One of the best rental agents you can get. Easy to work with, reliable, and excellent at doing a background check.

I feel so lucky to have worked with Laura. It was my first home purchase and she was the perfect person to assist. She's incredibly knowledgable and her insights helped me understand the process and make informed decisions. I've worked with realtors before who felt like they weren't listening to my interests and needs and I didn't trust they had my best interest in mind. Laura was completely the opposite. She listened to me, advocated for me, and stood up for me when I needed her to. I trust her completely. She always showed up enthusiastically for me and went above and beyond. Because of her I have my dream condo in Chicago. I recommend her to anyone and will definitely work with her again in the future. read more

We had a FANTASTIC experience working with Laura! She was instrumental in selling our condo, and we can't thank her enough. Laura had the perfect eye to get our condo ready for pictures and to sell. She made the process very simple and made very helpful suggestions to make us successful. She was very responsive and made the process as seamless as possible for us as first time sellers. We can't recommend working with her enough! read more

Laura is a fantastic agent that gets the job done! She has helped me purchase and rent multiple homes throughout the last 20 years and has incredible knowledge of the ever changing Chicago market. read more

Laura is the best! My husband and I have purchased and sold multiple properties with her over the years and have also used her to rent our investment units. Two times she has rented our units within days of listing!! Her market knowledge is unparalleled and she takes time to understand your preferences and style. Highly recommend. read more

Totally useless...After reading all of these rave reviews I can only think that 90% are completely fake...I contacted the "Rent Doctor" (RD) via her website form with all of our requirements plus additional information. After all that RD e-mails me back that my mix of requirements were usually only found with rents of almost a $1000 more than our range (we had already answered these concerns in our first form and e-mails and also given plenty of leeway to compromise on many of our requirements if others could be met, etc.)...We then e-mailed yet again reiterating what we had and we have not heard ANYTHING for more than 3 weeks!!!! (Of course, we gave up on her long ago). Not an e-mail, not a phone call, nothing. I have tried to call (at all times of day) more than a few times and always get a voice mail. Thank goodness we were recommended a realtor (Derek Disera who I will be posting a review of soon) by a friend of mine (the old fashioned way) who lives in the area, is eminently knowledgeable, direct, and ANSWERS correspondence in a prompt and helpful manner (plus he has a cool car ;). Of course, we have already been on more than 10 showings with Derek and always left satisfied with his service and we would highly recommend him... I trust Yelp with a lot of decisions I make in many things but I will think twice from now on for things like this... read more

I was feeling very "sick" after cruising around town with some other apartment broker and I needed to see a "doctor"....THE RENT DOC had the remedy! Within a few hours I had a new "lease" on life! Laura is fantastic! Professional, knowledgeable, personable and committed to your needs. I really lucked out finding her...couldn't be happier with her services and YOU will be too! read more

I've recently been in the process of a job relocation over to the bitter cold weather Chicago has to offer from the Sunny Southern California spoils of San Diego. I painstakingly began apartment hunting on Craigslist and through the Chicago Reader but just had a hard time finding anything within my specifications. I also really got tired of the same ad posts over and over such as "This unit will make Lady GaGa go Gaga!" I mean really? Someone should be shot for saying that. I read the reviews of Laura and decided to shoot her an email requesting for help. Within 30 minutes she responded and I was presented a list of locations in Bucktown/Wicker Park. After selecting some I flew out to Chicago in hopes of securing a lease so I can begin my move. I met up with Laura and she drove me around and toured me through several places. Although some seemed decent, I just didn't feel like they were worth the money and I still had the trouble of planning out my parking situation. She didn't give up and she gave another agent a call, in which a listing just opened for a really nice 2 bedroom in a duplex walkup. The unit was perfect, rooms were lightly colored with fresh paint and the hardwood floors were in great condition, you can see the gloss on them. The living room had a great setup with a fireplace, and the windows provided a spectacular view of the snow covered park. I automatically had thoughts of walking my future dog around there. The timing was perfect, and within a few hours my lease was ready to go. Laura was even kind enough to drop me off at my hotel since it was on the way out of the office. Laura provided me great tips and described several of the locations as we were driving around. My experience with her has been excellent and I would highly recommend it to any and everybody! read more

