We are just wrapping up our first year with City Habitat as our property management company for our condo association. There was a learning curve of course with a new management company getting adjusted to us as an established board, but so far so good - generally issues are getting addressed and efficiently without unneeded costs. Elena has been our property manager and the monthly fee with City Habitat is lower that what we had been paying. read more

I have dealt with many management companies in my real estate career, and I can simply say that none has been more responsive, proactive, and helpful than City Habitat. I have worked with them when representing clients who were buying/selling and also as a Board member in an HOA, and it was always a pleasure working together. Elena, who I have worked closely with, is one of the most competent and responsive managers I've dealt with. Highly recommend them for property management or HOA management. read more

City habitat as a management company is pretty bad. I rented a unit and it was sold in the middle of repairs. City habitat was unreachable for weeks and when they finally responded it took months to get simple things fixed. All the while they are telling me what a great management company they are and how lucky i am to have them. They will give you the runaround until you give up. Still have things in the apartment that need repair, and the things they said they could only fix after we move out? Well don't count on it. The unit is due to be occupied the day after. They aren't even going to paint it. This place is falling to pieces and city habitat just doesn't care. read more

The customer service is really lacking at this company. Unfortunately, the attitudes are not very pleasing and you feel as though your issue will not be resolved. It took several phone calls to get a decent response to my emergency request. read more

Won't fix broken roof. Lies on on the lease and on top of that, they force you to pay a processing fee just to pay rent. They removed all other forms of payment so you HAVE to pay online and pay their fee. Kinda crazy that they claim it's because of the cost of service while ALSO raising rent and not taking care of the building like the brick falling apart. It's INSANE to me that the city of Chicago allows them to operate. read more

This has been my most pleasant management company to rent from. The staff at City habitat are most often prompt, professional and respectful. Beginning with my move in process, maintenance and miscellaneous mishaps, the staff performed well. read more

Disgusting. That's the only word I can describe this managing company. They love to collect your HOA FEES but I'm confused as to what they using it for. We having dealing with a collapse sewage line and from my understanding they need to figure out the funds. My first issue with this is this is an emergency we're having! We have been up all day and night dumping out water from our basement where we live and they expect for us to wait even longer for this to be resolved. These are unacceptable conditions to live in! Keep in mind that we don't have the luxury to miss work but we still have to get up after a long night of dealing with the water which is taking a toll. My second issue is that "they need to find the funds" from my knowledge the HOA fees are supposed to be used to maintain all properties, shared amenities and common areas within the association. HOWEVER, I have not seen any maintenance done since we have moved here 2 years ago - other than a shitty paint job that they did in the stairway. So please tell me where all the money is going to or being used for? For the amount that we pay on HOA fees, this is ridiculous and company is a SCAM! read more

I highly recommend City Habitat for your Bussiness - we worked with Horatiu on getting several of our investment properties rented out - his work ethic was professional, conducted his job with high integrity and had tenants in our units before we knew it. We will definitely hire City Habitat again in the future. read more

After going months with little resolution, I finally was able to get in contact with the owner. He called to talk in detail about the issue and explained why there was so much confusion in the process when corresponding in the past. I did realize they were just the management and most if not all problems came from the tenants of the building in question. We were able to discuss the issues in detail and the management company showed me several ways in which they have addressed all my concerns. I am writing this update in hopes of showing others who may want to use this service or need to know the final outcome. They came through with flying colors after all the confusion was straightened out. So I say give them a chance to show you they are great at what they do and how they corresponded shows that they care about their business and making things right for customers and citizens of Chicago. How do you go from a 1 star to 5? You follow through with making things right for everyone you come in contact with. A bad day today doesn't mean bad business and management that takes pride in contacting past customers or citizens that had problems with their work deserve a second chance! read more

would recommend City Habitat for any condo association that is looking for a reliable responsive and professional property management company. They manage the condo association for us since 2014. They took over a distress condo association in which 25% of the owners were not paying assessment. They quickly worked out the books and in a matter of 6-9 months everyone was brought back on track! They coordinated the replacement of 4 wooden porches at a way lower price compared with how much their predecessors wanted to push for! After they cured all the City violations (masonry, porches etc) we were able to build a strong reserve that will allow us to focus in future, to the cosmetic work. It was a long journey, but City Habitat made it easier. Thank you guys read more

