My husband and I were married, bought and sold a house and moved across country all in the course of a year. So, to say that I was a high stress client is an understatement. I told Matt, off the bat, that I was an A-Type personality, a professional who had a certain level of expectations that had to be met and that at the end of the day business was business. If he wasn't able to execute our sale within the timeline given he would be 'let go'. He completely agreed and even appreciated my direct concise form of communication. Say and Do is my motto and Matt definitely executed that. He said he would have the house sold within a month and after 2 weeks of it being on the market it was under contract. If you don't have the time or patience for fluff talkers or dream spinners and simply want someone who knows real estate and how to sell it, call Matt. Seriously. read more

Matt Liss is a patient, honest, attentive, experienced and sharp real estate advisor. After working with him for about 5 months, we closed on a property last month. I am very happy with my purchase and Matt has been very willing to be a resource even after the fact. And that seems to be a rare find these days. What I love about him is his transparency: always keeping you in the loop, unlike other realtors who may cut you out of discussions to push a sale through. He is very honest and really does have your best interest at heart. Matt will help you navigate through the bull and he will NOT sell you something he does not think will fit your needs and capabilities. I will be using him again in the future. Highly recommended! read more

If I could give more than five stars to Matt Liss, I would. He was everything I could have asked for in a realtor--and more. My fiance and I started the home-buying process several months ago and picked Matt as our realtor after researching a ton and meeting with a few. I was most concerned about having a realtor who was always accessible and was always prompt with replies. Matt always exceeded my expectations. He made himself available all the time, and there was never more than a five minute delay when we waited to hear back from him by text and email, and I can't ever think of a time when we called that he didn't answer his phone. He got us in to see properties the very first day they were listed--and often the listing agents were commenting about how fast we were to request to and view properties. This was something we always appreciated. I second all of the comments on here about Matt's professionalism and honesty. I always felt, through the entire process, like he was incredibly straight-forward. He came across as genuinely wanting us to be happy. I have nothing but good things to say. Matt is, simply put, fantastic at what he does. read more

Our experience with Mark Allen Realty has been wonderful! I can not even express how awesome Dave has been. We are looking to move from another state and he has bent over backwards to accommodate our schedule in every way possible. We talked before we came to town and it was obvious that unlike agents we have had in the past, he actually listened to what our requirements and needs are as well as our likes and dislikes. He was able to pin point what we were looking for and only sent listings that matched. When it came to showings, he was the epitome of what a fiduciary should be. He pointed out pluses and minuses and pointed out things we had said were requirements. His patience was unbelievable! We did not find quite what we were looking for this trip, but will be returning soon and will NOT work with anyone but him. If you're looking for a realtor that is all about you in every single way, Dave is most definitely your man! read more

Howie is truly the best in so many ways. I have never seen anyone this passionate about their profession and who truly cares about their clients. My husband and I have purchased 2 condos thanks to Howie and will solicit his services for the next purchase. Howie is: Friendly Works tirelessly for you Knowledgeable Efficient Caring - He truly wants you to succeed and will follow up and help you even after the closing is complete. Honest - Even when you're not aware, he's working behind the scenes to ensure your happiness. Funny Professional A joy to be around I can't thank you enough for everything you've done for our family Howie. We look forward to working with you again. Update: In addition to being the driving force behind the purchase of our new beautiful condo, Howie found a stellar renter for the investment property in 2 weeks ensuring that we start getting ROI immediately. If you want great results, call Howie! read more

My husband and I worked with Matt Liss when buying our condo. He understood our needs, was knowledgeable in his guidance, and helped us to find exactly what we were looking for. Our experience working with Matt was a pleasure and we have happily recommended him to many of our friends. During our next buying experience, Matt will be our guy. read more

When we were buying our home, Matt's assistance and guidance was invaluable. He truly is a real estate rock star, leading us through every part of the process: developing a pricing/negotiation strategy, assembling an "A-team" that enabled us to close in record time, even helping us plan for renovations on the new place after the keys were ours. If you are in need of a real estate agent, it's simple: look no further than Matt. read more

