My family considered taking a huge leap, rather than the yearly jumps, to help out two particular…read morefriends: one- my best friend/sister, and two, his dear friend (Godparents to our son). We decided to buy them homes near us (as they wished), so as to prevent them from taking out a mortgage and to have them nearby. They each had a fixed, substantial budget to shop around. We enlisted a knowledgeable group to assist them, and to find the home/condo of their dreams. The process, from start to finish, for each went so smoothly and their desires were heard. Additionally, my husband and I were left at ease knowing they were in good hands. They were shown a list of properties within the Lincoln Park area, as well as a few in Gold Coast. Questions and concerns were immediately addressed by the team. The individuals are so in love with their new home, and we are so thrilled for them! Thank you for the exceptional service provided to our friends.

My husband and I have had multiple transactions w various Realtors in Chicago through the years…read more It wasn't until we met with Jennifer Ames that we realized Jennifer was exceptional. We witnessed this through our entire sales process. Jennifer and her team were extremely responsive, very fair and exceeded our expectations 100% of the time. From the beginning of the sales cycle through the negotiation process, their response time with returning calls & setting appts were unbelievably quick. I'd also like to point out Gus Lopez who put his heart & soul into each & every encounter! His integrity and passion for making the transaction come together and simply "doing the right thing" was truly amazing!!!!! If/when we either buy or sell in Chicago - The Ames Group has absolutely earned our business for a lifetime! Many thanks Jenny, Gus and team! Lexi and Mike

We could not recommend Lance more highly. As first-time homeowners, we were nervous about…read morenavigating the home-buying process, but he made the entire experience feel seamless and manageable from start to finish. He and the whole LAKE Group Team was incredibly knowledgeable about every aspect of homeownership and took the time to explain the ins and outs of the process so we always felt informed and confident in our decisions. From our first tour through closing, he walked us through every step of the way, answered all of our questions, and made sure we understood what was happening at each stage. We truly felt like we had someone in our corner throughout the entire process.

Lance and his team were phenomenal! I can't say enough good things. He helped me find my first…read morecondo in a short turnaround time, and I felt supported the whole way through. Definitely recommend him and his team!

Very disappointed in Jennifer Ames. She makes a lot of promises, and fails to deliver. Once signed…read moreon, you are Turned over to an inexperienced team in training lacking the experience and knowledge you we are led to believe you hired. Mistakes, no attention to detail, lags in negotiation communications she was not available, provided no help or assistance at all. Very stressful for the client. Her cameo appearance is all for the $$$. You will never receive a follow up or thank you for the business you gave her. Huge, huge disappointment. Five star rating for misrepresentation.

Chase and the Chicago E&V team are excellent! We couldn't ask for better advisors while we search…read morefor our new home. They are consistently responsive to all of our requests and questions and always break things down so they're easy to understand. I would highly recommend using Chase and the E&V team when you start looking for a new home. They know the city very well and are so easy to work with.

David Mishel is a broker I started working with by accident. As a first-time buyer, I'd been…read moretricked into reaching a Redfin (or was it Zillow?) affiliated broker rather than the listing agent, who was the person I was trying to reach. In any event, he called to set up the requested showing and seemed nice, so I set up a few showings. He was super nice and easy to work with. He did a great job on this and subsequent showings of pacing them well and in an order that made sense, so we weren't driving back-and-forth across the area. He was also very responsive through the 6 weeks I worked with him. While things didn't manage to work out for me, I learned a lot. I also appreciated the great lawyer and lender he connected me to, as that were equally responsive as well as educational.

DO NOT BUY FROM ALAN CANDEA!…read more We bought new construction from him and his lackey, Chris, in 2023. They lie, cut corners, and refuse to be held responsible for their lousy construction. When we were looking at the unfinished unit, he promised the building would have a Butterfly system, instead we have a call box with no video. And it is not even hard wired so the plug falls out from the outlet there is no way to enter the building. When told he needed to fix it, he put tape on it and labeled it "do not remove." He promised to furnish the entry way, it is still empty. There is a storage room, the lock was installed wrong so it gets jammed often. He refused to fix it. The lock for our unit was also installed upside down, and jammed. So we had to hire a locksmith to fix it. Every unit had issues with the sealing on the windows and we had moisture damage on the window trims, this took MONTHS to remedy because Alan refused to admit it was a problem. The Internet cables were left uncut and dangling from the walls, had to hire an electrician to come and finish what Alan could not. The patio is on raised tiles. Throughout the building, we have over 50 tiles that were cracked or damaged on install. Several people fell through those tiles and were injured. When it was time to form an HOA, we managed to get someone from all 18 units present so we could elect a board. Alan actually forgot to bring his lawyer, so it was postponed by several weeks. ' He did not even have all of the fire extinguishers hung up in the building, we had to wait until a management company was hired to get that done. He promised to power wash the garage, still not done. I recently found a tube of tooth paste wedged in between the sink countertop and the cabinets below. It was sealed that way, I cannot remove it. When I reached out to Alan about this, I got no response. DO NOT BUY FROM ALEN CANDEA.

