Baird & Warner – Mark Jak

Mark has helped us both buy and sell. On both sides we have always been happy with his knowledge, service and responsiveness. To top it off, he was able to sell our condo in just a few days for full asking. Would not hesitate to recommend.

Working with Mark on the purchase of a condo was a true pleasure. He is a true professional with a strong knowledge of the Chicago real estate market based on years of experience, has excellent communication abilities, and always had the time to answer any questions we had, give guidance, and otherwise assist us in the process.
I wouldn’t hesitate to work with him again either buying or selling and would recommend him without reservations to anyone looking for a realtor.

I have had the pleasure of dealing with Mark. When dealing with him, you can see how his professional talent in dealing with a home from start to finish is done with detail in every aspect. His number one concern is always in your best interest., and his communication with you is constant. He is one who knows how to communicate with clients and always has a smile. I would recommend Mark to anyone, and know they are in great hands with their home.

This was the first time selling my house and Mark Jak was absolutely wonderful! He took the time to answer all of my questions, was always prompt in returning my calls and emails and made excellent recommendations that would increase interest in my condo. After putting it on the market we accepted an offer after 2 weeks! I could not have done it without Mark nor would I ever consider working with another agent. He’s the best!

Mark Jak won our business in a competitive process arranged by our relocation company, in which we interviewed multiple potential realtors. We were unanimous in selecting Mark to represent us as sellers, and now that our transaction has closed, we know we made the right choice. The reasons we chose Mark were the same reasons we were so satisfied with his representation: he provides reliable, candid, straightforward and evidence-​based advice. He is also proactive and very responsive. He was in touch with us just the right amount so that we knew our property was important to him. He also did extensive homework before our initial meeting, which diligence impressed us immensely. He also came with market specific location specific ideas on how to market the property. He was a breeze to work with, and at the end of the day, delivered results. We wholeheartedly recommend Mark.

My husband and I are now first time home owners thanks to this man!!! We didn’t know where to begin or who to talk to, we were completely new to the entire process, all we knew is we wanted a home. Good friends of ours highly recommended Mark Jak with Baird & Warner, they bought with him 2 years ago and had nothing but kind words to say about him.
We met with Mark 3 months before even wanting to begin our house hunt and he took the time to explain everything thoroughly and he patiently waited for us to let him know when we were ready to start making moves. Mark was never pushy, always patient, nothing was ever a stupid question (because I had many!)
Even through the MANY inches of snow, the NEGATIVE temps and INSANE wind chills Chicago had this past winter, Mark was ALWAYS available to show us houses and he was super easy to schedule with. He was always punctual (even throughout ALL the snow), he always replied to emails/​calls/​texts in a timely fashion and he really does give some great real estate advice.
Thanks to Mark we now have a beautiful home to call our own!

My wife and I listed our condo with Mark while living out of state. It all happened so fast — the morning before the open house we were already negotiating an offer — it seems that Mark’s network allowed him to find a buyer in record time. I would highly recommend Mark to anyone else looking to sell their condo!

If you’re looking for an agent who knows and loves the Ravenswood/​Lincoln Square area look no further. I worked with Mark to sell my 2 bed/​1 bath condo located by the Damen brown line stop. It was very refreshing to talk with an agent who didn’t just give you comps that overlooked the metra tracks or were off of Ashland! His staging and marketing were also top notch and even impressed the real estate attorney in the family! Mark always gave objective advice and was never pushy. There’s no doubt in my mind that I had great market knowledge and support on my side during this transaction because of Mark.

I’m sitting here in my beautiful new condo and only have Mark to thank for being so helpful. My husband and I were working with a tight timeline and we had some bad luck along the way but Mark made the process go as smoothly as possible. He was responsive and informative and is easy to work with.
I appreciate that he would give us space to make up our own mind about a place while providing objective information about it to help us decide. I never felt pushed into anything and I felt like he had our best interests in mind when providing his own feedback. We had some specific (maybe a little picky) criteria for our home and I felt like he paid attention to that and didn’t show us anything that would have been a bad fit. The process ended up taking longer than expected but Mark found us our perfect home in the end and we love it! I would definitely recommend working with Mark.