Howie is a realtor who values relationships over making a quick buck. Honest, punctual, and easy-going, he patiently drove me around to make sure I got exactly what I wanted in my investment home. I couldn't have asked for a more knowledgeable and dedicated realtor. Howie, Thank you. You are the first agent I call. read more

My wife and I just closed on a condo in Lincoln Square that Mark helped us buy. He did a great job of communicating what was available, negotiating the offer and following through the process. I really liked how he used his construction background to point out both good and bad things when it came to evaluating houses and condos. He even gave us a nice gift at our closing . Had a great experience working with Mark and would highly recommend him to anyone looking for a house or condo on the north side. read more

My Husband and I found Matt on yelp and wow are we thankful. Matt is incredibly responsive, rarely did we find an email / txt or call unanswered within minutes usually. He was also quite accommodating with his schedule and our showing times. We were targeting Logan Square as our new home and Matt knew the in's and outs of the neighborhood. The parks, restaurants, transit and schools. We finally settled on a fantastic single family home - the market was very competitive but Matt guided us through the bidding process and we were successful. He has since been a great reference for us as we do some minor touch ups on the property. Thanks Matt -it was a pleasure. read more

I would recommend Matt Liss if you are looking for a curt, aggressive salesman to get you a condo in a competitive market in Chicago. I would advise going with another agent for a condo located anywhere outside of Chicago. Howie Andron was very professional, knowledgeable, and prompt. He worked with me to achieve my real estate goals while at the same time offering thoughtful guidance. Highly recommended for any of your real estate needs! Thanks again Howie! read more

Howie Andron has to be the best realtor EVER! This is my first contribution to yelp, but Howie earned a glowing review. Im a first time buyer who had no idea what to expect or how to proceed. I was just fumbling around online trying to see what was out there. Then, enter Howie; Everything starting running like a well oiled machine! A little over a month later, and im in my new condo! Howie was constantly available, with quick and always helpful responses. He knows exactly how to maneuver in the real estate market and is exceptional at it. Although I was a fairly low budget buyer, I was NEVER put to the back burner. Howie worked hard for me! Yet he was patient with me and helpful when I was freaking out and had no idea what i wanted to do. I absolutely recommend Howie to anyone and everyone. Oh and i should mention that I am incredibly awkward when meeting new people but I was quickly at ease with Howie. He is a pleasure to work with. read more

Our experience as first time home buyers was awesome with Matt Liss! The whole process was quick and easy thanks to his constant expertise, communication, transparency and energy. We won't look to anyone else the next time we are looking to move! read more

My husband and I had the pleasure of working with Matt Liss on the sale of our co-op and purchase of our new condo in Chicago. After much headache with 2 other realtors and 8 months of little progress, Matt stepped up to the plate and accepted the challenge of selling our co-op. He coordinated with our rather challenging board and in a few short weeks we had an offer and a SOLD sign shortly thereafter. Matt was incredibly professional, dedicated, available (we never waited more than 5 minutes for a response via text, email or phone). He fielded all of our questions and has an incredible breadth of knowledge about real estate and Chicago neighborhoods, guiding us to our new condo and providing honest info about all the properties we perused. He then oversaw the purchase of our new condo - negotiating a great price for us. Matt is, by far, the BEST realtor in Chicago. We appreciated his straight forward, professional attitude that seamlessly got the job done. He worked harder than any realtor we've met (and unfortunately we've met a few duds...). He is the reason our sale and purchase were seamless and successful - not an easy feat with a same day double close! We recommend him above ANYONE else and will work with him for all future transactions. Hands down the best. read more

My wife and I relocated from the mid-Atlantic region and were lucky enough to meet Matt Liss through word of mouth. Upon meeting, we instantly liked Matt and knew his integrity and professionalism were some of this best assets. I don't think I've met anyone who knows the northside of the city and north suburban housing market quite as well as Matt. He was extremely helpful in finding a home that met our exacting requirements and budget. He communicated all steps of the process and was always a step ahead of the competition. Further, his deep network of lenders and construction firms enabled us to close on time and make the improvements we wanted to our home. Without his expertise, commitment and dedication, finding our home would certainly have proved much more daunting than it was. I would use Matt again and highly recommend him for future homeowners and those looking to sell! read more

