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| Testimonials |
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| At Properties congratulates Steven Katz in being named a Top Producer by the Chicago Association of Realtors for 2012. (At Properties News / February 1, 2013) |
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| Business Development Officer at Blackrock |
| "Steve is the definition of the perfect Real Estate Agent. As a first time home buyer (townhome purchase in Bucktown), I truly had no idea what to expect and was surprised to find a sales professional where it felt like "sales" was secondary to process and education. From the very first meeting, it was apparent that he wanted me to feel empowered and to understand the market and process from beginning to end.
Throughout the entire search, Steve was patient (admittedly, not always easy to do with me), LISTENED and delivered everything asked of him and a whole lot more. He was always available, prepared and candid and made it very apparent that we were on the same team. In the countless times we went out looking at properties he ran circles around the other agents we encountered in both professionalism and knowledge.
Additionally, with the people who ultimately get pulled into the fray (inspector, attorney, contractors, etc), Steve always had a laundry list of people he had previously worked with but made sure I vetted everyone and made my own decisions. Of all the folks he passed along, I would work with each and every one of them again.
Last, but in my opinion perhaps most important, Steve was an absolute pleasure to work with. If you are looking for someone to make this potentially painful process as seamless and enjoyable as possible, do yourself a favor and look no further than Steve Katz." March 1, 2013. (Dennis was a referred to me by a client I met at an openhouse in 2012) Top Qualities: Personable, Expert, High Integrity |
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| Pathologist at Rush Hospital |
| "I strongly recommend Steve as a real estate agent. He provided us the knowledge and insight first-time homebuyers need. He helped us learn to properly look at homes and find what we like and don't like. We never felt pressured but always felt Steve had our best interests in mind. He assembled a great team for every step of the inspection and closing process. We love our [Lincoln Square] home but, if for some reason we ever need to buy another house, Steve will be our realtor." Top Qualities: Personable, Expert, High Integrity October 2, 2012. |
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| Technology Company Executive & Psy.D., M.A. |
| “Steve was super throughout our entire search for a new home. My wife and I had a lot of requirements but Steve was extremely patient and helped us navigate the tradeoffs both with features of the house and location. We started all over the map in terms of suburbs versus city so Steve's breadth of local knowledge helped quite a bit as well. We ended up buying a house [in Evanston] that well exceeded our expectations. I would hire Steve myself and recommend him to anyone buying ot selling a home in the Chicagoland area.” July 17, 2012 by Larry Rubin
Top qualities: Great Results, Personable, High Integrity
“Steve helped my husband and I buy our first home. He helped us make a wise decision. He was committed to making sure that we bought a house at a fair price and worked well in the negotiation of matters. He was very good at managing and envisioning both of our preferences in finding a home. He is trustworthy, dependable, personable and is knowledgable about the market and willing to learn about new markets as well.” July 31, 2012 by Jessica Sectzer-Rubin
Top qualities: Personable, Expert, High Integrity |
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| Actuary at Towers Watson |
| "Steve was incredibly helpful during our first sale process [of our South Loop condo]. He provided plenty of information and meaningful discussion while setting the listing price. His advice while staging our place likely led to a quick offer (one family member remarked that our place looked better than ever!). During a drawn-out closing process that was held up by the buyer's bank, Steve made sure that we were informed with every development. We were glad to have him helping get the deal done. I have already referred Steve to a friend, and I would do it again. We had complete confidence in his ability to represent us." August 13, 2012 |
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| Regional Business Manager at Sunovion |
| "Steve is a strategic, logical and collaborative partner. He developed an impressive marketing and sales strategy which was essential to the success of selling our (Ukrainian Village) home in record time and at a profit. He made himself available at any hour of the day or week to ensure that our questions where answered and that we felt comfortable with the direction we were taking. I strongly endorse Steve, as I have benefited from his success and I believe in the methods he employs to exceed his clients expectations." March 18, 2012
Top Qualities: Great Results, Expert, High Integrity |
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| Marketing Manager & Social Worker |
| "We highly recommend Steve Katz to represent your real estate needs. In addition to learning the intricacies and selling multiple units in our condo building (including ours), Steve took pride in developing an expertise in our community. Extremely professional, Steve worked tirelessly to assure we were accurately and competitively marketed during an extremely challenging economy. He is also a great communicator and worked closely with our legal representatives to make sure every aspect of the sale was handled smoothly. His even temperament, strong negotiation skills and out-of-the-box thinking were invaluable assets. Even when challenges arose, Steve had contingency plans and was always looking out for our best interests. We could not be any more pleased with his hard work, dedication and level of service. Steve is the best!" October 29, 2011 Top qualities: Great Results, Expert, High Integrity |
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| Project Manager & Teacher |
| "When we decided to sell our Albany Park home, Steve helped us begin the process. We had grown out of our place and were motivated to get it sold. Steve understood our goals and within weeks brought us simultaneous multiple offers to choose from. He was very dedicated to the selling of our property. Once we got under contract, Steve then began the very difficult job of assisting us in finding a place that we could begin the next chapter of our lives. He did this with the same hard work and dedication as listing our home. Although Steve is a very busy agent, we felt as if we were his only client throughout the entire process. This is what truly made a very stressful experience, one that we actually enjoyed. Steve is a very dedicated agent and very knowledgable in his field. For these reason we will be refering him to anyone we hear that is looking for an agent. Once again, we appreciate his hard work." June 23, 2011 |
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| EVP, Starcom |
| "We first consulted with Steve on whether to rent or sell a River West condo. He provided detailed market data and walked us through each option from both a quantatative and qualitative perspective. Once we reached the decision to rent the condo, he quickly took care of paperwork, got pictures of the condo and had it listed. Within only a few days we had multiple interested parties and we quickly moved forward with signing a leasee. Steve handled all required paperwork expeditiously and without any hassles.
