I had such a wonderful experience with Liz Sternberg. I had been having so much trouble with other broker cancelling on me or not listening to my needs (horrible when you have a dog and you are shown apartments where pets are not allowed). I was very busy with work and had limited time to look at apartments but needed to be in a new place in a matter of days. Liz saved me. She listened to what I needed and wanted in an apartment, was efficient, prompt, on time and prepared. We spent a few hours together and found my perfect place. It was a wonderful experience from start to finish. I would highly recommend Liz to my friends. read more

Like other reviewers have said, I think it really depends on who's your agent. My fiance and I didn't get so lucky with an agent:( We gave the agent a clear list of what we wanted in an apartment, where we wanted it, and how much we were willing to spend. Our first and only showing was at a place that wasn't even in the exact neighborhood we were looking. Unfortunately after 30 minutes of looking at the apartment and the building, we find that the place is WAY over our price range. I also did not like having the agent tell me that I could rent parking at a nearby garage after I insisted on attached parking. Our search quickly ended after one showing with State Street Properties. I'm not sure if we could have even continued our search since the agent neglected to even follow up. read more

Worst experience ever! Very unprofessional, no e- mail etiquette what's so ever. I asked for a studio with a budget 1200 - 1350 and the agent said you won't find anything in that price range. That was his answer and never heard back. Even though I said I'm open to options. read more

Pretty much the same experience others have expressed. I saw a posting on Craigslist that fed through their services. I emailed and was asked to call them about it. I told them email was much more convenient for me (as I was at work) and they weren't at all flexible in answering my inquiries that way. Once I did call later that night, I still wasn't given info, was asked what I was looking for and my search was transferred to another agent at the company. She came back with 9 listings, none of which were the original one I asked about and none of which were in the area I told them I wanted to live in. Upon correcting her and asking for a new search, I got no response. Absolutely terrible experience. read more

Well, as if finding an apartment is not hard enough - don't make it harder for yourself with this company. I emailed and asked for info regarding a posting on craigslist, and respondent Jon asked for move date and phone number. I responded to his questions and suggested that he can get in touch with me through text if necessary. Jon replies, saying they don't text, to which I repeat my previous questions on footage and parking, to which Jon says, again, to call for more info. I'm not sure how calling him can accomplish more than him responding with an email to my questions. He has shown himself capable of typing them, even if they have been on the one-terse-sentence level. What it really accomplished is having me set up an account on yelp just to write this review. read more

Didn't even go on one of the State Street Properties tours and I understand exactly where these bad reviews come from. Their services are a complete waist of time. My experience is as follows. I responded to a Craigslist AD and got a response from the owner quickly after. He said one of his employees would contact me soon and he would check on the status of the property I inquired about. That's where the good service ended. The agent contacted me to ask what I was looking for etc. I asked her if the property I had inquired about was available and she refused to tell me whether or not it was rented or even what the exact address of the building was, clearly she was too lazy and couldn't be bothered to even check. She then told me to see the property I inquired about I would have to go on a tour with her and agree to see multiple properties with her as she said "it is a waist of my time to just show you one property". I then told her I had already been to many buildings and wanted to know what buildings she planned on taking me to and wanted to see pictures before going on a tour. To which she told me she can't disclose the addresses of the buildings ahead of time as I may then waist her time and go to buildings myself without her. She told me she would let me know a half hour before the showing the addresses. So in short she wanted me to agree to wasting 3 hours of my time to go on an apartment tour with her without having any info of where I was going or if I would even be interested in the places she planned on taking me. I guess it's not a big deal if she wastes hours of my time as long as it doesn't waist any of her time. Maybe its about time you put your clients first and offer a service to them instead of just concerning yourself about making commissions. read more

This place is a huge scam - they request more info than what is aloowed by law (don't know why no one has complained) but asking for your account numbers and balances is none of their business. To ask for your current landlord, work info to check employment and run your credit is enough info. They don't show the places they have listed on CL - these are only for the bait 'n' switch for units that are far more than the unit you request to see. Do the leg work yourself - go to the buildings you are interested in and ask to see their postings on the board. HORRIBLE - STAY AWAY!! read more