Dave helped navigate us through the unfamiliar process of buying our first home. He was our leader from beginning to end. We were very open with Dave about what we were looking for in a home and what was important to us - much of this we learned along the way with his help. He was very good at remembering all of our criteria and making sure we saw houses that fit what we were looking for so our time was not wasted. He was focused and dedicated, AND very responsive and available when we needed him. He even helped us through situations that fell outside of his "role". Dave also knew how to make sure we were competitive buyers, and because of that our first and only offer was accepted! We are now living in our wonderful home thanks to Dave, Joe, and the rest of their team - and we couldn't be more grateful!!! read more

If you want to sell your condo for top dollar, Matt is the agent for you. Matt Liss helped sell our bucktown condo in June for 99% of list price (which happened to be higher than we thought we could list at) 3 days BEFORE it was even scheduled to hit the market. After interviewing 3 realtors in January 2014 to help us sell our condo, we selected Matt. We knew instantly that his approach during our meeting - energetic, straight forward and well informed - was the same approach we wanted during the sales process. Based on Matt's guidance (and the fantastic help of Haven Home Staging!) we made some minor changes to prep our home to sell, but waited to put it on the market until we found a new property. The search ended up taking 5 months, during which Matt was great at checking in, keeping us appraised of market changes and letting us know he would be ready as soon as we were. When we gave him the go, Matt kicked into gear with photos and marketing, so we could list on a Thursday and have an open house that weekend. At the same time, Matt lined up 3 showings for the Monday before we planned to go live based on people he knew were looking in the area from his extensive network. We had a fantastic offer Monday night that met every one of our requests and exceeded our expectations. It was great to work with Matt and his team. I can't recomend them highly enough. read more

Thanks to Matt we have a home in Chicago! After 1.5 years in Chicago we decided to invest in a condo, we had moved from NYC and didn't really know where to start! Matt came highly recommended from one of our friends (also from NYC) and had helped them get their place here. In addition, while randomly chatting with my dentist, she knew Matt Liss and had nothing but great things to say about him and that he had helped them sell one of their condos. It was a no-brainer after that! Matt was great from the start. His was clear, highly professional and knowledgeable of the Chicago market and helped us narrow our search and price point. He was honest and up front about all the costs and information. As first time buyers he helped us with the thinking process and strategies. He was on top of things, we got detailed information on all the properties that we were interested in and he was available via email and mobile anytime we had questions and concerns. The guy seriously works 7 days a week! In the end with his guidance and knowledge we got a place! Overall Matt is attentive, highly experienced and a sharp individual who truly knows his job! He was a pleasure to work with and we will recommend him to any of our friends and family in the future. Thank you Matt!! read more

Cheryl is a class act. I was not looking for a realtor but called her to ask questions about real estate, taxes, and a home warranty. Out of the kindness of her heart she was patient, informative, and knowledgeable. If you are looking for a selfless person that will accommodate your needs in this sometimes shady arena..... Cheryl should be your next call. Thank you for the help Cheryl and the home warranty was the smartest purchase of my life! read more

You won't go wrong with choosing Matt Liss or Mark Allen Realty for your real estate needs. Besides extensive knowledge of the market, he brings enthusiasm and dedication. He is always quick to respond and calm any nerves you may have during the process. Straightforward guy that you will want to go out and have a beer with sometime. But most importantly, will get the job done efficiently with a successful end result. Whether a first time home buyer or a seasoned real estate individual, you will be happy you chose Matt to help during the journey. read more

Matt Liss is AMAZING! I'm a first-time home-buyer and contacted him with some very broad questions; he responded promptly with super helpful information. He gave me exactly what I needed and was thoroughly professional and courteous, helping me navigate this somewhat intimidating journey. I'm very grateful to have connected with him and definitely plan to use his services in the future. Highly recommend him! read more

