I really enjoyed living at one of their properties for 2 years at 4753 N. Virginia Ave. It was newly renovated, spotless, beautiful, and a great value. I loved that apartment. The only downside was that there was a very rambunctious child above me and it sounded like elephants when I was working from home. I don't blame the property though, I knew going in that it was a gut-rehabbed, vintage place with thinner walls (and I never spoke up about it), and previous upstairs neighbors were no problem. I moved out last summer to a new place, and I'm honestly looking to perhaps rent from them again since the other place didn't work out. The agent I worked with, Irena, was very responsive in helping coordinate logistics for both acquiring the apartment and also for the move-out. AND ONE OF THE BEST PARTS - they do not work with those mass volume apartment finder companies, so you don't have a million random people going through your place when the lease is up. They are respectful and kind to tenants, and will work with you when extenuating circumstances arise. It was really nice to go through a smaller realty company, and I appreciated my experience. read more

Excellent communication and tenant care. Has went above and beyond what any other landlord would do to make you feel comfortable.

I lived in one of their apartments for five years and they are great. They are always prompt when it comes to maintenance as well as polite and professional to deal with. read more

I've been extremely impressed with Cedar Realty from the very first time I did business with them. The office staff is very helpful and pleasant to work with. They've helped me out a few times, when I locked myself out of my unit. My unit is very efficient and it has everything that I need and use. The amenities in the building is excellent and very easy to access and very clean. I'm thrilled that I'm able to use one of their units and would emphatically recommend Cedar Realty and their units to everyone that I know. S. Mitter read more

The management company has evolved with the community - implementing secure package delivery, responding to maintenance calls quickly and effectively, and going the extra mile to respond to personal requests. read more

Outstanding customer service and care of their properties and tenants. I've used Cedar as an agent and have used their services professionally for years. They care about you and the quality of the home you live in. They have top level materials in their properties and are always available for questions and concerns. Highly recommend Cedar Realty. read more

This is honestly just the worst reality company I've ever dealt with. We moved into scaffolding and construction all over the unit, but no workers. When we called to see when it would be finished they had no idea it was even happening. It stayed up for 3 months before we threatened to call the city to get it taken down. Unfortunately, it just got worse. When things broke in the apartment they were nonresponsive and tried multiple times to go back on promises in our lease agreement about a second month free of rent. I could go on and on but honestly...just don't do it. You'll be better off with almost any leasing company anywhere. read more

4764 N Virginia have ROACHES for years. There are no fire alarms in the apartments. smells like smoke all the time. Management does not give a damn. Awful people. Someone died here too. read more

I don't really know what the big deal is with people being upset with Cedar, but I guess everyone has their own experiences. This review is for the James Building on Paulina. Moving In - We actually sublet our apt from the previous tenant for two months and then signed a lease. All in all I can say the experience was positive. The best thing was that we only had to pay a $250 deposit. It was pretty straightforward: We looked at the apt, decided we liked it, went to the office, paid the deposit, signed the lease and moved in. Overview - The bathroom is small, but other than that there's not anything we can really complain about. Every time we've needed maintenance, Sandy gets someone out within 72 hours, sometimes the same day. As soon as it snows, they're out there clearing the sidewalk. Every week someone comes to clean the mail room and courtyard. When the building next door remodeled, our building had a pest control issue, Sandy quickly called an exterminator and scheduled follow-up treatments--there's been no trace of anything since. I'd say the only thing they haven't responded to is our request to have a broken blind replaced. You can't win everything... Honestly, I think some people are just high maintenance. We just want to have a cute, clean place with a responsive building manager--that's what we got. We're also DIYers so if there's something minor, we just fix it. But we haven't really had to fix anything. Oh and the heat is included, that was a big plus for us. We've been here for two years and if we weren't moving out of state we'd probably stay here. read more

