I just moved in here last week, but so far I'm having a great experience! The management is so nice…read moreand has been incredibly responsive and on top of everything. Maintenance requests have been attended to within hours, and the building / facilities have been impressively kept up given the age of the building. Finding a building that's not fancy but has some amenities (gym, lounge, terrace, shared coffee machine with 10 free cups a month, nice laundry room) has been amazing. Super excited about my next year here!

Living in this building will severely dampen your Chicago experience. For a building that has…read morestudios that rent for over $1,000, the upkeep is terrible. Other than the assistant manager Christina, management of the building does a terrible job. While she is great and helpful, the rest of the management staff ignores problems. For example, we had one of the elevators broken for about four months. The working elevator broke at least 4 times during that span, which means there was no working elevator for a 19 floor building. When you asked staff for an update on the status of the elevator, you would receive an attitude and hear about how frustrated they were from being constantly asked about the status by different residents. Apparently they thought having a working elevator is an unreasonable request. The elevator was an amenity I guess. The laundry room was frequently unusable and at one point 4 of the 8 machines were out of order and not being promptly repaired. I emailed the building manager and was responded to with "It is, my understanding that all equipment is currently in working order and that our staff cleans the inside of the equipment on a regular basis." I went down to the laundry room and sent him a video showing how filthy it was as well as the out of order signs on half of the machines. After that point, he never responded to any of my emails. Towards the end of my lease, a vent started making a new noise in my unit that didn't go away. I called emergency maintenance around 9pm and didn't get an answer. I called back around 9:45 and still nothing. The sound didn't go away and it was impossible to sleep, so I called again at 1am. The maintenance person told me it was 1am and he wasn't coming out, even though I had called multiple times before that. I ended up having to miss work the next day to help him get this fixed in the morning. Even moving out is a hassle here. They only allow you to move out Mon-Fri before 5pm and on Saturday by noon, even though none of this is stated in the lease. You cannot move out on a Sunday. I had to come back and move out at a time that was convenient for them, they do not allow you to return your keys and laundry card via the drop box. They took over $100 out of my security deposit as payback.

Henry was extremely responsive and informative. The property that I needed appraised was not…read morestandard, and Henry really did the work: He looked for comparable properties; he did a site visit; and he gave me a logical review and guidance on next steps. The cost was reasonable as well.

I found this company online and couldnt be happier with the service I received. Henry was super…read morehelpful and answered all of our questions. The report was received quickly. I would highly recommend this company.

Are you a fan of Karl Marx?…read more GOOD NEWS!!! There's only one FREE internet option (they say there's also comcast... but Comcast came to set up internet and showed me that ALL of the lines were cut for Comcast service... Even COMCAST said NOPE). ...Everyone gets the same (terrible) internet and you all SHARE the bandwidth. AKA INTERNET RATIONS. Do you want to play online video games? TOO BAD. There's not enough internet rations to go around for online video games. (not joking, they block the ports to play online) Do you want to have steady internet for more than 30 minutes? TOO BAD. There's not enough internet rations to go around. (there was a petition by the mailboxes to have a protest...he was sent to gulag) Stalin gives BJB Properties 5 stars.

I lived here for a year before moving to another place for more space. The studio I had was perfect…read morefor what I needed at the time - a lower cost apartment with enough space to be used well. The neighborhood was great, trendy with activities across all price levels. BJB was great responsive management.

Bogdan was so helpful! He helped me find my first studio and I couldn't be more excited. I'm so…read moregrateful I stumbled across the PPM office and met Bogdan. He listened to exactly what I wanted and found a place that matched exactly what I needed, even driving me to the location to view. I could not have had a better experience, he really gave a quality service amidst his clearly busy schedule as I gave zero notice, I just walked-in. Exceptional. I really appreciate the service I got from PPM realty upon searching for my unit.

