Karen Breen Elia

Karen and Lou guided us (and stuck with us) through several offers, changed priorities, and sticky summer house hunting, eventually finding our dream home. They were very helpful, organized, attentive, and thoughtful through the whole process.

Karen is hands-down the best real estate professional I have worked with over the past 25 years and I have very high standards. I worked in a Fortune 500 world-class sales organization for many years that demanded excellence from it's sales force. Karen provided to me 'world-class' management, sales and expertise in finding me the right tenant while maximizing my profit simultaneously in an incredible short amount of time. I couldn't have done it without Karen. I live over 1000 miles away from my income property in Chicago and Karen went above and beyond the call of duty by handling the entire rental process from 'cradle to grave' including; in-depth marketing analysis, high profile advertisement, scheduling and conducting showings, background checks, preparing all related lease documentation - out of the box lease solutions, service, signing and revenue collection. Not to mention, she has great intuition. I highly recommend partnering with Karen for any property needs.

Working with the Elias' is like getting a two for one which means more responsiveness and more attention. Karen walked me through the home buying process (and) I appreciated that she wanted to walk me through it even though she knew I thought I knew it all. Karen would call and follow-up with attorneys/sellers/lenders to make sure everything was being taken care of. We hit snags to get through closing (none of our faults) but the diligence of both Karen and Lou brought it to fruition. Lou was ready to show me a place nearly always the day I wanted to see it. His knowledge of what to look for in the bones of a building was impressive. He was real at pointing things out that could be problems and was easy to be around. Neither one was pushy on a property (which I experienced in the past) while also offering me their opinions and knowledge about the industry/market when I asked for it. I would highly recommend this team to anybody looking to buy a home. I know I'll be using them again.

This is the fourth real estate transaction in which Karen Breen Elia has represented me. I would have rated her higher if there were more boxes to check! Her knowledge of the market, her experience regarding negotiating, her down to earth attitude and her genuine concern for us make her an outstanding real estate agent. Because she has been in the business for so long, she understands the complexities of todays market and she knows how to work with and communicate with the other agents involved in the transaction. She knows what to say and she knows what not to say. I have used her both as a buyer and a seller. When it was time to sell our house this past February, there was never any doubt about who would handle the transaction. I believe she is simply the best in her field!

Karen was referred to us by our real estate attorney which is a feat in itself as he is well connected in the Chicago market. He told us if we wanted our condo to sell, we needed Karen. When I met her I knew why right away. Karen is the right balance of kindness and gusto. She gave us advice for improvements that we hadn't received from our previous agency. She told us how we could accomplish them in a cost efficient manner. Karen is excellent in communication and organization as well. She also took time to get to know our family and what exactly we wanted out of our experience. She sold our condo in no time! Karen knows her stuff and gets the job done.