Last year my boyfriend and I moved to the city from the suburbs. We had previously inhabited a house that was 3000 sq. ft. Space was a big deal to us and we were unwilling to live in something run down and gross. We looked at over 20 apartments and were having little luck. Then we found a listing that looked promising and when we called we got Laura. Looking back, we were a huge pain in the rear; picky, needy, and unseasoned in Chicago apartment searching. Laura was unbelievably patient with us. She showed us the apartment that we ended up renting twice and even waited 45 minutes for us to show when we were late because of a snowstorm. She negotiated with the landlord a few requests that we had and within an hour of filling out the application, congratulated us on our new place. She even brought the keys to me at work. Naturally, when we started searching again this year, Laura was the first person we thought of. I would also like to note that every other agent we dealt with before Laura showed us CRAP. They showed us apartments that we would not even consider renting even after we told them what we were looking for. Laura does NOT lease crap and she will give you exactly what you ask for. Thanks for everything Laura!!! read more

Absolutely terrible. I've left messages, emails, and NO CONTACT. This is a terrible way to run a business. Anyone going to her website should expect to get NO help. I asked about a specific property that keeps getting listed on craigslist but for whatever reason, I can't get a hold of anyone at the number/email address provided. Super frustrating. read more

The Rent Doc (Laura) used to rent me apartments when I was a city boy. When I was ready to buy a place out in the burbs I naturally called her for advice. I was sick of the lame duck agents I was dealing with so I asked her for help. Even though she lives an hour and a half away from my suburb she drove out and hooked up about 8 great showings in an afternoon. Two days later our offer was accepted for less than I was even hoping for. Of course during the whole process I would get a few runarounds from lawyers, mortgage firms, the seller, and his agent. Laura was on it for me going above and beyond dealing with the issues that arose. Everything eventually got done and I close next week, and of course she will be there. I can't believe how fast everything moved, all said and done the entire process took a single month. She has the connections and no bull attitude to get things done fast and proper, even in the burbs. read more

I met Laura by chance through a friend, we stopped in her office on a whim and no more than 5 minutes later I was seeing my first rental space. Laura found me thee perfect vintage apratment! Laura gets right down to business and 5 days after meeting her I was signing my lease! I would highly recomend Laura's services, I just moved her from WI and had no idea what neighborhoods were safe or the best fit for my needs. Laura weeded out the bad apples and found my diamond!!!!!! Thank you Laura!!!!! The Rent Doctor cured this nurses apartment hunting blues!!!!!!!!!!! (: Victoria read more

I found Laura to be very unprofessional when inquiring about one of her rentals . She declined to talk to me about the property I called about. read more

After deciding to exit the city of Chicago but deciding to hold on to my condo, I was dreading the prospect of renting said condo. Finding and screening tenants, determining the optimal rate and so on seemed a real headache. Laura's was the only agency we listed the place with. After a quick meeting to discuss details and a quick photo shoot of the condo, our place went on the market. Within a day or two we had a showing scheduled; within a week we had a signed lease. I can't see enough positive things about the process or Laura's professionalism. Obviously the result speaks for itself, but even if the process had taken longer I'd still be writing a positive review on the strength of her advice, personality and obvious pride in her work. read more

I hired TRD to sell my home in Chicago and could not be happier with the experience. Laura is a great agent, is responsive, receptive, and to the point. She made me feel like I was her only client. I had a lot of questions and decisions to make going through the listing process. She listened and gave advice but never in a way where I felt like she was just going through the motions. We were under contract within a couple of days at full list price. I don't think I would have had that success with any agent. She knows how to sell. If I were still in Chicago, I'd hire Laura to sell or buy my next home in a heartbeat. Seriously, give her a call. You will not regret it. read more