I was incredibly lucky to come across Cedar Realty as the very first place I looked at in Chicago on my move from Baltimore. I checked out a few other places but came right back to the condos at 1409 W. Diversey Pkwy. The staff were extremely friendly and accommodating in addition to being wonderful enough to walk me through the process of signing my lease and with literally any other question I had along the way, and I had many being that at the time I was a medical student from Canada in a strange new place all by myself. Pat and Lora were my points of contact and did everything to make sure my 8 month stay in the city was hassle and stress free. I wish I could have stayed longer but school required me to move back home. The space was brand new, reasonably priced and very clean and modern with every amenity a student in the city could need. I can't say enough good things about my experience and the staff. I moved out about 1 year ago and I never ever do reviews, but I had to come on here and show my appreciation. I have lived in about 9 different cities for med school, and this one was my all around favourite. The experience was amazing from start to finish. Highly recommend. 10/10! Marisa A-J read more

Cedar was a wonderful landlord for me for TEN YEARS. They were always fairly priced, responsive when I had an occasional need, and at the end when I left due to finally purchasing a home, they went out of their way to help me with some of the details/arrangements to help make it work for me. Everyone I dealt with was friendly and professional. I feel really lucky to have spent a decade of my life in one of their apartment buildings. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Thank you Cedar!! read more

Oh jeez, where do I begin...We had been renting from Cedar for almost 4 years...4 years too long in my opinion. When we first saw the unit in the James Building we couldn't have been happier! There was tons of closet space (only remaining positive) newer looking kitchen, dishwasher, hardwoods, exposed brick in the LR, rather large bedrooms and a decent size bathroom. On the day we moved in is when the problems began... my husband went to pick up the keys at the unit and a cleaning crew was 'hard at work'. I returned home after 12 hours on the job to a wall of boxes but excited to see my new place and to begin to settle in...I was appalled at the state of the unit. There was dust and grim everywhere. Worst of all in the kitchen, which was a filthy mess, grease all over the cupboards, inside and out and on top. Inside of the fridge and freezer were food remnants and hair (human or animal, I do not know) I was so exhausted after being at work all day that I broke down in tears, had a cocktail and decided to start fresh in the AM. After cleaning my (tiny) kitchen for 3 hours the next morning, we then set our sights on the bathroom. Not more than one person can really fit in there, so I decided to take care of it myself. After about forty minutes of just cleaning the floors and the toilet, I was about to tackle the tub/shower when the largest cockroach I had ever seen had emerged... it later turned out that it was a water beetle but this problem continued for months and the last round of pest spraying finished earlier this year...anyway, as I am cleaning the tub, the grout, which was slightly moldy at this point, was starting to peel and fall off in places... this also has continued for months into years and resulted in a shoddy repair job of a tile wall which eventually began to fall in on itself due to water damage and neglect, that was then painted over and the excess paint and grout continue to clog the tub and slow the drain. The bathroom problems don't end there, there has been persistent mold growth on the ceiling, which has only been painted over the past few times we have mentioned it. A leak from the radiator in the above unit, that took 2 weeks to fix and left a still un-repaired hole in our ceiling as well as moisture from god knows where infiltrating the wall that held a large mirrored shelving unit that finally fell off one morning, almost crashing to the floor, that I happened to catch... enough about the bathroom, though I could go on. The kitchen...constant leaking from under the sink, which is then 'repaired' only to become an issue again. A broken dishwasher which was then replaced with one that is so cheap that we can only wash a few items at a time, otherwise the top rack will not get clean. A oven/stove vent that does no such thing as it recirculates the air back into our apartment, instead of outside...fairly sure this is illegal but totally sure this is not healthy. A floor that appears and feels like it has had so much water damage over the years that when you step in the right spot you could fall to the unit below. The smell...this building just stinks. We have reported a sewer gas smell from the hallway more times than I can count. We finally took it upon ourselves to place a plug-in air freshener in the hallway, to such delight of the other tenants that they were disappointed that the hallway outside of their unit did not have an outlet. The insulation around the front (and back ) door is so poor that the smoke from the neighbor sneaks into our apartment...and through our adjoining wall into our closet!! I don't smoke, but my clothes sure smell like I do! I was so over this place, other than it's location... and the kicker - when we approached the mgmt in regards to our continual mold complaints (which has now turned into a full blown allergy) and possibly breaking the lease, their only concern was that we find someone ourselves to sublet, or they would do it for us for the cost of one months rent... So, I guess they will just paint over the mold and let the new tenant suffer?! The lack of pride they have in the building they own astounding...as long as they get their money, right? I hesitated all these years taking to Yelp to vent but now that I am free of this place (they let us break our lease 45 days early, cuz the price we offered was right) I can't hold it in any longer... so, if you can avoid dealing with Cedar Realty, do it!!!! It will save you from a constant headache (which for all I know could be mold allergy induced) and possibly your life!!! read more

