Chicagoland Realty Group LLC

In general, Sean did a great job when it was CLPM managing my property. But, as another prior customer mentioned, he transferred my management services to another company (Marketplace Homes) which was a disaster.

The actual property management services of the company were adequate. However, they transferred my contract with them to another company without explaining why. The new company has been a disaster.

When my renters moved out Sean Morrissey from Chicagoland Realty did a great job of getting the house ready to rent and finding me new tenants!

It was very easy working with Sean! He was helpful in the entire process, and ours was rather lengthy. He made himself available, answered questions with both expertise and personal insight, and patiently helped us find the best home for our budget.

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They were able to land a  wonderful tenant within days of my home being listed In fact,  I had multiple offers the first week. It was an absolute pleasure working with this company from the very beginning and through the entire process. I couldn't have done it on my own as fast and seamlessly as the process ran without them.

Thank you again Chicago Realty Group. You really came through. I will definitely be referring you to anyone looking to rent, sell, buy, or have their property managed.     

Broker is proud of his skill to lie, bully, harass and manipulate his client to achieve 'his' goals. He doesn't tell you the real feelings about your property and pricing until you sign his contract. He also decides not to honor agreed changes to listing after the fact (he didn't want to take the time to regenerate the electronic documents). He refuses to analyze and evaluate incoming counter offer to see if it meet clients needs or previously discussed changes. He likes to push 'offer' paper around and expects client to analyze the strengths and weaknesses. Now I see why he charges a listing cancellation fee - he'll get his pound of flesh out of you coming or going. An example of his communications with me: "You have a home in awful condition with a motivated buyer. You should be on your hands and knees thanking this buyer!" Oh yeah, I let him know in advance of contract signing that I am currently undergoing cancer treatment and need a trouble free transaction.

I hired Chicagoland Realty Group to manage my 1 bed/1 bath condo in the suburbs.  I had heard numerous horror stories regarding property management groups so I did my due diligence to find the most reputable company.  Sean Morrisey was far and away the most professional and personable person I spoke with during my search so I asked him to come out and view my property. 

I had a figure in mind that I was hoping we could rent the unit for but after Sean viewed the unit, he told me the market value for the property was 20% more!  I loved hearing that, but I had my doubts.  Well... less than 10 days later, Sean found us an ideal tenant for the 20% more that he suggested.  It should be noted that Chicagoland Realty Group charges a flat monthly fee, so the monthly rental fee is of no concern to Sean.  His knowledge of the market brought in an additional $2000 in profit for me and my family!

The communication is off the charts.  Sean always replies to my emails within an hour, even on weekends.  In addition, I have ran into two minor repair issues with my tenant and they were handled swiftly. 

I have used Chicagoland Realty Group for 8 months now and I have been impressed since day 1.  If you have a property and are not yet ready to tackle the job of being a landlord, I highly suggest using Chicagoland Realty Group to manage your property.  Yes, it will cost you some money, but Sean will do all the legwork for you, find you a great tenant, and take care of any problems along the way. 

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I have many opinions of the services of Chicagoland RealtyGroup and its sole proprietor, Sean Morrissey, but I will stick to documentable facts.
Mr. Morrissey served as the agent in the sale of my home in Naperville. We had moved out of the house 4 years prior and had rented it out since to offset our mortgage. We had done this because we were severely underwater. As I now reside in Virginia, everything had to be done remotely.
We were fortunate to get the house under contract shortly after it went on market.
Relevant facts:
-       Mr. Morrissey assured me on several occasions that the appraisal would meet the agreed upon price.
-       The appraisal came in $5.5K below the agree upon price. This was the exact amount that we were passing back to buyers to cover closing costs.
-       After Mr. Morrissey informed me of the difference, we were very nervous. The difference was so close that we would
have still owed money on a house we had already sold.
-       In an attempt to keep the deal from falling apart, I thought of asking both the buying and selling agents if they would
consider each forgoing $1.5K of the $10K+ both were scheduled to receive.
-       I attempted to call Mr. Morrissey on several occasions, but he did not reply. So I sent him my thoughts via email.
-       In several rounds of email, Mr. Morrissey addressed other facets of the sale, but nothing about the commission request.
-       I pleaded for Mr. Morrissey to talk over the phone. He emailed back and stated that I was making him and his company ?a party to the contract.? My interpretation was he was implying I was doing something unethical or illegal. I have been part of five real estate transactions and know this is a fairly common request in these situations.
-       He further stated that he refused to communicate via phone. So I was thousands of miles away with an agent who refused to talk.
-       The next morning I informed him that if he refused to talk, I would communicate my experience on review sites such as this
one. Also, I filed a complaint with the Ombudsman. As Mr. Morrissey was the sole proprietor, I had no one else in his company to turn to.
-       He emailed backing stating he would report me to the Ombudsman, as well as pursue civil action.
-       From this point forward, I had to work through my lawyer and buying agent.
-       In speaking to the Ombudsman, he told me Mr. Morrissey?s threats were idle, as the Ombudsman only had jurisdiction over
agents. Furthermore, he stated it was my right to share my opinions online.
-       Previous to the breakdown in communication, Mr. Morrissey had set up a carpet cleaning, as required in the contract with the buyer.
-       With Mr. Morrissey?s refusal to communicate, I dealt directly with the rep from Stanley Steamer. We agreed on a date and cost.
-       On the date of the cleaning, I got a strange call from the rep. According to her, when the cleaners showed up to the house,
someone inside the house claimed to be me, stating I was no longer working with Chicagoland Realty Group and did not want the cleaning.
-       I was emphatic I was not in the home and to please go ahead with the cleaning. I asked her for details of who was in the
home, but they never came. As this transaction started out under Mr. Morrissey?s commercial account, this made me suspicious.
-       In talking to the buying agent, he was not surprised that the appraisal came in below agreed upon price. He stated that if
Mr. Morrissey had more knowledge of the Naperville market, he would have known this. (Mr. Morrissey is based outside Naperville.)
-       The buying agent stated that if he knew Mr. Morrissey?s lack of market knowledge, he would have shown up himself to the appraisal with neighborhood comps to help the appraiser. The buying agent felt it was likely that the appraiser simply saw the $5.5K passed back to the buyer and immediately cut this. Due to the past housing crisis, appraisers were extremely
cautious.
-       Separately from the carpet cleaning, I had a regular cleaner come to the house. She alerted me afterwards that the sump pump seemed to be broken. I communicated this via email to Mr. Morrissey, but he never replied. The buying agent went himself to check.
-       Mr. Morrissey did not attend the closing. He also did not confirm when the closing was officially complete.