I rarely write reviews, but the ongoing issues in this building make it necessary…read more Building management has consistently failed to maintain basic infrastructure. Elevators are frequently out of service, which becomes more than an inconvenience in a multi-floor property. There have been extended periods without hot water -- at one point lasting nearly a week -- with limited communication or clear timelines for resolution. Access control has also been unreliable. Key fobs have malfunctioned at entry points, locking residents out despite active credentials. Plumbing issues have been another recurring problem, adding to the overall sense that preventative maintenance is not a priority. What's most frustrating isn't just the issues themselves -- things break in any building -- it's the pattern. The problems feel reactive rather than proactively managed, and communication from management does little to inspire confidence. Residents deserve consistent access, functioning utilities, and transparent updates when things go wrong. Unfortunately, that has not been the experience here.

You won't find a Chicago area agent that knows the market better than Mike Checuga. Not just a…read moreknowedgable fellow, Mike is a person you can depond on and trust with what is likely to be the largest investment you will ever make. Mike is your guy, give him a call, you'll be glad you did.

Mike did what was seemingly impossible! He helped me buy a condo in one just one day during my very…read morefirst visit to Chicago. My daughter is attending college in Chicago and I wanted to be close to her. Mike understood exactly what I was looking for and helped me through every step of the buying process. To all my friends who might ever want to buy in Chicago and to my future friends in Illinois - Mike Checuga is your guy!

I love BJB properties! Lived here as a student and it was wonderful. Super fast maintenance and…read morewonderful employees willing to assist you at anytime.

We live at 420 surf. During our previous time here, we had two large rats, 5 small mice and the…read morebathroom would be continued filled with gnats. constant problems with theft in the mailroom and vince is the most unpleasant person to work with. the Maintenace and cleaning staff is wonderful. the management itself is terrible and they dont fix the rodent issues, they patch up the problem which the rats have chewed threw three times now. DO NOT RENT FROM BJB in lakeview specifically 420 or 426 surf.

The only thing management cares about is how much money they can squeeze out of you…read more The properties are so old and crumbly. Rampant package and mail theft occurs because management doesn't take security seriously. Half of the dryers in the laundry room were out of order for 8 consecutive months. Oh, but management will spend money on installing motivational artwork akin to "live laugh love" in the workout room instead of fixing the things that matter. The only reason I'm giving them a four star review is because of the maintenance engineers and the custodian. They were the best part about renting from BJB. Coming from someone who was a tenant for 6+ years, was it the worst property management company I've ever rented from? No, but dealing with management and the leasing office left a bad taste in my mouth.

If I could rate them -10 stars, I would. To say this company is run by incompetent idiots would be…read morean understatement. I signed a lease for July 1, but was moving in closer to July 15. Near the 15th, I told them I needed to pick up the key, and the company told me "the people who lived there haven't moved out, and won't be." BJB then completely lied to my face and saying they called and emailed me of notice of this, which I'm 100% certain they never did. Their solution was to place me in a random apartment for a month, and after one month, move me AGAIN, to a different unit. Complete messy hell on Earth. This company will and does not comply with basic tenant needs. A year following we asked for a 12 hour extension for our move out, and that was not accepted or respected. This company only cares about money. If you're speaking with Jeff, good luck. He's a monster & uneducated dumbass

