When my husband and I were toying with the idea of buying our first home, we thought, ehhhh, we'll just meet with a realtor and see what's up. Even though she hasn't lived in Chicago for years (*SOB*), Colleen C. still maintains my go-to gal for references for almost all things Chicago. So when Colleen told me to call Grace, I called Grace. We weren't really on the market yet, but my husband and I are two people who like to be prepared.
Grace took the time to sit down with us before she even showed us any properties to really suss out what we wanted. We went into the process with one idea that we quickly realized probably wasn't the best investment for our family. Grace was able to make sure that we were not only getting a home that we wanted, but also one that would serve our needs for the long-term (something we truly appreciated.) She kept us focused, helped us create a system of what houses we wanted to look at, and enabled us to really be productive in our search.
Grace is friendly, thorough, and responsive. I can't tell you how much we appreciated all of these aspects as we waded through the process of buying a home. We found our home the first weekend we looked, which was WAY sooner than we had intended. We were wholly unprepared, so there were many moments of panic. She kept us calm in the midst of various freak-outs, and held our hand through the entire process. She knows Chicago amazingly well, and can give you tips about any 'hood. (For example, she'd know to suggest we do a drive-by on a particular block rather than waste our time going to see the house.)
Most importantly, she is trustworthy and a terrific negotiator. On our very first day looking, we found a house we really liked well within our budget. She could have had an easy sale, but she did some extra legwork not only kept us from buying the wrong house, but kept digging 'til she found THE house. And when we found that house, she didn't stop until she had the signed contract in hand. She worked incredibly hard to make sure that we found that special home, something for which we will be eternally grateful.
I can't recommend her highly enough! read more