My tenant gave me plenty of notice that she would not be renewing her lease November 1, giving me more than 6 weeks to put the place on the market and find a tenant. I thought no problem. The previous time, there were tons of requests for showings from a single craigslist ad I posted, and I had a signed lease inside of a week. That was 2008, this is is 2009. The difference in the market is stark; over the course of more than two weeks, and two different craigslist ads, I had received a paltry TWO email inquiries, one showing, no lease, and a growing concern that Nov 1 would arrive without a signed lease. Talk about stress, especially considering that my wife and I have a baby on the way and we're trying to save as much as we can for childcare! So upon the recommendation of the new landlord of my old tenant, I decided to try out The Rent Doctor. I have to say that I was little dubious that she could do any better. Boy was I in for a surprise. The Rent Doctor and I (Laura Renaldo) and I met on a Monday to create an agreement. The VERY NEXT DAY, I had a signed lease with a great tenant (awesome credit, gainful employment, etc). The fee for service - one month's rent. Best money I ever spent for freedom and peace of mind. read more

I highly recommend The Rent Doctor and Laura to the rental community. I own and manage several rental properties in Chicago and have used countless rental agents to fill my units over the years. 75% of the rental agents that I have encountered are worthless, mainly because they do not have the interests of the property owner in mind, rather, it is a churn and burn culture with most realtors simply trying to fill as many apartments as possible with little regard for the quality of tenant. Laura is completely different. She is one of the best and I would easily score her a 5 out of 5. Laura takes the time to get to know her clients by performing an initial needs assessment followed by great pictures and online listings for each unit. Laura knows my needs well and brings me only the highest quality tenants. Laura is a sincere, honest realtor who goes out of her way to satisfy all parties involved in the process. When I am looking for renters, Laura will always be my first call. read more

Laura is the best. She is the most patient agent I have ever met. I would recommend her to anyone who is looking for a rental home in Chicago. She definetly has home listings that other agents dont have. read more

I have been a patient of the docs for over 5 years. I own 100 plus rental units in the Chicagoland area. Laura has always filled all my vacancies promptly and always with great tenants. Wether it's a $700 dollar studio or a $1700 dollar 4 bed duplex unit Laura always finds me great tenants. She is professional and easy to deal with and always tells it as it is. Thanks doctor!! read more

We were trying to find a place to rent in Chicago before we had actually moved to the area...so we did a LOT of internet searching before we arrived for a weekend of house hunting...we made appointments with 3 other rental brokers, Chicago Apartment Finders, Rent Here and Elan Reality...although the people were fine at all these other companies, they just didn't have any inventory that we liked...and we ultimately left our appointments feeling guilted or pressured into settling for something we didn't like...needless to say, we were about to give up when we stumbled across a Craigslist ad that looked like it could be a perfect fit...that's how we met Laura...the pictures on Craigslist we're actually the real unit (no common in many listings we found!) and Laura turned out to be very easy to work with...no pressure, no guilt, just friendly and easy going!! read more

While making my plans to relocate to Chicago, I was referred to Laura to assist in finding a new place to live. My original plan was to find a two bedroom to share with a friend who also works in the Chi-area 'burbs, but in the opposite direction. Miss Laura not only helped in finding a place with the requirements I specified, but helped a guy with no real knowledge of the commutes involved plan the best location for both my roommate and I to get to where we needed to go. In just one morning she found us a place that was PERFECT!! Great neighborhood, great surroundings...everything. Then as soon as I was signing a lease, my soon-to-be roommate turned out to be a lying P.O.S. and it all fell through. This left me exactly one week to find a place AND move and I was FREAKING out!!! Laura kept me calm by assuring me we could get it done....and she did just that. I can't say enough about how assertive and proactive she was throughout the whole process and in SIX days time I was packed and moving! THE DOC ROCKS!!!! read more

Laura's apt website was amazing and had great detailed information. She sent us 50 apts to look at online and was able to narrow it down to 7 and was able to pick one the next day. The website actually gave room sizes of apts, which saved us so much time not having to look at apts that didn't fit our requirements. Compared to other Brokers, she's really professional and knows her stuff. Don't waste your time trying to find a place on your own like I did. She rocks. read more

