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September 2023 by Cheri M.
Shelley Shelly in the Winnetka office was fantastic to work with. She was so helpful. She steered us away from Glencoe telling us about how it is the "Jewish suburb." We are thrilled with our home in Wilmette. Shelley let us know which blocks more African-American families are moving into so we would be at lower risk of our property value going down. I'm sorry, but this is a big investment and these things make a difference. We are investing a lot in the New Trier High School district. We moved here from Dallas so we just wouldn't have known about these things without Shelley's help. We are so happy with our new home!
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March 2019 by Sonya H.
Unwelcoming and quite disheveled looking. The space looked cramped and disorganized.I guess there isn't an expectation for many clients as the waiting area contains only two chairs. However, my biggest complaint is with how unfriendly and unwelcoming the staff are. Given that everyone is a potential client, everyone should be treated as such, and not just by the staff person directly interacting with the customer. Dry and dismissive was the impression I was given. The stars are for the prompt manner in which my earnest money was processed. As far as the selling of my home- I wouldn't even consider this office though it is the closest in proximity to our property.
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August 2018 by John T.
Back in July I worked through a realtor to find an apartment in Chicago. I found a location that fit all my needs and was very interested. Through the process I made sure there was a lot of communication between myself, the realtor, and @properties about my intent to apply and where things were with the application. I viewed the unit on a Thursday and put in my application on a Saturday night. Sunday morning my realtor told me that unbeknownst to her a lease had already been signed Saturday morning. I immediately requested my application be withdrawn and stopped. I requested a refund if it had been processed because I was applying to a unit that had already been rented out. I did not want to be charged nor did I want a soft credit check on my record for a unit that was rented out. My credit card was charged and two days later my credit check was reviewed despite clear and constant communication that it would be unacceptable to run my application for a unit that was no longer available. Four days later, I was told that no refund would be coming for my application to an apartment @properties had already leased out prior to my application. This is an unacceptable business practice and makes it clear I will never want to work with @properties. My realtor's company recognized the error made by @properties and provided me with a refund on behalf of @properties. @Properties never called back to apologize for the situation and thought that because my realtor had paid everything would be resolved. Basically, the message I received is that @Properties is willing to let other realty groups deal with their mistakes and not take ownership or apologize directly for their error. This experience has shown me it is worth being wary of @properties and that they are unable to provide a high level of good customer service. @Properties is definitely an organization to be incredibly wary of if you are going to be working with them. There are many, many, many other realty agencies who are able to treat their customers right.
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March 2018 by Kelly McCarthy
Got my mortgage here. Very helpful.
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March 2018 by christine mau
If you think your home search would benefit from a customized and empathetic approach, @Properties may be a great fit for you. We tried several different agencies which were all attentive and tried their best, but agents at @ really understood what we would want to see and were instrumental in the negotiations. Happy new home buyers!
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March 2018 by Tony Warfield
My agent, Yvonne, is the best. Very responsive and easy to work with. Most importantly, I feel like she really was looking out for my best interest throughout the entire process. She suggested that we offer significantly less than the asking price, and the buyer accepted.
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December 2017 by Laura Q.
I would not recommend this company to list or represent commercial properties or tenants. They are residential and they should stick to residential!
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July 2017 by Daniel C.