We had another flawless experience with Jim Flanders, this time while selling the same home he…read morehelped us buy 6 years ago. We have kept a great relationship with Jim through the years, and my husband has worked with him on buying and selling some of our investment property. So when it came time to sell our city home in Logan Square as we made the move to the suburbs, we knew Jim Flanders was the one to help us do this. We were building a new construction home in the burbs, so we had a lot of lead time in knowing that we needed to list the property. This was a tricky balance since we didn't want to list the home too quickly (and risk selling it and being homeless for many months until our new house was ready), but we didn't want to miss the peak market season during the summer months and wait until the fall or winter to list it. We also have 2 toddlers at home, so the idea of having to keep the house "showing ready" for an extended period of time was daunting. In a perfect world, we would be able to get under contract quickly with a buyer, but negotiate a later close date and get the best of both worlds. Jim helped us do a walkthrough of the house and pointed out the things he recommended we do to get the house in showing form (painting the walls, caulking some areas, clearing out toy congested areas) but only focused on what he felt would actually make a difference rather than asking us to invest a bunch of money in things that ultimately do not help sell quicker or at a higher price. Jim helped guide us in our timing, thanks to his knowledge and understanding of the market. We listed on a Wednesday in July, and decided to have an open house that very weekend. Jim came and managed the open house for us and the first couple to see the home made an offer that same day. They did not have a real estate agent, and Jim led all the conversations directly with the buyer and negotiated the terms and conditions for the contract. He was able to negotiate a 90 day closing, which gave us plenty of time to stay in our home and enjoy it before needing to vacate. The best quality about Jim Flanders is his easy going personality and honest approach. He always has your back and wants the best for you. But he is not pushy. He will not talk you into doing yourself a disservice just to get a quicker commission. He truly wants to advise you and guide you to get the best results possible and his patience is incredible. He will be there as many times as you need him for as long as you need him, to make sure everything goes smoothly. It was one thing for us to have the utmost trust in Jim, but the most impressive thing was how much the buyers also trusted Jim. They opted not to get their own real estate agent and were fine working directly through Jim (even though he was representing us, the sellers) because they also could feel that Jim had everybody's best interests at heart. This is where Jim Flanders really sets himself apart from other realtors I've worked with. He forms relationships, not just with his clients, but with the opposite clients as well. He took time to have many phone conversations with the buyers to put them at ease, talk through the inspection findings, and negotiate our terms. They trusted him so much that when it came time to close, they didn't even ask for a final walk through of the house before closing. We couldn't have asked for a smoother and less stressful process of selling our home. We got the price we wanted, the closing date we wanted, and all the negotiations and conversations were easy and friendly.

We cannot recommend Jim more highly. He is a consummate professional, honest, thoughtful and…read moreoutrageously knowledgeable about the Chicago property market. We took the plunge this year and started the search for our first home. Jim was incredibly generous with his time working with us, and helped us figure out what we actually wanted and where we would be happy. In May, Jim showed us a home we fell in love with and he guided us through every step of the process, from winning the bid, inspections, closing and held our hands every step of the way. Knowledge and professionalism aside, Jim is just a legend and we just enjoyed hanging out with him and having the chats at showings. The second we get a sniff that any of our friends or people we meet are looking to buy, we instantly stop the conversation to tell them 'YOU HAVE TO WORK WITH JIM FLANDERS'. Thank you Jim.

Update: the building was just graffitied with homophobic slurs in the stairwell 3/24/23…read more Don't be fooled by the online computer generated photos. This building is so utterly dirty, outdated, and unkept. It's basically a free-for-all. This PPM building needs a weekly cleaning crew. The tops of the washing machines and dryers look like they've never been cleaned, the dryers burn items regularly (even when not over-filled), the elevator vents have dust bunnies the size of my palm, and the elevator breaks once a week (and has a conditional certification). There's always dog urine in either the halls, stairs or lobby. This week there was liquid dog feces in the lobby (The lobby also flooded with water pouring from the ceilings this week). People put dog feces in the garbage in the lobby of the building and most floors smell of marijuana. Packages are stolen from residents by other residents (on camera) regularly and PPM is less than helpful with addressing this. PPM is reluctant to ban packages thieves (aka felons) even when they have their full names, and previous arrest records (which was for battery and bodily harm) from INSIDE of the complex (Note: I have filed a police report against the individual for the package theft). The individual is allowed back in the building on a regular basis to stay with their partner (Note: they aren't on a lease and don't legally live at the apartment). Vacant apartments are unlocked, and even after I raised concerns about this MULTIPLE times, the apartments stayed unlocked (and this was the week I was broken into). Squatters have been found in other vacant apartments in the complex previously. Not to mention- the MOLD EVERYWHERE. Multiple residents have had mold in their apartments. Residents have been told "molds normal", "it's probably just soda that shot up and exploded in the ceiling" and "that's just dirt and water mixed together". Quite literally gaslighting all of us. People will make noise complaints with video evidence and PPM says "they don't hear anything". People smoke cigarettes that make the first foor smell for days and they say "they don't smell anything". This is the most unorganized management team I have ever met. The individuals from PPM who deal directly with this building don't communicate whatsoever, they can't even keep track of who is banned from the building and who is not. They do not care about resident safety or concerns. They even tried to get me to take down my google review as well. Quite frankly the only person who works for PPM that's helpful is Robert (Building Engineer). For roughly $1,600 in Lakeview- this building is not worth it. It's dangerous, outdated, unkept, and something breaks every week.