I was searching for apartments on Craigslist and came across a listing in Ukrainian Village. I saw the apartment twice and negotiated a price 50 less than the asking price. I put down the security deposit and the fee for the credit check. We made an appointment to sign the lease a few days later. Four hours before the appointment, the agent, Irena, called to tell me they found someone to rent the apartment at full price. Although this is legal (it's not completely secure until you sign the lease), the other real estate agents I am in contact with, confirmed that it's a pretty shady thing to do. Typically, when you put down the deposit, that secures the unit. I would never go with this real estate company. They do not keep verbal agreements and have less that commendable business practices. read more

you get what you pay for. this apartment has been bare bones, no help, no responses, also no security deposit. and a missing light fixture for almost 2 years that i refuse to buy. i just called the leasing office with a question and the woman, when i pressured her for an answer, goes "i just answer the phones, i have no idea. let me give you al's voicemail. he's gone for the weekend," it's 1pm on Friday. basically, i pay my rent and they leave me alone. if that's the kind of lease agreement you're looking for, cedar is adequately prepared to give you that. read more

I have rented though Cedar for two years. First off I would like to start off by saying the only bonus to moving in was a $200 non refundable security deposit. Now the bad.. The old tenant moved out and we moved in the next day. The apt was filthy so we had to move all our stuff into the center of each room so they could paint and that took approximately a week (not very convenient. Then they lost our keys or were not sure what happened to them so they had to make copy of ours.. not a comforting feeling.. In addition we are on the top floor and our buzzer has not worked in the two years I have lived there. Each time we complain they send someone out to "fix" it never having the same handy man twice, which is a safety concern. And to top it off they gave out storage unit to another tenant without asking us a few months prior before Our lease was up. I would not recommend renting from Cedar! read more

I had the pleasure of renting from Cedar Realty this past year and my experience was extremely positive. Unfortunately, unforeseen circumstances did not allow me to stay at the apartment but would gladly rent from them again in the future. You can count on Cedar Realty to be extremely accommodating and I was impressed with their ability to respond timely to the few maintenance/service issues that occurred. If you need help they are polite, reliable, and most importantly get the job done. Highly recommend. read more

This is by far the worst management company I have ever dealt with. I have reached out to the landlord multiple times about the internet but they don't take my issues seriously and never resolve. I recommend avoiding Cedar at all costs. You will be disappointed. read more

First, let me state, that I do NOT work for Cedar Realty. Usually, when you read an apartment review, it is either really horrible sounding (posted by tenants who had a bad experience or who got evicted), or glowing reviews, that sound fake, and are obviously posted by people who work for the landlord. But as far as my experience with this company goes, it has been, so far, really good...I rented an apartment from Cedar Realty and moved in on May 1...good building, good location...the leasing agent, Irena, was really helpful, always calling me back when I had a question (I had a lot), and Albert, one of the owners, was very friendly when I visited to drop off the rent payment, and the building engineer, Sandy, has been AWESOME!! There have been minor maintenance issues with the unit (mostly due to the previous tenant not properly taking care of the unit when he lived there) and she has been VERY quick to respond, she is the best engineer I have had in any building I have lived in (I used to rent from the awful Planned Property company and their building engineers were terrible). Sandy has been great so far with fixing issues and I, as a tenant, am lucky to have her working in this building. While I am sorry to hear that other people had a bad experience with Cedar, mine has, so far, been great. read more