Was looking to sell my condo so I googled best realtor in chicago and Matt Liss name came up with several excellent reviews. I reached out to him and gave him a shot. And man was that the best deceison! This guy has an absolutely phenomenal team under him and he is relentless in exceeding your expectations. The guy does not mess around and gets the job done! Within 90 days we had a contract signed. See for yourself and give him a shot! Thanks Matt. read more

Matt was recommended to me by two close friends who had worked with Matt multiple times. I am not kidding when I say he is an absolute boss. As a first time home buyer, I was a little nervous but Matt instantly made me feel super comfortable. He is insanely knowledgeable, has a guy for literally everything, and has your best interests in mind. In this crazy 2021 market, Matt took me from first showing to accepted offer (and under asking price) in THREE days!...All I can say is work with Matt. You will not regret it. read more

We researched and found Matt Liss through other Yelp reviews. My husband and I were in the market for our first home/investment property. We contacted Matt, scheduled a meeting and knew he would be a great fit. We loved his honesty and first hand knowledge with investment properties. Matt was in constant contact with us throughout the entire process. He checked in regularly and made sure we had all our questions answered. He also connected us with an amazing team, including our lawyer and financial lenders. His history in the field and knowledge of the market is not to be surpassed. We would highly recommend Matt to anyone searching for a home. He gets the job done and makes sure you are fully educated along the way. read more

It was time for my family to move to the suburbs and after interviewing several Realtors, Matt Liss stood out among them all. He was thoughtful enough to bring in a stager (at his expense) for us as we were clueless on how to get our house ready for sale. We took all of the stager's ideas and brought our home into a new era - frankly I wish we could have stayed, the house looked awesome. Matt gave us a pricing and marketing strategy that worked for our busy lives, we had our home listed and sold within the week. No hassles - constant communication from Matt during the process and a relatively smooth closing. Proceed with confident - Matt is fantastic. read more

My husband and I had been house hunting since winter 2020 and finally closed on a house in early summer 2021 thanks to Matt Liss. We had been working with another realtor but quickly realized she was a bad fit. Matt was recommended to us by two great friends of ours and we are so glad we took the leap. We interviewed Matt and were impressed with his contractor background and years of experience. He knew Chicago's real estate market well and it was amazing to have someone who also knew about what went into building houses and could pick up on issues right away. Not to mention, he was hilarious and a joy to work with. He was also super responsive, knowledgeable and forthright, all of which we were grateful for. We love our home and couldn't have done it without Matt. You won't be disappointed. read more

Joe and Dave are a helpful and knowledgeable team. I don't think I would have been able to find a home in the northwest suburbs without their guidance, expertise, and negotiating skills (especially during COVID). They walked me through every step of the purchasing process, thoughtfully answered my many questions, and communicated frequently. Everyone I dealt with during the entire process, from their assistants to the attorneys, were professional and on point. Thank you Dave and Joe! Highly recommended. read more

Matt Liss was incredibly helpful and knowledgeable. He really guided us through the whole buying process of a two-flat in Chicago, and has helped us solve problems and provided good advice even after the purchase was completed. It has been great working with him. read more

As I started to begin to think about purchasing a home in the city, my close friend highly recommended using Matt Liss From Mark Allen. Said I would not be disappointed if I went with him. I did my due diligence in order to find and qualify every individual, since we saw this as one of the biggest decisions of our lives moving forward. To say Matt was exactly what we were looking for is an understatement. He was transparent, vocal, thoughtful and directed us to what we now believe is the perfect place for us. Home buying is a stressful task, but with Matt at the helm we knew we had nothing to worry about. My wife went into labor the day of our home inspection, Matt stepped up and went to the inspection on our behalf, letting us know everything would be fine, and it was. I pride myself on being responsive, however Matt may take the cake, responds right away regardless the time of day/night. Another thing we really appreciated is how Matt went to bat for us, even on the smallest of issues. Matt made this experience much easier than it actually is. Like I said before, we could not be happier with our new home in Lakeview, especially knowing that we wouldn't have seen this home without Matt getting the pocket listing early on, and being some of the first to actually see the home. I have already recommended Matt to all of my family/friends whether they are selling or buying homes here in Chicago. Thanks for everything, Matt. read more