Like others who have written reviews I had a poor experience with this business. The apartment we were interested in online was listed as one price and when it came time to sign the lease they told us it would be $100/month more, stating it would only be the cheaper price if we moved in immediately (which it of course said nowhere on the advertisement). After we told them to forget it they told us they "fraught hard for us" and got the advertised price back. They emailed us the lease but we had to arrange a time to go to their office because they apparently didn't have a fax machine. When we signed the lease in their office we were contacted the next day because they had written it up incorrectly and needed us to come in immediately to sign again, which as couldn't do due to work. The following day the boss of the broker we worked with called and blamed things on us and said we were taking too long to sign and that we would lose the apartment. On top of all that, from the second we saw the apartment they were aware we needed two parking spots and kept telling us they would get us information on parking options in the area soon - until we signed the lease and they cashed our check. After that point the two we worked with, who contacted us via email, cell, and text, apparently decided they didn't want to respond to my messages anymore. My girlfriend and I are both expecting a significant pay bump after this year and will certainly be looking to upgrade our living arrangement, but we will certainly avoid working with this group again. read more

Even though, I did not end up renting with State Street Properties, this was by far the best service I have used from an apartment rental service. Mark was incredibly helpful and was upfront and honest about each unit he was showing. I had some good options by the end and felt like my time had not been wasted. Overall a very postiive experience! read more

State Street Properties was absolutely the most helpful throughout the process-- especially with ALYSSA!!!! I have spoken with other firms and none of them have responded as quickly (nor with such enthusiasm) as State Street. Within 30 minutes of inquiring on their website, I received a phone call from Brad asking for my criteria. Within 1 hour from there, I received a call from one of their agents, Alyssa. She reconfirmed my criteria and immediately set up meeting times for the next day and the day after. Later in the evening, she had already found 4 places for the next day and 2 for the day after. I met up with her at the first place and then she drove me from thereafter, so I could just focus on apartment picking. And the apartments FIT MY CRITERIA and were AWESOME! Alyssa was definitely very comfortable to talk to and really gave her honest opinion about each of the places. She's definitely responsive! She's an awesome agent-- if you go with State Street-- go with Alyssa! read more

When i received the call from SSP i was excited because i needed a broker to show me apartments. Sadly, I was stood up after an appointment was confirmed. I then emailed and texted the broker, Jeff, to get an update and was ignored. I gave one last email attempt and he finally responded with a very lame excuse. Needless to say, I would never use a company that blatantly ignores clients.. my goodness, it's just common courtesy to call and cancel. read more

Of the two apartment finding services I used, State Street Properties was definitely the most impressive. I sent an e-mail request about a month before my planned visit to Chicago and within 15 minutes someone called me to confirm that I wanted to make an appointment. Within 15 minutes of that phone call, I got a call from Bill who asked for what I was looking for and etc. We then set a time and about a week before the appointment Bill called to reconfirm our appointment. The day before he called again to double-check and give me our location point. I appreciated the consistent communication given that I needed to find an apartment during the couple days I was in town. I saw about 9 properties in the two hours that Bill drove me from Gold Coast up to Lakeview. He appeared to have good relations with the landlords/property managers and always asked what I thought about the apartment after seeing it. In the end I had narrowed it down to two properties and within the next day I decided to go with one in Lakeview that fit my budget. Bill accompanied me to the leasing office and waited as I signed the paperwork before taking me back to where I was staying. He even said to call him once all the paperwork had been finalized/approved. It also helped that he was a recent college grad as well and therefore had many of the same concerns I had when he moved to Chicago. All in all, a great company to work with. I'll keep them in mind if I move in the future. read more

Called me three times. Asked questions that were on the online form and them laughed when I told them what I was looking for- all details that I have found in other apartments VERY easily. The call was under a minute. What a sham of a business- just bad real estate agents that probably barely passed the real estate exam. read more

I worked with Ryan Rader at State Street Properties and all I can say is AWESOME! He responded within minutes to my call, sent properties to my email so that I was prepared before visiting the buildings. Ryan is a great judge of character, he can find the perfect home that fits you as a person. Great customer service and experience all around, highly recommend! read more

Although it's true that SSP seems to list properties that are no longer available or are not representative of individual units, but overviews of entire buildings; that seems to be how the Chicago rental market is. Every real estate broker/locator in the city is doing it and in some neighborhoods it's impossible to avoid. We called on a property and were helped by Mollie at SSP. She quickly jumped into action and lined up 4 appointments the next day. She took us out 3 times, each time showing us several units. She was great at narrowing down our searches based on availability, location, and our needs. Mollie is super friendly, fun and professional. Mollie helped us find a great place and we'll be moving in in a month. Call State Street Properties and ask for Mollie to help you find an apartment in the city. read more