Steve is extremely knowledgable about the market. he's responsive to requests and proactive about making things happen. More importantly he's a good guy who takes care of clients." April 21, 2011 |
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| Director of Relationship Management at Tamale RMS & Project Manager |
| “Steve has a wealth of experience in buying and renovating homes for himself and he makes it a priority to transfer his knowledge to you so that you too can make an informed decision. His block- and neighborhood-level understanding of the market allowed us to establish our true price range and what/where that range would allow us to buy. Considering the fluctuations in pricing that have occurred over the past couple of years, this level of knowledge was invaluable in making sure we didn't overpay for our Roscoe Village single family home.
Additionally, his experience in renovating existing properties opened up the possibility of buying a home that needed a lot of work. Steve showed us how to tell the difference between structural problems and cosmetic ones, then introduced us to architects and contractors to help us estimate the rehabilitation costs. We've ended up in a heart of a great neighborhood with a like-new home for significantly below market cost thanks to Steve's help.” January 12, 2011 |
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| Founder, What2Design |
| “Steve was excellent in assisting my wife and I in our search to buy our Ravenswood Manor home. We had a pretty extensive list of what we were looking for, but still needed for it to be in a price range we could afford. Steve helped us comb the city and managed to deliver us the home we wanted in the location we wanted at a price we could afford.
Steve’s knowledge of construction was invaluable. Steve didn’t miss a beat. To address inspection findings, he brought in recommended licensed contractors (which he is uses in his development business) to provide us immediate estimates for repairs. We then used these estimates to negotiate down the price and also to determine how much money we needed for additional improvements we planned to add. Steve probably saved us more money than he earned.” September 28, 2010 |
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| Actuary |
| “Steve is a reliable realtor who listens and adapts based on the input provided. He is very knowledgeable in residential real estate, from location comparison to soundness of a given structure and everything in between. He also knows when to reach out to his list of contractors for specific input.
It was an enjoyable time working with him with a work product (finding a single family home in Highland Park) that matches all criteria at a reasonable price) to be proud of.” January 17, 2011 |
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| Vice President, JP Morgan Chase |
| “Steve was great to work with, provided very thoughtful and analytical advice. He wants the best for his clients and works hard to get the job done. Steve is not your typical agent, he knows what he's talking about and isn't in it for a quick commission.” September 24, 2009 |
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| Accountant |
| “Steve is an outstanding realtor to work with. His knowledge of the marketplace is second to none. We were very fortunate to have worked with him in our search for our Wrigleyville multi-family investment property. I would highly recommend his services to anyone that's looking for assistance in their next real estate transaction.” August 19, 2010 |
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| Manager, Toyota Corp. |
| "Steve assisted me in selling a Bucktown single family home. I was very impressed with how active Steve was in marketing our home. He got in under contract within 90 days in a difficult sales market. Steve canvassed our neighborhood and had open houses for neighbors and brokers and prospective buyers. Steve really understood the market. The house sold within 1% of what Steve said it would sell for – and was patient with me when I wanted to start marketing the house 8% above that number. Steve is a smart guy. He really did a great job for us!
As I travel a lot, I didn’t spend much time at the home. Steve took charge and even assisted me in preparing the home for sale. He brought in movers to help us declutter and brought in licensed contractors to ensure all of the systems in the house were working properly. Following the buyers home inspection, they were adamant about us cutting the price by 3% to pay for minor tuckpointing and roof repairs. Steve again brought in licensed contractors he uses in his investment property business and got us quotes which we used to get the work completed instead of giving in on a price decrease. Our repairs cost us $5,000 while the buyer was asking for $20,000 to cover these repairs. Steve kept the buyer interested and saved us a lot of money at the same time." |
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| Diamond Bank |
| “I would be happy to recommend Steve as a realtor to work with. Besides owning several properties of his own over the years, he knows the Chicago market very well. In addtion to his personal real estate knowledge, I think one of his best attributes would be his tough negotiation skills that any client would want and appreciate in a realtor buying or selling property.” July 8, 2009 |
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| Nurse Practitioner |
| “Steve guided us through every step of the process, providing thoughtful input about the value and potential value of the income property that we purchased. So glad we used him, plan on continuing to do so for future purchases. Thanks, Steve!” July 8, 2009 |
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