My husband and I found Matt Liss via Yelp. We were looking to sell our condo (quickly, as we were relocating), and he was the first and only real estate agent we interviewed. Normally, I like to research multiple options before making a decision to work with someone, but we were so impressed with Matt right off the bat that we went ahead and signed to work with him on the spot. It was such a great decision. Throughout the sale process, Matt did an excellent job communicating with us and keeping us calm. Real estate can be an emotional thing, and Matt helped talk us off a ledge on a couple of occasions! He is so experienced and knowledgeable about what he does, he was able to easily reassure us when we were uncertain about the process. Matt also was a fantastic liaison between us and the buyer's agent and our attorney. He always keep us informed, and was very responsive to any questions we had. He responded to texts within minutes and never left us hanging. Matt was very knowledgeable about Chicago real estate as well. This served us well in that he helped us price our home appropriately and negotiate. He was also sensitive to our sense of urgency. Once we got started, he worked to get all the marketing materials in place fast so we could get on the market immediately. We sold our home in 7 days and closed 6 weeks later. I don't think we could have even hoped it would be that easy! All this is to say that Matt is a reliable, informed and experienced agent and we can't recommend him highly enough! read more

Matt Liss sold our property in a day! I would highly recommend him. Believe all of his five star ratings.... He stands by his clients and is a man of his word!!! read more

Not that Matt needs yet another 5-star review, but wanted to let you know about my second experience with him. When my tenants moved out, I was ready to sell my condo. Matt again advised that he thought I should continue to rent it a little longer. No, no, I insisted, so we tried to sell. Of course, I know exactly how buyers think, because after all, I have bought property. Well, turns out that my sample size of one, didn't quite hold up to Matt's wealth of experience. Some days I was cursing him. For knowing what he was talking about. If that's something you'd like in a realtor, Matt might be your guy. Signed, Happy Landlord read more

We found Howie Andron through his stellar Yelp reviews, and we're so glad we did! We were naïve first-time buyers, and Howie patiently explained everything, from the basics through strategies during closing. We particularly appreciated his frank feedback on which of our expectations were realistic and which weren't. He was professional and laid back at the same time, exerting zero pressure on our decision making process. Even far into negotiations, he told us that we could back out and start over if it was the right decision for us. Most importantly, Howie's experience and competence was invaluable in giving us confidence that we were making the right decision in closing on our condo. Three months later, we couldn't be happier in our new home! Lastly, something we didn't appreciate at the time when we chose Howie as a broker is the importance of the 'team.' In addition to working closely with Howie, we worked closely with a mortgage broker and an attorney. In our case, we couldn't work with one of Howie's trusted financial brokers, but we did work with Avni, an attorney he recommended. She and Howie were extremely helpful in working out our strategy from our initial bid all the way to closing. If we ever consider selling, our first phone call will be to Howie. read more

I am a long time chicago resident - born and raised actually. After moving west 10+ years ago I finally realized I'm not coming home and its time to sell my Chicago real estate. I found Matt Liss via yelp and I could not be happier that I did. Matt was honest, up front and guided me through the process - all from Cali. I could not be happier with his strategy, negotiations and his customer service. Thanks Matt. Highly recommended. read more

Fast forward 6 years... I contacted Matt again, this time to sell my downtown Chicago condo that he previously helped me purchase. I had already moved out of state, and Matt + team were so helpful in coordinating everything that needed to be accomplished to get the place sold (repairs, etc). He got the job done and I wouldn't hesitate to call him up again if I ever move back to the Chicago area. read more