Had a great experience with State Street Apartments! Matt helped me find my current apartment. After sending an inquiry, I received a response from State Street right away. Prior to looking at apartments, I gave Matt a list of things my roommate and I were looking for in a new apartment. Matt was extremely responsive to our needs. He showed us several places that fit within the parameters we set for him. The apartment we ended up moving into exceeded our expections. I don't think we would have found it without Matt's help. He guided us throughout the entire process, even through the lease signing. Matt was always available for our questions and concerns. I highly recommend State Street for apartment searching. read more

Andrew is the best!!! I was looking for a place, with less than ten days before I had to be out of my current unit, and I contacted State Street Properties with an ad they had on Craig's List. I reached Brian right away, I told him my situation, and he said he would have someone call me right back. Within a few minutes, Andrew was on the phone with a couple of suggestions that actually worked! Not only was he on time to show me the unit, he was also there when there was an issue with the unit I wanted to rent. He met me there within ten minutes of my call to him and stayed with me until the issue was resolved. I've had nothing but a positive experience with State Street and would work with Andrew again for any future rentals. read more

A lot of negative reviews on here and it's definitely about the agent you work with. When I started looking for apartments, I saw one on Craigslist I was interested in and was contacted by Lindsay Wallace. She was so helpful and showed me great places that stayed within my price range. I found a place quickly with everything I was looking for! I couldn't say enough good things about her and how she handled my experience! If you go through this company, she's the person to ask for! read more

I've used a lot of different brokers and Jon by far exceeded any expectations. I always prequalify someone before working with them. I could tell Jon knows all the buildings in Chicago and had been doing this a long time. He did not waste any of our time and took us to buildings we wanted to see. Some of these buildings had their own agents and Jon did a GREAT job of asking questions that we wouldn't know to ask. He was efficient and insightful in helping us find a our new home! I read more

The owner returned my call promptly and was nice/professional. Todd was a couple hours late as others had mentioned, which started things off rather badly, but in the end he was easy to work with and did know the properties really well so I found something I liked the same day. He also drove us around which was really nice and makes looking alot less stressful. I've still recommended them to others searching for a place, but only if you have the time to be laid back about it. read more

State Street Properties, and specifically Ryan Rader, were super accommodating with our cross-country move to Chicago. He found us a property sight unseen and we love it. He was extremely responsive, professional and really catered to us. Super knowledgeable! Look no further...call Ryan and State Street today. Thanks! read more

I had a fantastic experience with State Street Properties and specifically, Becca Nichols. Becca really understood what I was looking for and showed me places in downtown Chicago that were all in line with what I had in mind. She was very professional and also was available whenever I needed to touch base with her, which was a lot! Now I am in my new place and incredibly happy there, thanks to Becca for finding me the perfect spot! read more

My roommate and I had been looking for an apartment and Jeff was our Realtor. He was amazing. Very patient and thorough. He showed us around and was always prompt. He responded to emails, calls, and texts within a timely manner. After we found the apartment we wanted, it was really hard to get in touch with the Landlord's Realtor. He was extremely slow and had very poor communication. However, Jeff continued to pursue him and we were finally able to sign and get our keys. I would definitely recommend Jeff from SSP. read more

I think, like with most apartment finder companies, it depends who you work with. I was fortunate enough to have Lindsay, who drove my girlfriend and I around the area we desired in her own car pretty much all Saturday afternoon. She was friendly with the building managers, but wasn't afraid to tell them we weren't interested. She only showed us apartments in our price range, and had plenty of information on each building beforehand. She was direct and responsive with us, pretty much what you want and expect from a good leasing agent. We were able to find a great deal on an apartment using Lindsay, and I would recommend her to my friends looking for an apartment. Thanks Lindsay! read more

I am not much of a reviewer but, Andrew Kawalek decided it was more important to attend a surprise birthday party and let me lock up the place while I waited for my roommate to come view the place. On top of that we wanted to sign the lease then and there but because he had to attend his party he reassured us that the place was ours and we could sign the lease the following day. The following day I received not a call but a text saying that the place was already taken. Unprofessional, but making matters worse the wording used in the text was and I quote "the asshole agent rented it to someone else last night." He told me not to worry because he had other places to show me and never contacted me back. read more

terrible service! when i told them that our badget is 1700$(which is good money for 1 bedroom apt) they told me that this is not enough money and we will never find an apt. stay away from this company read more

I wish there was an option for no stars because the experience was so terrible. I saw two apartments available on craigslist that I was extremely interested in and contacted the ad. I spoke with John and he told me to email him the apts I was interested in and that he would call me right back. Well that never happened. Then I called the next day to arrange a showing and asked for those two specific apts and Eric said they were not available. Five minutes later I noticed one of the apts I wanted was still posted on craigslist but for $200 more. When I contacted Eric to ask him what the deal was he didn't respond. BAD BUSINESS AND BAD SERVICE. read more