I have been an acquaintance of Laura for a number of years through a mutual friend. This past spring, while my wife and I were planing our wedding we ran into Laura on the street and told her we were thinking of moving into a new place after our wedding and that we would give her a call..... A few weeks later I got an email from Laura about place that EXACTLY matched the description of what we were looking for. Laura had thought of us weeks after and took it upon herself to seek us out to help us meet our needs. Even though I have known her a while, I got the sense she treats all her clients this way. Thanks Laura. We will definitely use your services again. read more

Summary: Even though Laura is based in Bucktown, she found me a GREAT place in the Loop, and saved me tons of trouble of negotiating with the listing agent! Full Version: Laura helped me find a great place right by my company, and I am moving in tomorrow. I am thoroughly satisfied with every aspect of her service. At first, I found out that her website contains mostly apartments from Bucktown, and I need a place in Loop, so I was a bit worried. However, I soon realized that all the agents share the same listings, and all it matters is whether the agent is responsible, effective, and nice! Laura is responsible, effective and nice! Compared to other large companies, I think Laura really cares about each customer, and wants to attract clients by the word of mouth, which is a great thing for us customers! She told us that most out-of-town clients heard about her from Yelp. She first sent me some listings, and was very responsive when I had questions. We then made a trip to Chicago, and Laura picked us up and drove us around. She showed us 6 or 7 places, ranging from 1200 to over 2000 bucks per month, and from 600 to over 1500 sqft. She listed the strength and weakness of each place, which was very helpful, since I am fresh out of college and has never rented a place before. She was not pushy at all, allowing us to think about our decisions, and in the end recommended the place that was not the most expensive one, but the most suitable one for me. The listing agent of that apartment was clearly not very competent, and Laura saved us a lot of trouble by negotiating and contacting that guy directly. When we had some special requests, Laura was able to make them written in the contract, and made sure that they were executed by the listing agent. I will definitely call up Laura when i need a place again. Very excited to pick the key and move-in tomorrow! I will probably update the review once I move in. read more

I contacted Laura about two and a half months before I needed to move into a new apartment, which was clearly too early, but I wanted to knock out my search as early as possible. She told me that the inventory was a bit low at that time for when I would be moving in and that she would get back to me in a few weeks. Given my experiences with other brokers and their complete lack of organization, I pretty much wrote off any future contact with her. And then, true to her word, she actually e-mailed me. Not only that, she even sent me apartments that were relevant to what I had asked (gasp)! Throughout the entire process, she was very responsive to all of my e-mails and very accommodating to my schedule when actually going for showings. During our last showing, she even offered to drive me to my next apartment, which I was touring with another broker. Bad for business, great for reviews. Before I tucked and rolled out of her car, she even told me that she hoped it went well (although, I feel like that may have been dripping with sarcasm). Even though I didn't end up taking one of the apartments Laura showed me, I would definitely go to her again should I be in the hunt for an apartment. Very professional, friendly, and helpful. read more

Once again, Laura provided stellar service helping us find a new place when our landlord booted us out (he was selling and we weren't buying, just yet). She was just as helpful this time around but now has an app to help sort through properties. As I got discouraged, she asked be to be patient and trust that the market would improve as the weather warmed up. She, once again, proved her expertise and knowledge of the market as we found a place in the neighborhood we wanted for even a better price than we were expecting. I can't thank her enough for her patience and the emotional support through our latest house hunt and will continue to recommend her to everyone we know. read more

We have absolutely loved working with Laura! She went out of her way for us on several occasions and made sure we got into our new apartment as early as possible to avoid having to move twice. She has always been available when we needed her and we've had very open communication, which has made the process so smooth. Laura is kind, has a sense of humor, and always keeps her clients top of mind. We 100% recommend working with her to get your next place! read more

I had spent quite a few weeks scouring Craigslist and other sites praying to find a good apartment. Each time I would find a place and check it out I would be severely disappointed. But in one afternoon Laura was able to find me three places that were above and beyond suitable, and one that was absolutely fantastic. I have lived in many different apartments and found them in various ways, but I have to say I have never been more pleased with an apartment hunting process as the one that Laura helped me out on. Knowledgeable, straightforward and efficient I don't know what else you could ask for. Thanks Laura! read more