If you want to get a great deal done, and done quickly, call Matt Liss. We bought a place for $25,000 less than the sellers' asking price and sold our place for $48,000 more than the most recent comp (a unit in our building just a few months before that was slightly better than our unit). And we sold it within a few days of listing it. I reached out to Matt via email and within a couple hours of our call to set up a meeting, he told us that we hadn't filed our homeowner's exemption and that we could do it for the current year plus two years back. He made us $1,500 before we even met. He came to our place, answered all our questions and then gave us a simple road map--nothing overwhelming or needlessly complex. He hired a staging consultant to come to our place and tell us things to do to make our place most appealing to buyers (not nearly as painful as one would expect and an absolute must). He set up a search for us on the buy side and because he is a member of Top Area Network, he sent us listings before they went on the MLS. That's huge--you can easily miss out on a place if you're not seeing it until the open house. And he was able to accommodate my (ridiculous) requests for a viewing that very night. He just got it done due to his strong relationship with other realtors. When we found a place to buy, Matt put together an offer as soon as we decided to jump on it. He made the right offer so that when all the negotiations were done, he got us a price $25,000 under their asking price. And did it on a weekend. We did not make the purchase contingent on selling our place so I was concerned we'd have to list it for less than market price in order to get it sold quickly. He brought in a professional photographer and told me that he was going to list it for $34,000 more than we thought we could list at. We got traffic immediately--we listed on a Tuesday and we had our first potential buyers come by that evening. I think we had 6 showings within the first four days. We got an offer two days before our first open house for about $20K less than our asking price. After consulting & advising us he went back to them and said that we appreciate the offer but we've got a lot of interest and the offer is too low. They came back immediately with an offer $1,000 under our asking price. We accepted the offer before the open house. If you're serious about wanting to buy or sell, you're going to be very, very glad that you've gone with Matt as your agent. read more

Matt and his team were great to work with: My place was sold in 6 weeks, during a pandemic, in January/February (very wintery weather, even for Chicago). I live across country and they helped with cleaning and managed the entire process seamlessly. Don't hesitate--it was so much easier than I expected! read more

My wife and I are first time home buyers and worked with Matt Liss as our agent. Matt is simply the best real estate agent that you can get. Matt was very responsive to our questions (we had plenty of them) and responded quickly to our messages. What we enjoyed most about working with Matt was viewing homes with him. Matt would give us his honest opinion of the homes that we viewed, pointing out things he did not like with the home (ex. shoddy workmanship and major repairs that would be needed), as well as things he thought met our expectations. Matt was very direct in telling us whether he thought a particular home was or was not a good fit for what we wanted. Matt was helpful in pointing out improvements that could be made to make the home look the way we wanted. We never felt pressured to pursue a home that we did not like. It is clear that Matt is concerned with making sure his clients find a home that they want, rather than just making a sale. After searching for a few months, we finally found our dream home in a great location in Chicago. Matt helped us with negotiating the home purchase contract and gave us suggestions to put in a competitive offer. In our case, his suggestions helped us to get the home. Matt also is great at suggesting other vendors who can provide services, including helping us find our inspector. If you are looking to buy a home, get Matt to be your agent. If we sell our home in the future we would not hesitate to contact him. read more

If you're looking for a no nonsense, straight shooter, Matt Liss is your guy. We have a decade long relationship with him and have 5 transactions with him under our belt. He won't tell you what you want to hear, he'll tell you the facts and let you make an educated decision. If this gives any context, we were eager to buy many years ago because we had a bias toward owning vs renting. He sat us down, gave us the state of the market and gave us very good and realistic advice that we shouldn't jump into buying unless we were committed to living there for 5-7 years (and we weren't sure about where we wanted to settle down quite yet)....basically the transaction cost would kill us if we sold too quickly. He could have very easily sold us a place at that time but we ended up taking his advice, rented for a couple more years before finding a great townhouse in Lincoln Park. Recently with our expanded family he also found us our forever home in Wilmette. Thankful for having Matt as our trusted advisor throughout our journey. The best part....he is now also a close friend. Can't guarantee you that part unfortunately! read more

I had one of the best experiences working with Matt Liss on the sale and purchase of my homes. Very knowledgeable, and a great team everything went smoothly. Matt was always available to answer any and all of my questions and concerns and provided feedback, and kept me informed throughout the entire process. I highly recommend him for your real estate services. read more