Found a listing on Craigslist today, emailed them and they responded back "Give us a call, we don't do anything via email."....it's 2014 - everything is done via email. There are plenty of other agencies out there that work with business professionals. read more

Wow should have looked into Yelp before I even bothered contacting these people. In one word they are RUDE! Hung up the phone on my family member that was trying to get more information about the apartment for me. Suffice to say I don't want anything to do with a company that treats their potential renters that way. On a positive note it's good to know what kind of people you are dealing with earlier on then later. Word to the wise beware. read more

Nope, just no. Don't do it. Anything on craiglist is a lie - so don't feel tempted to contact them about that "AMAZING!!!!!!!!" "SPACIOUS!!!!!!" "!!!!!!!!" apartment. You may want to because its an apartment available for your time frame, neighborhood, budget, but they use a bait and switch ploy that they fundamentally use to conduct their business. I don't think any relationship should be started on a lie. I originally was set up with 5 apartments. Three were "meh" (no exclamation points in my reaction) and two were cool so I set up a time to view. When I found out the addresses for the showing, I knew immediately that they were not in my price point, and would not accept my dogs (even though previously I made her confirm they were within my budget and accepted my dogs.) Why did I know this information? Because they were luxury rental buildings, and anyone with 5 minutes to research apartments in Chicago could contact the building directly, and not waste the time, energy, and money on an agent. During this exchange, I also inquired about two properties that had been updated a couple hours beforehand on Craiglist. She said that they were no longer available, and the units available in the building would be more. But...but...they were literally updated hours before? She gave some b.s. excuse that literally insulted my intelligence. If a business that professionally uses craiglist as a marketing tool daily does not know how to delete a post, you are the most incompetent individuals that I have ever met, and you should seriously consider using another function for marketing. (but like i said, they don't want to delete posts because of their fundamental business practice of making an already stressful process even more stressful). Wouldn't anyone that uses craiglist on a daily basis know how to delete posts? I know and I've posted an ad once on craiglist to get rid of a tv. Thinking about the experience literally makes my blood boil. Some pointers for searching for an apartment in Chicago: if there are more than three exclamations in the listing, and the post has more pictures of the amenities than the place you will actually be living in, just next the post. Also, anything with statestreetproperties watermarked on all of the photos, and a name ending with ssp, please for your sanity- do not contact. read more

When my daughter landed a job in Chicago, we had a week to find a place and get her moved in. After several disappointments with BJB properties, we contacted State Street. Brad answered my call and listened to our needs and desired neighborhoods, he connected us with Jeff who followed up within an hour. He promptly sent 7 good choices, then we sent back our favorites. The next day he took pictures of the actual unit so we would know exactly what we were getting. It made the decision stress free. We were able to apply online and submit electronic payments, no overnighting checks or losing properties while credit card forms were sent back and forth. I highly recommend State Street properties as a location expert in Chicago. read more

I thought the service was very helpful, and it although it was a place I initially selected, I found a place to live for next year. The agent (Alyssa) showed me around all day, and brought me to approximately 9 places I believe. I thought she was nice and i liked the first place she brought me to (that was of her choosing), so I think she understood what I was looking for. My only complaint, however, was that we started a little behind schedule and took a bit longer than we should have at the first unit. As a result, Alyssa and I were rushing to make all of our subsequent appointments, which I found very unsettling and counter-intuitive to determining whether or not I truly liked the places I was visiting. I think the service is worth it, and I would recommend Alyssa to anyone searching for a specific agent, but if I had to do it over again I would've told her to space out the appointments a bit more so we could take our time--I didn't like being rushed. read more

I wanted to take time out to express how happy I am with how well I was treated by Jill Allen! She helped me rent my condo in less than a week and advised me collect a little higher rent on it as well. I really didn't have to do a thing accept sit back and relax as she helped with the screening process and found me a great renter who pays on the 1st of every month without fail! She is a true professional and one of the friendliest people I have ever met! If I were you I would specifically ask to work with her, she is amazing! read more

I do not like searching for apartments, but State Street made it as easy as I think is possible. I worked with agent Matt Donoghue and was able to find the place that I currently live within 48 hours of first contacting the company. Matt was knowledgeable, polite, responsive and ON TIME (something that I have not experienced working with other apartment companies). Overall it was a great experience, as apartment searches go, and I will definitely be calling them next year when the search begins again. read more