The email you are posting is from April. Our lease was up in June. This email was before our last battle with bed bugs. Had I known the issue would persist I never would have relented and dropped law suit. At the time the email was written, my wife and I were worried about having a place to live the next year and we knew your company could not be trusted to do the right thing unless we wrote that email. Not to mention the coercion via telephone we got. - Update- Yes we did ask for financial reimbursement. The situation got so out of hand we had to hire our own pest service as I stated in my review. The guys you sent over looked for less than a minute then left. I was then accused that this was just a mental issue. I was seeking reimbursement for the out of pocket expenses we had to spend to fix a problem you proved too incompetent to fix. read more

We've rented an apartment from them for 3 years. It was a pleasure to work with them. If we ever had any issue they responded immediately and everything was resolved in a timely manner. Kudos to Alexandra and Elena for professional and hard work. read more

Can I give more than 5 stars? I called city habitat looking for a new property management company for our building in Albany Park this summer. Elena immediately responded and was willing to meet me to discuss what we needed. She has gone above and beyond since the day I met her. Our association has been highly impressed with the company and their staff. They I've handled every situation with haste and diligence. They have even helped us come down on a lot of our bills which is absolutely amazing that they are willing to go above and beyond for us. Thanks city habitat! We appreciate you very much. read more

Recently rented an apartment in Bowmanville area of Chicago. Worked with Ms. D Varva who was prompt about getting back to us, showing the apartment, and processing our application. The whole process was seamless and professional. Ms Varva was so nice, helpful and hard working. I would recommend her services to anyone looking to rent or buy. read more

I have great experience with City Habitat. They are very diligent and they work very hard. They help me rent a condo of mine in Evanston. I was very fortunate that they found me a qualified tenant, and in less than two weeks. I am sure they went through a bunch of applications, and i am glad that they gave me the option to chose among several potential tenants. Besides the fact that they found me a tenant in no time, i liked that they are always friendly when speaking with them, (when i know they are busy), and they get back to you very fast if you happen to leave a message. This is a big plus in this market. Thank you Cristi and Horatiu! read more

I would recommend City Habitat for any condo association that is looking for a reliable responsive and professional property management company. After they took over the association of the building I was living in,!I saw the difference between a hard working team, interested in the community and the previous company we had. Constant communication with the office team has made me feel like they really cared and results started showing shortly after they took over. Offering options, coming up with solutions, made me feel like part of the community even though I was not part of the board or an owner. They really know how to think on their feet and have the interest of the whole building at heart. read more

sh*t show. Don't do business with these people, it's not worth it. Slow response time, apathetic people, just care about money. You deserve better than this company. read more

I have been with them for the past 6 years as their tenant and they have been great with me personally. Most of my request in regard to whether its a minor or major repair all have been taken cared off, it might not be right away which is understandable especially if its not a major repair but for any major repair like recently one weekend my A/C is not cooling and temperature at that time was high 90's, Horatui came to the rescue he made it possible to have one of their maintenance guys to come and have it fixed on that same day! So thankful and grateful for their assistance. So to Horatui and the rest of your team especially your maintenance guys, thank you again so much for all your hard work and assistance... You guys are the best!! Keep up the good work! . ~ Carla read more

Horrible company. I was scheduled to tour a property and waited for the leasing agent for nearly an hour with no contact from their team despite multiple calls and texts. Someone else got back to me the following day (apparently they all use the same mobile number which is extremely shady to begin with) and I'm informed that not only was the individual unaware of the property tour but the unit had already been rented out 3 days prior. Will never use them to find another property and will be informing everyone I know to avoid them at all cost. read more

I'm giving City Habitat a 5 star rating for their professionalism and trustworthy services. We had been managed by another company prior to switching and at the time, our association was in a very bad shape. City Habitat not only handled the day to day issues that have come up, but further made tremendous recommendations to reduce the budget deficit and improve our financial situation within the next 12mths. Our property manager (Horatiu) was able to renegotiate the water bill and reduced the unpaid balance from 16k to 10K. Over 40% of the total units were bank owned or pending foreclosure with delinquent HOA dues. City Habitat was able to collect the past due fees and bring these accounts current. At their recommendation we hired a tax appeal attorney and reduced property taxes by more than 50%. They addressed all the violations from the previous years (concrete, masonry, steel) and we are now able to refinance our units.Thanks to City Habitat and their team of professionals, our association is in good shape, up to code, and attractive to potential home buyers. read more