I loved working with the Rent Doctor. The agent Laura was extremely helpful and knowledgeable. She knew exactly what I wanted. We looked at 5 places one evening. By the next day I was ready to sign a lease. I would recommend Laura to anybody looking for an apartment. She was so helpful that when I plan to have my house warming party, she will be on my guest list! Thanks Laura!! read more

Laura the Rent Doc is a godsend. If you need help finding an apartment or need help renting one out, she is the person to go to. My wife and I needed to rent out or condo since we had moved to the suburbs due to our growing family. Our situation was pretty tough in terms of the economic climate (eg the Great Recession) as well as the time of year as we had vacated our condo in November. After trying for weeks on Craigslist to rent our place ourselves and doing showings for people who would show up maybe 50% of the time, we contacted Laura. Laura was tenacious in showing our place to potential tenants and when she did find some for our place, the renters she found were really nice and responsible individuals. If you need topnotch service in finding an apartment or like in our case if you need help getting your place rented, Laura is the person to go to. We will be definitely utilizing her services the next time we need to rent out our condo. Thanks Laura! read more

The Docta rocks! We used Laura to help us rent our place. I had driven by her office several times and on a whim I decided to contact her. As soon as I enlisted Laura, we were having daily showings and multiple offers. She lists your place in several different arenas, screens any potential tenants and their brokers, and is courteous and knowledgeable about the market. Previously, I had enlisted the services of the Apartment People and FMA Chicago and was not getting much traction. These companies were completely worthless from an individual landlord's perspective. I will use Laura again and would recommend her highly to both landlords and tenants. read more

Laura was great! She provided me with dozens of listings for apartments which fit my needs for size, cost, neighborhood, and availability dates, all while providing helpful tips on things like parking situations in various neighborhoods, places to go out at night or on weekends, and a little bit about the "feel" of each neighborhood. She was also extremely reachable both by phone as well as email, and typically responded within hours. As someone who knows very little about Chicago and the apartments available there, this was a huge help. When it came time to come visit the apartments I'd selected from the listings, Laura was super organized. She was able to meet me on the one weekend I had available to come to town, arrived right on time, and took me to the 4 or 5 places I'd picked out to see. I found an apartment that I'm very happy with! Thanks, Laura. read more

We were moving out of state and needed to rent our condo. I have never experienced an easier process. Laura, The Rent Doctor, made it easy and FAST to get our condo rented. She was able to gain so many prospects for us and our requirements were tough! She found us the perfect renters who we have never had a problem with. 12 months later, we moved back to Chicago. As we had renters in our condo, we need to find an apartment, and fast. Laura found us the perfect apartment in a matter of 2 days. Whether you are looking to have your place rented or are looking for an apartment to rent, Laura is the person to call! read more

By FAR the best. Unless you prefer showings where there are 10 other potential applicants and the place looks nothing like the photos you saw. My boyfriend and I just moved into a newly renovated 2 bedroom and couldn't be happier all thanks to Laura Renaldo!!! read more

Moving to Chicago from out-of-town is basically a terrible thing, so if you are in that boat--I am very sorry. Our first attempt to find a place was so bad: we got stood-up several times by other rental agencies, with many more simply stating that the place had already been rented by the time we drove the 2.5 hours here just to tour the place. One tenant outside of a building we were looking to tour had said "You're thinking of renting here? Trust me, you don't want to." Not that we could have anyway--the leasing company never showed up. After a long wasted day and no place to live, I gave up on using an Apartment Finder online & turned to Yelp. SO GLAD we did; so glad we found The Rent Doctor & Laura. She showed us a place that was perfect, in the neighborhood we wanted, in the price range we could afford. Laura helped us figure out a start date that was right for us and everything was done in a speedy manner. I don't know what we would have done otherwise. We love our apartment still, but if we ever consider upgrading you can be sure we'll use The Rent Doctor again. read more