During our initial house search my wife and I had a terrible experience with an agent from Coldwell Banker. After doing some research I came across the many positive reviews for Mark. I decided to give him a call, we met up and talked about our house preferences. He was able to show us houses which matched exactly what we were looking for and was timely with making necessary showings. When we finally found the house we wanted to purchase we ran into troubles with our lender (Chase) and our loan approval unnecessarily dragged on for over 2 months. Throughout that time Mark displayed excellent management and communications skills. He was very quick with responding via email/​phone/​text, this was especially important to me due to my work which is out of town M-​F. At times he also went above and beyond what a typical real estate agent would be willing to handle (including sending emails on my behalf). When the seller became impatient and hard to deal with Mark provided us with useful guidance to ensure the deal didn’t fall apart. We were finally able to close last week and I can firmly say that this deal would not have gone through without Mark’s help. I would highly recommend him and look forward to purchasing additional properties down the line with Mark on our side.

My wife and I just closed on our first house and Mark Jak at Baird & Warner was our agent. We knew exactly what we were looking for and the neighborhood we wanted to be in and Mark was great at sending us listing that fit our criteria.
Mark is a professional, punctual and always quick to respond to e-​mails, phone calls and text messages. He was accessible even when he had to be out of town.
Although we had some idea of what the home buying process was, Mark made sure to keep us informed all along the way. Mark also recommended a few lenders, appraisers and a lawyer that were also professional and friendly to help us along. Even after the closing, Mark would check in to make sure things were going okay.
We purchased a bank owned home and to say we hit many roadblocks is an understatement, but Mark was very patient and helped us work through them until we finally closed! By all accounts it was a rather challenging time dealing with the sellers agent and Freddie Mac, but Mark kept us informed and did all he could to keep the deal on track.
Thanks for all your patience, persistent and hard-​work Mark!

Mark was great. He is very knowledgeable and responds quickly to communications and requests. I would not hesitate to recommend him to anyone looking to sell their property.

Now that I’m finally settled in my first home (in Logan Square), I cannot forget to thank someone who truly helped me get here – Mark Jak at Baird & Warner. Since I was very new to the process, Mark was always there to answer any questions at any time. He was always quick to respond e-​mails, phone calls, and even text messages! Mark truly made himself accessible throughout the whole process.
Since I was getting my parent’s help (from out of state) to purchase the home, Mark often had to communicate with both myself and my parents at different times. In both situations, he was extremely helpful and never pushy. Mark was also really flexible with his schedule. When my parents were in town for a just a few hours, he was able to arrange a showing of the condo I had put an offer on.
Due to unfortunate circumstances surrounding a short sale, my first offer did not go through. Although disgruntled by the seller, Mark was optimistic in helping me find another option. He immediately sent over more listings and arranged more showings.
Since my parents and I were unfamiliar with some of the lawyers and lenders in the area, Mark also recommended a lender and lawyer that truly worked in my best interest. Up until the actual closing (and maybe even a few weeks after), Mark, the lender, and the lawyer, were constantly communicating to make sure everything was ready to go when we needed it to be.
Even after I had moved in, Mark kept in touch to ensure that everything was going in order. He made sure that my to-​do list for the developer was being taken care of and offered, if needed, to give me recommendations of others who could work on the maintenance and repairs of the condo.
Throughout this whole process, I am really glad that I found someone like Mark to help out. Always patient and optimistic, Mark would be a great person to keep in contact with for many years down the road. I’ll be sure to find him whenever I decide to sell, but for now, I’m hoping this review will get him more business that he deserves. :)
Thanks Mark for everything!

