Grafft Group – Rentals – Berkshire Hathaway Koenig Rubloff

I was stood up by Renter’s refuge. Over the phone, we had set up a date and time to meet at an apartment, but they never showed up to meet me. I called and there was no answer. I left a message, but nobody ever called me back. No explanation. No apology. If you can’t manage the most basic function of the service you offer, which would be showing up to show your apartment (not to mention returning my phone call regarding not being there) then I don’t trust you to do much else.

I am writing this review from the perspective of a real estate agent, so I have a pretty high bar of expectations and what it takes to deliver 5 star service. As an agent, I could have handled my own personal properties, but I am a huge believer in specialists, and the best leverage of time. John and his team did not disappoint — they found me outstanding tenants quickly, took care of all the paperwork expertly, and took the stress out of the process. I always say, «peace of mind is priceless» and this was certainly the case. He’s an agent’s agent!

Contacted through a message on their website 3 weeks ago and left a voicemail two weeks ago. Never heard back. Very unprofessional of them.

I had a great experience. My realtor did a great job learning what I wanted. He looked out for me like a friend and not a customer

This review is for Andrew Fung. Andrew returned my call when I was struggling to get in to see properties over Memorial Day weekend. I was only in town for a few days to find an apartment (I need to nail one down in a hurry) and was frustrated to find that no one seemed to be showing anything over the holiday! Well Andrew was working, and he did his best to find someone who could show me one of the properties I was interested in. Ultimately he wasn’t able to get anyone to help out but he still followed up with my by email to check in and see how my search was going. He was very helpful and answered my questions about Chicago neighborhoods in detail, all without ever standing to make a commission off of doing so! His knowledge of the neighborhoods and rental properties out there was very impressive and spanned a range of areas. He was very helpful to me and I am so thankful that he went out of his way to offer his input. The fact that he came to work over Memorial Day weekend also speaks volumes about his work ethic!
If you work with Andrew, I’m sure you’ll have a positive experience. He really goes above and beyond to offer his expertise and truly cares about helping people find what they are looking for.

We used Renter’s Refuge while looking for an apartment this Fall. We weren’t living in Chicago at the time and only had a couple of days to look. The agent that helped us (Gus), was great. Very nice guy, super professional. He drove us to all the appointments, which was really helpful, since we weren’t familiar with Chicago. All the listings that he showed us fit the parameters that we’d given him (including price). Overall, we had a very positive experience with Renter’s Refuge and would definitely recommend them to anyone looking for an apartment.

I worked with Perry Crawford to find a new apartment in the West Loop this past September. My requirements were very specific as to what I wanted, and he was able to come up with a few places that were very nice & not easy to find in that neighborhood.
Perry did a very good job of acting quickly to secure an apartment that we knew would go very fast, and get it off the market before anyone could take it out from under me. Best part was that he was very active in tracking down all of the paperwork I needed from the broker who was very difficult to get a hold of at the time. I would definitely use Perry in the future.

Had the pleasure of working with Brett. He was very patient, attentative, and also easygoing. Conversation with him was not uncomfortable or forced — genuine guy. Also, big thumbs up for great communication. Out of all the apartment hunters I got into contact with, Brett was the only guy that got back to me reliably, showed up on time, and kept tabs on the process even after I had already put in my application.
I’ve subtracted one star for Renter’s Refuge’s access to apartments. Not Brett’s fault. In comparison to other apartment hunting agencies that I worked with, Renter’s Refuge seemed to have access to a smaller selection of apartments at the same sub $ 1200 price range.

We had an absolutely fantastic experience with Renters Refuge! Everyone who works for the business was completely professional and helpful.
As someone who is moving from a small city in Michigan to Chicago; it can be quite an unnerving experience. Having a company that doesn’t sugar coat the market and honesty answers your questions was soo nice!
Gus was AMAZING! He drove us all over the city and set up nearly 6 showings in different neighborhoods. He was super friendly and funny and answered any question we had honestly.
If you’re looking for a new apartment this is the company that you should go through.

I highly recommend Renters Refuge. John was amazing. We were new to Chicago and John spent a whole day showing us apartment with out any problems. He was able to show us great apartments with our budget and short time span.
John is a neighborhood expert and had an answer to all of our questions. We will definitely be using him the next time we’re looking for an apartment. This is an agent that cares about you as a client and that’s what you need when you’re looking for an apartment.
Best experience we’ve ever had apartment searching.