Laura is fantastic! we called her on a tuesday night, met her on wednesday and our place was rented on thursday. she handled everything from start to finish which was particularly helpful considering we then went on vacation - she is really great & so knowledgeable about the neighborhood. highly recommend her services. read more

The short version for all of you with tiny attention spans: Laura is great and I will come back to her for future apartments. She looked out for my needs and worked hard to find something that really worked for me - not just trying to push me into a place. The whole story: I've moved around a lot in the past 6 years (over a dozen times), and I've never found a rental market like Chicago. In other cities, I could just hop on Craigslist and find either a private owner or management company who had what I wanted. In Chicago, almost all the posts were from listing agents. So I came to yelp, and a lot of these agents had sketchy reviews, or the posts themselves looked questionable. Then I found Laura, who already had a dozen great reviews here. I was moving from out-of-state and was in town for a long weekend visiting my boyfriend and called Laura to finally get my apartment search rolling. She found several promising properties - two of which I was really excited about. We were going to see them on Monday, but then Laura emailed on Sunday to say that the apartments had already been rented. So she sent me some more listings to look at. I was very cost-conscious and thought the new listing that was the cheapest looked good. Laura steered me away from it because the listing sounded questionable (vinyl floors in *every* room are not a good sign of quality) so we switched focus to 3 other listings, two of which were on the expensive side. Again, when we went to set up appointments, the best option was already rented. So we set up the other two, when Laura emailed back to say that she'd pulled one out of her hat - a building she'd rented out before had a vacancy that looked like it fit my needs, and was by far the best price. After seeing the other two more expensive places (one of which was quite tempting) she still recommended I go with the cheaper one - even though it would be a smaller commission for her. Lastly, she was fantastic throughout the lease-signing process, and got the landlord to agree to let me have a portable dishwasher if he approved the model, even though the rules in the lease prohibited them. All in all, I was thrilled with the experience I had with her, and would recommend her to anyone else in Chicago! read more

My wonderful fiance and I needed a place to live after our landlord illegally evicted us. He foreclosed due to failure to pay his mortgage. Never told us anything. We needed a new place,and fast. Laura was recommended to us by several friends. I'm always annoyed by reviews like those of the dude below, who never actually utilized the services of this particular company. Did they decide not to take on this client because his expectations were unreasonable? I don't know. Maybe an email went to junk mail ... who knows. All I know is that Laura was in contact with us quickly, found us a place FAST, and was nothing but totally competent and professional. I was referred to her by several friends who had purchased condos and were assisted by her in her real estate brokerage. Several of them have known her for years. We just bought a home -- happy not to be renting anymore, but we refer all our friends when moving to consult with Laura because she works hard, she's honest, and she's a real straight shooter. With craigslist and other sites now, it may seem like you don't even need a broker. You are going to have to pay a bit more. But when you want to find a place and know it's a good place, know it's a good neighborhood, know that you're not paying too much ... that's when you need a true professional. read more

I am thrilled that I ended up choosing the awesome apartment Laura showed me. I had an unusually stressful moving situation, and was back and forth on where to go and what to do. Throughout this process, I continuously came face-to-face with pushy leasing agents, none of which had due regard for my expectations or needs. After viewing numerous apartments that fell way short on character, etc, I met Laura! She was so patient and awesome! She truly cared about allowing me all the time I needed with my decision to ensure a perfect fit. She also kept me well informed about other traffic on the specific apartment I was considering, not once pushing me to a premature decision. In the end, after an extensive search, I kept coming back to that charming apartment she had shown me. I'm so very glad to have done business with Laura in the end, and not with some other pushy leasing schmuck. I'm certain that I've found the perfect fit and everything is as it was meant to be. I doubt I will be moving again anytime soon, but if I do, rest assured I will be utilizing "The Rent Doctor" once again. Thank you so much Laura! You have no idea how appreciative I am for your knowledge, patience and awesomeness! read more

"Landlord"! ya im one. i got tired of sifting thru tenants years ago. i use her exclusively. i have units 800 to 2500 she fills em all. never a vacancy and all high caliber individuals. not to mention i always get to laugh when i see her. :* read more