillow Showcase listings are the only listings on the portal that can include video, according to the announcement. Baird & Warner said its customized Zillow Showcase package does not require a monthly contract and is offered on a pay-per-listing basis. Zillow generally caps Showcase inventory at 10% of active listings in a market, but Baird & Warner's contract guarantees inclusion for its agents' listings, according to the company. The brokerage said it has also created a dedicated internal support team to manage Zillow Showcase coordination on behalf of agents.

Baird & Warner names Lucy Baird chief stewardship officer, Laura Ellis chief revenue officer. Baird and Warner names Lucy Baird chief stewardship officer and vice chair and promotes Laura Ellis to chief revenue officer. Article Summary. Baird and Warner appointed Lucy Baird as chief stewardship officer and vice chair of the board, formalizing sixth generation involvement. Laura Ellis was promoted to chief revenue officer to consolidate revenue leadership across brokerage, mortgage and title. AI Summary Lucy Baird has been named chief stewardship officer and vice chair of the board at Baird & Warner, while Laura Ellis has been promoted to chief revenue officer, the company announced Friday. The moves formalize a sixth generation of family involvement at Chicagoland's largest independent and locally operated real estate brokerage. Additionally, the firm, which was founded in 1855, said the move also consolidates revenue leadership across brokerage, mortgage and title. "In contrast to Wall Street-backed firms, our independence allows us to make decisions based on what is best for our agents and their clients," said Steve Baird, president and CEO of Baird & Warner. "We remain committed to providing a model that supports long-term success, not short-term gains. We are not thinking in terms of quarters, but generations." Steve Baird said the company's ownership structure remains unchanged and in family hands, with a continued focus on independence in an industry increasingly shaped by publicly traded brokerages, M&A activity and private equity investment. "Stewardship and good governance are at the core of Baird & Warner's culture and success," Steve Baird said. He added that Ellis's expanded role as chief revenue officer "will further strengthen our integrated approach to real estate services, which remains a key differentiator." Lucy Baird, who is part of the firm's sixth generation of family ownership, has spent the past decade working inside the company as Baird & Warner historian and leading Good Will Works, the firm's philanthropic arm. In that role, she has overseen charitable giving, volunteer initiatives and partnerships with Habitat for Humanity Chicago, Chicago Area Fair Housing Alliance, Spanish Coalition for Housing and YWCA. Her appointment to the board and into the newly created chief stewardship officer role is intended to reinforce a governance strategy that preserves Baird & Warner's independence and family-owned structure over the long term. "I feel a deep responsibility to honor the legacy my family has built over more than 170 years, and stepping up to the board and this new title is a natural progression from my work at the helm of our charitable and volunteer initiatives," Lucy Baird said in a statement. "The creation of a chief stewardship officer further formalizes a commitment" to the company's guiding principles, she added. She said the goal is to ensure Baird & Warner remains "a fiercely independent and locally owned organization." Ellis is moving into the chief revenue officer position from her previous roles as chief strategy officer and president of residential sales. She joined Baird & Warner in 1998 and has held multiple leadership posts, helping drive residential sales growth and align operations across the company's business units. In her expanded role, Ellis will oversee revenue generation across Baird & Warner's brokerage, mortgage and title operations and will be responsible for integrating the firm's "one-stop shop" approach to real estate services. That model - bringing brokerage, lending and title under one roof - has been a key focus area for large regionals looking to stabilize earnings and deepen client relationships. "One of the things that makes Baird & Warner unique is how intentionally we bring all aspects of the transaction together to support both our agents and their clients," Ellis said. She said the goal is to strengthen collaboration between teams and build "a more seamless and supportive experience that helps our agents succeed." This article was generated using HousingWire Automation and reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication. The system helps convert company announcements and industry data into HousingWire-style news coverage.