When we gave him the go ahead, Sean listed the property and monitored its progress. We had ten showing the first week, and rented it immediately. I happened to be there when the new renters arrived, and Sean took them through the house and the details related to maintaining the property, paying the rent, and changing over all of the utilities. I was very pleased with the entire process, and look forward to working with them in the future.

We have been very pleased with the service we have received from Sean and the team.   They were able to find a renter in less than a month - much faster than our previous property management company.    Sean has always been very quick to respond to any of our questions and to follow up on moving the application process along.   Based on our experience thus far I would definitely recommend them.

This was our first experience in renting a property. Sean was very helpful when we were making important decisions and he knows all the "red flags" in applicants. He gave us honest advice and had our best interest in mind. He is easy to talk to and communicates clearly and quickly via email. I highly recommend CLPM to help you rent your place.

The initial posting of this review was done by an Angie's List employee via a phone call, so no details were provided. The following is an update to that telephone interview.

Basic service was good - secured a tenant, performed credit check, visited property regularly, provided tools to track showings. Email communications were fast and efficient, always responded quickly.

However, there were some issues that we found troubling. The rental agreement with the tenant contained the incorrect rent initially. The renters had already provided the security deposit in the wrong amount. The service provider had to be contacted one month when the rent payment did not appear in our bank account. Once the lease had expired, we were charged the property management fee twice in error. The clubhouse key card was not recovered from the renters when they vacated the property. We are still not sure if the garage door opener was returned by the tenants.

When the condo was put on the market again (both sale and rental), an online document service was used. Although we appreciated the convenience, the documents could not be fully completed - some fields were not able to be filled in which was frustrating. When we were unable to secure renters/buyers within the first few weeks, the only marketing strategy offered was to reduce the price. We also noted that showings were missed when potential viewings could not be scheduled because the previous tenant's contact information was still on the listing. Agents could not obtain permission to show the property even though the renters were no longer in residence.

When the condo was re-listed, there was a mix-up on the MLS listing that indicated our home as the property for rent and not the condo. We found out when a neighbor approached us and said she saw our home on various real estate sites and wanted to know when we were moving.

Within 48 hours of my first contact with them, a representative was at my townhome taking pictures and preparing a listing. It took less than 60 days for them to find tenants that met my criteria and rent requirements. They charged one month's rent for their services. The scheduling service notified me by phone and email when they wished to show the home and did not show without my approval. The whole process was easy and convenient. I have hired them to continue man

Sean was very knowledgeable and explained every detail of the contract that I was signing.  Went over every paragraph and actually gave me enough time to read every word as he sat waiting. Very courteous punctual guy , really straight up and trustworthy.

Very good in the details.
Managed very well. Showed property and negotiated lease very well. Oversaw getting property fixed and ready.

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They did everything that's supposed to be done by a leasing agent for the leasing/renting service.   When we tried to get maintenance service from them they were inflexible with the contract terms.  They also tried to do home inspection as a 'favor' after the lease was signed  and leasing service completed but were not flexible at all on the inspection appointment so they decided to cancel the appointment and announce resignation to the landlord and tenant which in my opinion was very unprofessional. This happened after they received a confirmation that their commission check was dispensed to them

I will not use them again for any of my properties

Great services from the provider. The provider is very fast in communication and response very quick to email and inquiries. Handled everything from listing to tenant moving in. Provides valuable suggestions. No complaints and five stars.

Sean was excellent to work with for both transactions (Home purchase and renting out old house) and continues to provide excellent service as the property manager for our old house.  Sean is very easy to work with and was easy to get in touch with for questions throughout both the purchase and rental processes (he is especially quick at returning emails which is probably the easiest way to stay in touch with him, and also a convenient way for me).  I felt that with Sean's assistance throughout the process that we ended up buying a house we love, and renting out our old house at a competitive market rate.  He completed a walk through with the new tenants and provided a very detailed report with pictures of the houses' move in condition.  So far I am also very pleased with his work on my behalf as the property manager for our rental property.

It went very well. We had a contract on our house in 3 weeks, and Sean had all paperwork and information ready for us all we had to do was sign. He came and did the walk thru with the tenants and answered any questions they or we had. Very good property management company. No stress on our end.

The service has turned out well so far. They have good communication and we have been happy with them.

We really like that they offer multiple payment options and that they offer several ways for tenants to contact them.  They even have a website where I can log in to check financials and where tenants can report non-urgent issues.  Their costs are very reasonable in relation to their peers, too.