I've been a landlord in Chicago for many years and can say that these guys are truly among the best management companies in Chicago. They are honest, trustworthy, capable, and their customer service is second to none. Whenever I've had an issue at a property, City Habitat has resolved it without delay and without surprises. They are also fairly priced and the buildings they manage are usually among the best-maintained on the block. I recommend City Habitat to all my clients and use them myself for my and my family's properties. read more

As a condominium owner It's a challenge to get hold of someone to answer the phone or to get a request done with out requesting this several times. read more

This company is wonderful. We had some issues throughout the year that were always resolved in a timely manner. We had flooding on two different occasions, and those issues were solved very quickly. Both the owner of the management company (Cristian Merdariu) and the unit owner (Leyona Reyna) both showed up to help clean up the water and take care of the problem. We also had an issue with our A/C where there was a short in the wire, and although it took a few days to figure out the problem, they were consistently trying to figure it out. There was some confusion with the resigning of the lease, and both parties were frustrated, but Cristian was incredibly respectful and flexible and wanted to come up with a solution, which was worked out within two days time. Obviously nothing is perfect, and it's unrealistic to think there will never be an issue, but the people at City Habitat are very helpful and have always been on top of things. They've always been about our happiness and figuring out solutions to our problems and are willing to work with their tenants to make sure everyone is happy. I highly recommend this management company for anyone wishing to rent a property!!! read more

Worst management company ever. Horatiu and Alex, contrary to the comments below, are NOT responsive. Although they claim to operate on the "cloud" they do not reply to my messages which I have posted. They have not provided financials to our association more than once even though they have been "managing" our property for 7 months. All proposals which they submit are unprofessional. The proposals are are not written on company letterhead and they do not have any description of work to be done, cost of labor, cost of materals, length of time for job completion, etc. When I attempt to conduct an internet research on the name of the company or the individual who submitted the proposal, there is not any information about them. The work that is completed, which does not require contracts, is sloppy and oftentimes incomplete. I honestly believe that they hire their friends to work at the buildings which they manage. When we ask a question involving condominium law, the standard answer is that they have to check with their lawyer. If they are managing condominiums, it seems to me they should know the basic rules regarding damages to common areas, late assessments and the process for submitting a proposal and presenting proposals to the Board and Association Membership. read more

I had a very good experience with City Habitat. I lived in one of the buildings they manage and I always appreciated their responsivness every time I called or inquired about building related issues. I was so pleased with their service that I asked them to help me out my next condo rental and they did a great job finding what my family and I needed. I had experienced an ugly sewer back up which was not anyone's fault and they were there at 1am to help up with the aftermath and they did a great job to diminish the damages. Normally I would have been very angry with the whole situation but somehow they made it go away without too much of a hassle for us. We were able to get the Condo association to help us out with the smallest details and our life was restored in the shortest time possible and with the greatest professionalism I have encountered so far in my life as a renter. I would recommend them anytime. read more

I had the worst experience ever with Chicago Habitat. I own a condo on the first floor of a building and Chicago Habitat manages a vacant unit above me. There was water damage and mold in my unit due to lack of maintenance to the furnace in thief unit. Horatiu would not and still has not given me the insurance information I requested of the owner or CH. CH sent a mold remediation team to remove all of the infected areas 1 week after they came out and seen physical mold growing on my walls. Meanwhile my wife is 6 months pregnant and CH refused to pay for relocation to a hotel. After the mold restoration was completed another 7 days later they had scheduled carpenters to come and reassemble my unit. So today he had carpenters scheduled with me at 10am to start construction. My pregnant wife took off work and waited in her truck in the parking lot from 10am-4pm when the guys finally showed up. There were 10 emails to prove and multiple phone calls to see where these workers were. When they finally showed up with drywall to hang but no pipe insulation (because all of the water pipe insulation was removed due to mold) I decided to ask them to leave because they were going to piece this back together not in the same working order it was previous.Horatiu's communication skills via phone or email were very minimal to none. I asked for certificates of insurance for all parties that would be working in my unit. He still never sent them. At the end of read more