After 42 years in the same small town, I found myself moving to Chicago to start a new job. I was…read moreat a loss perusing websites and walking around neighborhoods trying to find the perfect condo to rent. Friends told me about Samantha and encouraged me to contact her. I was wary about using a realtor initially, but Samantha asked me to send her a prioritized list of what I wanted in my new home and she began sending me listings - this showed me that she listened to me. After seeing about 15 condos, my priority list shifted and Samantha took it all in stride. Beyond her exceptional responsiveness and willingness to show me properties all over the city, her extensive knowledge of the neighborhoods and good restaurants was out of this world! Samantha is so personable and loves the uniqueness of Chicago: She often took pictures of the architecture, vintage appliances, and fun details (a Koi pond with a waterfall at one condo!). I cannot recommend her enough!

Samantha's the best! She was really attentive to our needs and our communication style. Our…read morehouse-hunt came about somewhat unexpectedly, she definitely took a lot of anxiety and uncertainty out of the process. Sam had excellent insight into areas of consideration in our search and helped guide us into making the best decisions to suit our lifestyle. She referred us to other qualified professionals throughout. Thanks, Sam!

We had an amazing experience with this group!! From start to finish they ensured a smooth and…read moreseamless process for us. As first time home sellers we were nervous about how the process would go, but we were quickly put at ease by Elaine and Dan. They did an excellent job throughout the duration of selling our home. We cannot recommend them enough!

My husband and I recently worked with Maggie as first-time home buyers, and she was truly…read moreindispensable. When we first met with Maggie at her office, she went over the home-buying process with us in a clear and concise way, which was very appreciated, as we didn't know what to expect. I was two weeks postpartum when we decided to begin our house search (who does that to themselves, anyway???) and Maggie was always very patient and doting on our little boy. We also never felt any pressure from her at any point in the process, which is a huge plus for me. Maggie found us lots of homes that fit our must-have criteria, and within a few days, she scheduled viewings of a number of properties for us. We ended up finding a place we loved during our first day of viewings, and she helped us navigate the process with confidence, from submitting a competitive offer and negotiating prices, doing the home inspection, to closure. She was there with her expertise when we needed her, but she also gave us space to make our own decisions. As other reviewers have mentioned, we truly felt like we were her only clients. She seemed to be available whenever we needed her, and for that we're grateful. Now I hope she takes some well-deserved vacation!

Maggie sold our neighbor's condo, so we interviewed her when choosing a realtor to sell ours. We…read moretalked with several people and Maggie stood out from the rest. She charges a tiny bit more, but she is absolutely worth every penny. She knows her stuff, is a fierce negotiator and definitely makes you feel like you're her only client. She has great intuition and we felt entirely taken care of throughout the process. Plus she's just a genuinely nice person. Extremely patient, too - especially since I made her traipse all over the earth to find the right first home for us.

Purchasing real estate when you are from out of town is a little scary. We were looking for a condo…read morein Chicago and I contacted Heather after reading several reviews. Well, it turned out perfectly. Heather was great to work with and she quickly understood our needs and within hours we were looking at listings. We narrowed down the listings and provided feedback to Heather, so she could send us additional properties to consider. After further refinement, we scheduled time with Heather to review the properties when we visited Chicago. Meeting Heather in person confirmed that we found the right person to help us with the purchase. Heather has an detailed understanding of the Chicago market and made sure we understood the pros and cons of each property. Heather was generous with her time and and fun to work with and when we settled on a property, Heather streamlined the process and we had an accepted offer in a day. Heather even helped in streamlining the mortgage and closing processes by introducing us to a Mortgage broker and an attorney, both of whom were great to work with. We closed in 4 weeks. Overall a great experience!

I contacted Heather about one of her agents, Craig Frazen, who was the listing agent of a house I…read morepurchased. Heather DID respond to my email, but was very defensive about her agent. I expressed some concerns about how the deal was made including the agent misrepresenting the square footage and condition of the house. Apparently there is no agreed upon standard for square footage and it's not the listing agent job to carefully check the size or condition of the property. Knowing this is the biggest purchase of someone's life the whole laissez-faire attitude leaves something to be desired. Sure, it's buyer beware, but when/how to ethicals come into play? We didn't have that conversation because she was too busy cheering for Craig! In Heather's own words "shit happens" and that about summarizes her objectivity about one of her agents and the real estate market in general. The seller's 100 percent mis-represented the house and Heather's point was that's not Craig's fault, but being rather careless about how he advertised the property left me wondering how the transaction could have been better. Heather was too busy defending Craig to actually consider that. And because of that I would not use either one of them for my next real estate transaction.

Karen helped me with 2 home purchases and 1 sale. My first purchase was through CHT and was not an…read moreeasy process but Karen was thorough and outline the process clearly even though the city of Chicago is not super clear. That was my first home purchase and even with a long runway Karen was patient and helped. Flash to 5 years later, my partner and I were looking to buy and Karen helped us find the perfect home for us. She took time it explain the whole process to my partner who was buying her first home. Karen gave us great advice when purchasing the home and as always was super caring throughout. We could not be happier with the house. Then we were selling the CHT condo and that was a long process. Karen helped us even while abroad on a vacation and got our condo sold still! She went above and beyond and I recommend her to anyone looking to buy. You will not regret working with her!