I was referred to Alexandra Vanella from a person that worked with her in the past, I truly wish I…read moremet her a month ago before my deadline out of my hotel. After our introductions Alexandra provided efficient and fast service that I did not get from the other 4 agents I was working with trying to move here to Chicago. I did tell her i was running out of time and needed to move within the next week, the quality of options and the variety if options was exactly what I needed to see as I was getting stressed with the whole "moving in the summer to Chicago". She was very transparent and when we were dealing with difficult realtors she was not hesitant on reaching out for me to find out what the hold up was on their end to really get me in a place that I was interested in. Alexandra would send me morning texts to check on statuses if I was getting emails replied and getting in touch with the home owners. She did a really amazing job delegating my stress and communication with everyone I needed to all the way until i was officially moved in. At times I felt i was probably annoying her and I apologized for being antsy and she told me that everything was ok and that there was no need for me to apologize. Her goal was set to get me through this process as smooth as she can make it for me.. I will be sending all my friends her way and i will not use another agent as long as I live here in chicago!

If you're navigating the Chicago rental market, especially from out of town, work with Asiye, I…read morecan't recommend her enough! From our very first conversation, she took the time to understand exactly what I was looking for never lost sight of it. She understood what I wanted from the start, never pushed anything that didn't fit, and kept sending me options that were actually relevant. When it came down to it, she advocated on our behalf directly with the leasing teams and helped us land exactly what we were after. Every question, every concern, Asiye is always on it! If you want someone who is responsive, patient, and focused on getting you the best result, work with Asiye!

I've lived here for a while, and while the location is great and the staff are friendly, the…read morequality of my apartment does not match the price. Maintenance requests are slow to be addressed, sometimes requiring multiple visits for the same issue. A leak under my sink took several attempts to fix, and damage left by the previous tenant wasn't repaired until six months into my lease. I also did not recive a full set of keys until several months into my lease. I never feel like a priority. The apartment itself has outdated features that tenants are expected to deal with, as per the lease. The floors, walls, and windows are low quality and poorly insulated, showing significant wear and tear from past residents. The biggest frustration is the heating system--electric baseboard heaters that don't self-regulate, meaning you have to manually turn them on and off, leading to an average utility bill of $120 per month. The outdated AC unit, which hasn't been upgraded since the 1990s, is inefficient and expensive to run, costing over $100 in the summer, ontop of the already overpriced rent. Overall, everything feels inconvenient for the tenant. If maintenance were more responsive and the apartment features were updated, this could be a much better place to live. Until then, it's hard to justify the cost.

I have been living at one of the Ashton Realty Group properties for over a year now and I have had…read moresuch a pleasant experience with the management team and the property itself. Management is so responsive and respectful! The apartment itself is in great condition with almost brand new appliances. The process of applying, resigning, and general maintenance could not be easier. They also go out of their way to help tenants if needed. For example, I got locked out of my apartment and within minutes I was able to talk to a staff member and get help. In the heart of Lincoln Park, you can't really ask for much more. The area feels extremely safe and management knows their renters well, so it feels personable! I can definitely say I am happy to have resigned for the coming year!

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!

CL3 managed my rental property for years while I was away. They handled the move-in and move-out…read moreof tenants and also helped resolve any issues that came up with the unit. My tenants were very pleased with Brett and his team's promptness in addressing issues. I highly recommend CL3. They were also very helpful when I sold the unit as well. They managed all the offers and was very diligent in tracking down the required documents to close the deal. Thanks Brett and team!!

CL3 managed my condo for 3 years while I lived out of town. Unfortunately, my experience with them…read morewas disappointing and I have to give them 1 out of 5 stars. Their communication regarding issues with the property was inconsistent, depending on the person handling the matter. This was especially the case when tenants were changing over. They failed in the most basic and vital of tasks when new tenants move in, i.e., assessing any damage to the property or other issues caused by the prior tenants and reporting it to me, the owner. Instead, after both sets of my tenants moved out, I was left to figure out by myself how to handle issues caused by the outgoing tenants. On one occasion, there was a puzzling incident where one of the repair vendors they contracted with may have serviced my neighbor's unit instead of my own. Instead of confirming this with the vendor, CL3 asked me to contact my neighbor to see what occurred! I did so only to find out that the vendor had serviced the correct unit (mine) after all! In all, CL3 seemed more interested in collecting the monthly commissions by doing as little as possible than in helping manage the unit. For property management, I recommend looking elsewhere.

If you think you are paying too much for realtor commission, John will change your mind.  He is…read morenot like typical brokers who disappear right after you sign a listing agreement.  He doesn't limit his responsibilities and is determined to sell at the best price and desirable terms. Selling my home had a lot of obstacles but John overworked and excelled. He negotiated the highest price and terms with buyers. He modified and put those terms in the contract. He reached out to a difficult property management and quickened loan process. I highly recommend him for listing any properties but especially when you are selling unique properties or high priced properties with obstacles.

John helped my husband and I with our recent move to Chicago this spring. As first time residents…read morein Illinois, we were not yet ready to purchase, but John assisted us in finding the perfect apartment where we could acclimate to our new city. John is extremely knowledgeable and demonstrated expertise in all of the neighborhoods of the city which we were looking. He provided us with information about access to local transit, proximity to grocery stores, restaurants, amenities, and helped us to ask all the right questions to gather the information we needed to make our decision. John lined up a fantastic tour of condos and apartment units and found us the perfect place for our first year in Chicago with gorgeous views, amenities, and location. When we make our move next year towards putting down more permanent roots and buying our new home, we will definitely engage John's assistance.