I can only write a review about 1 person with this company & her name is Sandy. Sandy is our property manager & I couldn't be more grateful that she's here! I had a problem with my stove & with 1 ph call she was here to help. Sandy is very quick with her response time to any issue you may have. She is also a very sweet woman. The company itself should be very thankful that they have such a dependable, hard working property manager! She has shown so much professionalism in what she does. read more

I have a rental property in Lincoln Park which sat vacant for several months after I tried to rent it myself. I have never used a company to help rent a property but Cedar Realty was referred to me and I gave it a try. They say "you don't know what you don't know" and I never experienced that until Cedar enlightened me. They gave me advice on inexpensive home improvements and staging that I never thought would make a big difference. I ended up getting much more than I was previously asking, even after the improvements were factored. They found a tenant in less than a WEEK, took care of screening, underwriting the prospective tenant and preparing the lease documents. I won't be DIY'ing my leasing again. This was too easy. Thank you Irena! read more

I am a current tenant in the James Building managed by Cedar Realty. I would never recommend renting in this building or any building managed by Cedar Realty. The building manager employed by Cedar Realty (Sandy P.) is often non-responsive to maintenance requests and passes blame onto the owner. The owner (Al LaBunski) is even more unresponsive and passes blame onto the building manager. In short, it takes a lot of initiative on the tenants part to get anything repaired. Most of the time (at least in my experience), it takes getting nasty, withholding rent, and faxing in 14-day and 24-hour lease termination notices to get anyone's attention. It's a shame b/c the building is lovely and in a wonderful location, but those things come at too high of a cost. read more

Rent is reasonable and management works to resolve any issue in a timely manner. My neighbors in the 4764 n Virginia building were a pleasure to live with. Unfortunately, I had to move to be closer to my job but I would recommend this company for reasonably priced apartments in the Ravenswood area. read more

I moved into 4231 N. Paulina in April of 2012. The property is always in pristine condition and all maintenance requests are satisfied to perfection and in a timely manner. In fact, the staff (Sandy, in particular) has gone above and beyond to make living here a joy. When I needed help installing my window unit AC, I ran into Sandy and asked if she knew anyone who could help me. Most property managers would not provide assistance but Sandy was quick to call not one but two helpers to install the unit. I think it's rare to find quality service and when lucky enough to find someone who works hard and goes out of their way, that work should be recognized. read more

Representative told me there was absolutely no way to meet a leasing agent in person before giving all my information (SSN and more) to them online -then hung up on me. read more

I have lived in the James building for about a year and renewed my lease this year. Sandy, our property manager, is amazing and so dedicated. She helped us get the best apt available in the building, and she is always looking out for us. During this heat wave, my power went out, and she drove back to our apt at 11 pm to make sure I had power. She always fixes whatever you need within a day or two, at the latest. I've heard this from other tenants as well. It's do nice to have someone like Sandy looking out after you! The only negative is that you are located far north. But the neighborhood is friendly and safe. read more

I've been renting from these guys for the last 7 years and will be moving out this month because I bought a house. I love this place and would have stayed until I could afford to buy the whole complex from Al. These guys have been so cool about me and my late rent-paying habits. I, and my two roomates, would forget and they would gently remind me with a POLITE phone call. I did have a problem with my water heater that was fixed promptly, then broke again, then replaced. I've dealt with Al and he is a regular, solid guy that has kept the place looking nice and the price fair. I think we were pretty low maintenance tenants as far as having very few gripes over the years, but what we needed fixed was taken care of quickly and efficiently. The building is really nice and well-kept. read more

Well contacted cedar and after the discussion with David I wanted to update my review. Once again these people just always come through and never disappoint . I can't recommend them enough. Great building,great neighborhood,and great team at cedar. Going to be signing yet another lease and look foreward to spending another year in the James building thanks again cedar read more