I had a wonderful experience working with Karen and her team. I was nervous about being a…read morefirst-time homebuyer and she answered all of my questions, made me feel comfortable, and exceeded all of my expectations as a realtor. Karen helped us with both selling and buying, and I would recommend her to anybody!

Thanks again Leigh for selling our home. Leigh and his team were extremely patient and…read moreknowledgeable at every turn. We had long discussions (interviews?) with 4-5 agents before settling on Leigh. Leigh Marcus was the ONLY one who showed up on time AND never cut us off or spoke over us. Apparently that's hard for a lot of agents out there (and yeah, we're talking about online meetings here). He didn't even offer the lowest commission, but HE DIDN'T TALK OVER US. I don't know how to put a price point on being talked over, so Leigh gets the job. I can't recommend him and his team enough. We ended up with a selling price higher than our final listing and everything was gravy.

Sona was our real estate agent for our most recent home purchase. We were paired with @properties…read moreThe Leigh Marcus team randomly by a website that pairs people based on sales stats for certain zip codes. So based on that, we knew Leigh's team had a strong sales record in the Logan/Avondale/Irving Park areas we were initially looking in. However, we were just buying (not selling). Additionally, we're real estate investors, so while we were looking to buy a single family home for our own enjoyment, we wanted an agent that thinks about homes as investments and could help guide us on a smart buy we'd also love. And that's exactly what we got! Sona was very patient during our search and not pushy at all. We even ended up pulling out of one offer because my husband realized Irving Park wasn't quite the right fit for him, and Rogers Park was better for the fun lakeside hangs he was craving. She helped us navigate out of that deal. Then, she helped us find a beautiful vintage home in RP. While the home ended up getting 4 other offers, Sona's hard work got us the house! She was able to figure out what we should offer, helped us determine a fair price (not a crazy over offer, but not a lowball that would have lost us the house either). She sent us YOY information so we could see how the neighborhood appreciated over time. She also helped us think about the home from every perspective (as a young family living there with kids, as investors, etc). Sona was a joy to work with, and out of the 5 agents we've worked with so far, she definitely earned a spot at the top of the list. We would be happy to work with her again in the future. If you have the good fortune of working with her, make sure to ask for recs on movers and other service providers. She's got really great ones. She also met us at our new house after closing even though it was a long drive for her, just so she could take photos and give us champagne. What a special moment that was!

Lisa is an amazing realtor who goes above and beyond for her clients. she has an approach that…read moremakes everyone get comfortable. She knows her market as well as any agent I have worked with

I want to give huge shout out to my realtor Lisa Wenzel! Lisa and Melissa were so professional and…read moreattentive to my needs. Lisa and her team were very thorough on what they would offer as far as service, setting clear expectations, and communicating every step of the way to make me feel comfortable. Even though we had a few road blocks, she went above and beyond to make sure things still went through. Selling my 1st home which had so much sentimental value to me from 500+ miles away was stressful enough, but Lisa's exceptional service provided me with peace of mind that I needed to get through this process. If you're looking for a realtor that has your best interest at the forefront of everything, I highly recommend Lisa at Wenzel Select Properties! Just superb service!!

Jane has been helping us prepare for a sale of our Oak Park home…read more She is generous with her time, very well informed of the market and patient with our uncertainty and questions. One of Jane's most important qualities is her ability to appreciate who we are (older, empty nesters who love our home) and where we are in the selling process (exploring the possibilities). In just a few weeks, Jane has won our loyalty and confidence.

There are not enough words to describe how happy we were working with Jane. We were fortunate to…read moreget the recommendation from my parents (she helped them with a couple purchases and rentals). After helping us rent out our condo to a great family, we thought we would start looking at homes - not entirely sure what to expect. She sat down with us and listened to everything we liked and didn't like. The first few homes we would discuss at length the pros and cons. She was definitely listening because she was able to highlight very important things to us as we visited all of the homes (based on our pros and cons). Her advice was spot on! She knew how to help guide us by applying what we liked to what we had just seen. She explained the additional costs of changing things to achieve our 'dream home'. Her experience with homes in the area and remodeling homes herself was amazing. She is well versed on the many styles of homes and the potential pitfalls based on their location, style, age, maintenance (lack thereof), etc. When it came to placing offers and negotiating - she gave a very honest assessment based on what she had seen happening in the market. If she felt the home was significantly over priced, she would give her recommended cap, if the home needed a lot of work she recommended a lower price based on potential upgrading costs (to reach what market price would be with those upgrades), etc. She even worked with us to make those 'hail Mary' offers (we offered significantly lower just to see if we had a chance). She is extremely supportive. To top it off, she is a walking rolodex of great contacts for people who work in the area and can help you get the job done! She knows the right person for the job (even for those optional jobs that you need done on a budget). Even though we have closed on our beautiful new home - I will miss house hunting with Jane. She is very sweet and honest. I would recommend her to my family and friends and will definitely work with her in the future!