I have had nothing but great experiences with SSP. The agent I have dealt with several times is Ryan Rader. He has always showed us plenty of great places...all with the amenities that we have requested. Ryan has been prompt, professional and done an excellent job for us. After we were in our latest apartment for a month or so, he called just to follow up and make sure everything was perfect. I have actually referred Ryan and SSP to several other individuals and they have had great experiences as well. I will definitely use SSP again in the future! read more

Well SSP had a lot of listings on padmapper that I was interested in so I emailed about one or two of them. Got a nearly instant email asking for my number from Brad. I emailed him my number and then didn't hear anything for a week. He called me on a Saturday and asked for what I needed. I told him and he said someone would email me shortly with some listings. That was five days ago and I'm still waiting. I've emailed Brad twice to tell him I'm still waiting, but he's yet to respond. So I'm giving up on this terribly run company. read more

I am surprised with all of the negative reviews! I had the pleasure of working with a true professional at State Street Properties, Lindsey Wallace. State Street Properties was recommended to me by a friend who moved to Chicago from out of state. Lindsey showed me multiple properties in the Gold Coast (my desired area) and was very knowledgeable about the area, public transit options, and nightlife! After a few apartments that left a little to be desired, we found the one! 2 months later, we still keep in touch! read more

My fiancé, Alex, and I were relocated to Chicago for my work over a month ago. Luckily for us, I work in hotels; we were able to spend several weeks in the hotel until we found a new home (no crunch time, no rush). We originally planned to search for available apartments/ view them on our own since that was how we handled our past 3 moves. During Alex's search, he stumbled upon several brokers, decided to give it a shot, and met with two on the first day of apartment hunting. The first broker took Alex to several units outside of our requested radius, a majority above of our designated budget, lacking quite a few of our requested amenities/ qualities, and with an attitude that made Alex feel as though he was inconveniencing her. After a disheartening morning, Alex moved on & met with a second broker: Arnold Donato. Over the course of 2 weeks, Arnold showed us over a dozen units. Every moment spent with Arnold, from the very beginning, felt like hanging out with long-time friend. He spent time getting to know about Alex and myself as individuals & also as a couple to better understand everything we were looking for. He paid such careful attention to us that, in passing, I said something to Alex about loving lazy susan shelves in kitchens (never actually requesting them in an apartment, more so fantasizing about my dream kitchen), and the next two apartments that Arnold showed us had lazy susan shelves. After 2 weeks, over 12 apartments, we found the perfect one. We applied to a beautiful unit & the waiting game began. After over a week, we learned that some applications for other units trickled down to ours & that we did not get the apartment. With our time in the hotel nearing an end, we began to panic a little. Crunch time was upon us & we were feeling quite anxious. Nervous that we would have to settle for something we didn't love, we texted Arnold to let him know our first choice fell through. Not expecting him to be able to help us on such short notice, we mentally prepared for searching on our own. Immediately, Arnold responded with "I'll begin looking for more, let me know what days you can come look with me." We saw 6 more units 2 days later. We signed a lease & moved into an amazing apartment (even better than our first choice) last week. Arnold handled everything like he was helping family members; his attention to detail and level of care blew us away. After getting to know him very well, we know that not one part of Arnold does this for commission. Real estate & meeting new people are genuine core passions of his. He loves every moment of what he does & that truly translates to his clients naturally feeling as comfortable as possible. I can truly say that Arnold was one of our first and truest friends made in Chicago. After already having several lunches/ dinners together & future plans arranged, I cannot imagine working with any other broker if we ever have to leave Chicago. read more

This is the second year in a row that I've used Liz Sternberg with State Street to find an apartment, and I cannot say enough about how pleased I've been with her services. In both situations, I had a very short timeframe in which I needed to find an apartment and many parameters that needed to be met. Liz was always very responsive, available, attentive to my needs, and made me feel like I was her only client. I felt like she had known me for years because she knew exactly which apartments fit my personality, and both times, she found the perfect homes for me. She is so kind, patient, professional, caring and very passionate about her job. Liz made all the anxiety go away that usually comes along with moving and helped me get excited about my move. I would highly recommend her to anyone! read more

I was recently looking for a new apartment in the loop and had stumbled upon State Street Properties while looking on craigslist.org. Overall, the service was great. Matt Donoghue set up my appointment to view the apartment in the building I was looking at, made sure that the time was over my lunch hour and even navigated downtown traffic to pick me up and take me to the building. Overall, it was a good experience and it was nice to have a second pair of eyes/opinion on the unit and the building as a whole. read more