This review is specifically about deceptive marketing practices by @properties more than it is about the @properties agent I hired to sell my home, although she too is culpable for this behavior. Frankly, I am upset and feel deceived by the whole process and can only hope future homeowners will not be put in the same position as me. TL;DR: If you are listing your home with @properties, INSIST that the commission split between the buyer's and seller's agents be written into your listing agreement. Buried in the very fine print of the @properties standard listing agreement it says that @properties can decide the commission split between the agents. Even I missed it, and it was only at the closing table that I even caught wind of the consequences of this. My property sat on the market for 10 weeks accruing market time with a below average number of showings. For those who may not be aware: When a property is listed on the MLS, the listing agent inputs what the commission to the buyer's agent will be. This information is absolutely secret to the general public and not viewable to anyone without MLS access, so you are completely putting your faith in the listing agent and trusting they are holding your best interests. As we all know, agent commissions drive showings and ultimately sales. Whether it would be considered ethical or not, a property listed with a lower commission to a buyer's agent (e.g., 1%) will result in fewer showings. (Please tell any agent who disagrees with this statement to switch to a flat fee structure instead). As I found out the hard way, my property was listed with a full 1% commission in my agent's favor (i.e., not an equal commission split). In other words, a lower commission to the buyer's agent, and plausibly responsible for the longer market time and lower sale price. While the "net" commission to me as the seller was the same, had this been *disclosed* upfront, I would never have hired @properties to represent me. To my dismay, this is a widespread practice with @properties. After speaking with Don Shea the @properties managing broker, he encourages "all of his agents" to list properties in this manner with this type of split commission in a 1% favor to his agents. While this practice puts more money in the @properties pockets (and may be even justifiable in some instances), the homeowner has zero visibility or knowledge of this practice. The commission split should be disclosed upfront because it is both the ethical thing to do as well as consequential to the homeowner with their sale.
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March 2017 by Julie G.
Christy Callahan was the agent who represented us during the sale of our condo on Sheridan Road. She was firm with us about decluttering our unit and arranged for powerful helicopter photos of the building exterior. We highly recommend Christy. She did a great job for us!
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July 2016 by ROland U.
Called Andy Forster on Thursday and set up an appointment for the following Monday at 9:30 to do a proposal on listing my home. (two other companies did proposals and home is over 500k as suggested by them). I sent a test reminder on Sunday that we were meeting, no response. No show so I called at 10;15 AGAIN AT 10:30. Left messages no return call. At about 5 in the afternoon he had another broker call me and she suggested as she was an expert in my neighborhood I should call her. No apology. Guess I'm old fashioned but happy to not have a broker who does follow through or have any sophisticated panache.
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March 2016 by Emily H.
Yvonne Sito helped me buy my first condo. She spent countless Fridays and Sundays taking me to see various properties and retaking me to see properties that I wanted to get a second (or third) look at. She was patient and she is very familiar with the area. She found a fabulous condo in my price range. I was very happy with the entire experience.
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October 2014 by Leslie V.
I bought my first home with Martin, he listened to what I wanted in a home, and took me to several even after I fell in love with the third place I saw. He was patient and knowledgeable and when things got rough with the sellers side, he advocated for me to ensure I was still getting a great deal. Martin is the best realtor, and I would recommend him to everyone!
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September 2014 by Robert S.
Disappointed I offered above asking, was charged for the backround check, and didnt get the apartment.
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September 2014 by Natasha Y.
Rick Whittemore has been so patient and awesome. He is a great listener with your needs, likes and dislikes. He gives you great useful information from A to Z. He isn't pushy at all, which I love, it's such a process and feeling like you have someone that is truly, "in your corner" is so important! I love that he is always on time, very organized and never takes calls when he is with you, we will use him again and would highly recommend him! N.Young. in Evanston
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July 2014 by Mike D.
My #1 expectation of a professional realtor is to understand my key issues and concerns and ensure my issues and concerns are addressed. My key concern for my Chicago condo purchase was construction quality and noise (I didn't want to hear upstairs neighbors). I consistently asked about floors/ceilings. The Berkshire Hathaway KoenigRubloff listing agent said the upstairs floors were concrete. This was never confirmed. The upstairs floors are wood - noisy, loud wood floors. My #1 issue was not looked after. Soundproofing the master bedroom ceiling alone is going to cost $5,000. Needless to say, not a happy client. Martin Uthe did a great job utilizing a realtor program that pushes out listings based upon our search criteria. But I could have Googled those listings. He set us up with a lender and a home inspector. I made a mistake using Evanston @properties for a Chicago (Lakeview) condo search. Martin dropped the ball on protecting my #1 issue. I didn't need a realtor for the other stuff. Next time, I would go solo before using @properties.