Mark was my agent for three real estate transactions in the last 12 months. Two homes sold (Lakeview and Lincoln Park) and one purchased (West Lakeview). Mark was a huge help. He was very knowledgeable, great with technology and made timely recommendations on price changes. My wife and I highly recommend Mark.

My husband and I recently purchased a home in Lincoln Square and feel extremely fortunate to have had Mark as our agent. From the very beginning, Mark impressed us with his professional attitude and excellent client service. He always responded quickly, made time for us and was very patient as our ‘must-​haves’ fluctuated. Mark consistently gave us honest assessments of the properties and areas we were interested in and provided accurate information on sales and values of similar homes. Though he is exceptionally knowledgeable about the market and gave reliable advice, he allowed us to make our own decisions. Most of all, Mark truly cares about his clients. He worked with us to understand what we were looking for and aggressively and articulately represented our interests in negotiations. I would recommend Mark to anyone looking to buy or sell a home!

Mark and I met at a closing 3 years ago and I was impressed with his professionalism and knowledge of the business so I hired him to sell my 2 flat in the most difficult market. From the first step of having amazing pictures taken to negotiating the contract I knew that he had our best interest in mind. Since then he has represented us in the purchase of a new home and also represented other family members in their real estate dealings. I can honestly say that I would not use anyone else or reccommend anyone else more.

I recently closed on my first home. Mark was there from the beginning to the end. As I mentioned, this is my first home, first sale, first everything when it comes to real estate and the «process». There are so many things that I was not aware of. Real Estate purchasing is really a complicated process. On top of that, the areas I was really hoping to move to (Lincoln Square/​North Center) are pretty lean when it comes to NICE places that are available for purchase, in my price range.
We did a lot of looking, and Mark had the tours planned nicely. MLS listings prepared and ready to go, in order of the tours. Being that I am very detailed oriented, this was very helpful for me. He could intelligently review the property and provide an expert insight of certain property characteristics, that I found very helpful. He was available at many different times during the day and during the week to answer questions and schedule property tours.
One of the greatest things that Mark did for us in this process, was truly advise us and look out for us when the deals weren’t really «right». I truly felt that he represented me and had my best interests in mind. I felt more comfortable and safer in the whole buying process, knowing that Mark was looking out for me on so many levels. There were several places we looked at that really were on the verge of «predatory» in their sales process and once again, Mark laid out the facts of the market condition and reasonable comps in the area and they just could not build a case for their inflated prices. I was saved from making big mistakes and overpaying, on several occasions.
All in all, I am ecstatic with my new place and owe this success in part to Mark’s expertise and impeccable work style. I truly recommend you consider him to assist you in your home buying or selling process.

Mark represented us in Spring 2007 when we sold our condo in Wrigleyville. We were looking for a realtor who wasn’t a new entry to the real estate market and that hadn’t entered only in the ‘boom’ years… rather a professional who understood the markets ups & downs and knew how to weather them and to sell in any market climate.
Further, Mark understands the market at each price/​segment level and knows how to price accordingly and list in order to attract the right buyers. We were selling a higher-​end condo with great amenities and wanted to make sure we were getting the right folks walking through. In addition to advertising and constant activity in the form of open houses (brokers open & standard), he reached out to his network of associates to ensure the realtor community knew of our listing.
Had my husband listed at the right price from the beginning I feel confident we could have sold it within a few months. Instead, it took a little longer but at 6 months in the market we were selling in… we were VERY pleased. The price was ultimately also very good for the market and priced very close to what Mark initially advised we list at. He is a calm, steady negotiator who can read a buyer well and advise prudently on the next-​step for a successful agreement.
He offers consistent feedback & great responsiveness — ensuring people are seeing your space. When he was not available, he always left us with the name of a backup realtor so we were never without service. Every open house was followed with a status update and next-​step scheduled.
It was a nice touch that he sent a beautiful gift to us at our new home in MA.
All around, a class-​act and highly professional realtor. I would recommend him highly.