My experience with Renters Refuge was grade A from the beginning to end. It started with coordinating a meeting time around a very full schedule where I would be in town from CA for only 3 days. Harrison Conners began communicating with me via phone and email immediately and was so incredibly helpful prior to our meeting, he made what should have been a stressful trip rather relaxing. When the time came to meet and look at some apartments we met at the first location, which matched our criteria exactly and throughout the day we saw the same pattern. He chose some amazing locations that were all different but within our preferences. The tour allowed us to realize and see all the possibilities we had and allowed us to make an informed decision. I can honestly say that without his help we could not have made it to the comfortably satisfying decision that we ended up at. Harrison is a really cool guy and offered us a service that resulted in our choosing of a new home and I can’t thank him enough.

I had a showing set up for 11:40AM today with Kaitlin Ochenrider. We showed up but she wasn’t there so I called but no answer; I left a voicemail but she never called back. When I got home, I noticed that she had left me an email at 10:13AM to cancel. An email an hour before a showing isn’t what I’d call sufficient notice. If she had at least CALLED that would be one thing but are people really checking their emails every 5 minutes while out apartment hunting? I don’t think so.
Edit: There was a miscommunication about phone number however, I do still find a problem with cancellation within 1 hour of showing so I will leave the rest of the review up.

HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS COMPANY! Sean was an excellent realtor! He constantly informed me of new apartments on the market and was extremely knowledgeable about all the details of each place he showed me. He made apartment hunting a breeze.

From an owner’s perspective, Johnny and his team at Renters Refuge have been extremely helpful in finding renters for my condo in Roger’s Park. They were able to find tenants within just a couple weeks, and helped with the move in/​out details (inspection, coordinating clean up, lock change, etc.). I would definitely recommend Renters Refuge to any condo owner looking to rent out their unit.

After deciding to sublease my apartment, I turned to Craigslist to find a new dog friendly place. I ended up connecting with Johnny from Renter’s Refuge and had a great experience. Johnny was phenomenal throughout the whole process. He kept in me up to date and even calmed me down when I worried about my tight time frame. Even better, when the couple who planned to sublease my apartment backed out the day before they were supposed to move in, Johnny offered suggestions and help. I would rent with Johnny (and Renter’s Refuge) again in a heartbeat and plan to tell all my friends about him. He was amazing!

Renters Refuge helped my friend find a renter in a rush. Not only did they find him a great tenant in a heartbeat, but they were able to find someone who could easily cover the mortgage. They work hard and go above and beyond to find exactly what you need. Highest recommendation.

I originally grew up in Los Angeles and now have moved to my favorite city in the world. I had no idea what part of town to move into, let alone now what to look for. I started using Renters Refuge from LA and now i love my place here in lincoln park. I live in a great neighborhood in a great place and am very thankful to the people at Renters refuge for totally walking me through the process and helping my with my move.

I was moving to Chicago and used Renter’s Refuge to help me find an apartment. Not knowing the Chicago area very well, I wasn’t really sure what neighborhood I was interested in — they were very helpful and even came and picked me up and drove me around to a few different areas to view some apartments in my price range.
Their site was easy to use and had some really good photos of apartments and a map that comes up to show where it is located… Great service! I would definitely use them again.

My two girl friends and I began looking for a place this past spring, and we leaned on our friend Johnny from Renters Refuge for some help. Rather than call numerous places off of Craigs List or other apartment websites, Johnny picked us up and showed us numerous residences within a few hours when it fit into all of our schedules. This was extremely convenient because all three of us have very different schedules. Once we began looking at the places Johnny had prepared for us, he not only respected our wish list and modest budget, but he also provided an honest opinion which is always helpful. Above all, Johnny gets an A+ for getting the (and any) job done to the best of his ability. To say he is a hard worker and that he has a passion for what he does is an understatement. Now my roommates and our two kitties are living happily in an apartment that fits our daily needs and we’re very happy.

I work for a property management company out here that I love. We recently had to transition five tenants from three different homes to the Chicago area for work related reasons. Being with what I believe to be the premier property management company in our area, I wanted to help these residents as I expected they would either return, or at least tell co-​workers who might be heading our way about us. I looked up businesses in the Chicago area. During my search, I came across Renters Refuge (
).
Renters Refuge was a little different that my own company, but they had a sleek and user friendly website with a number of client references. I sent an e-​mail out to Renters Refuge and they gave me some information about their company and told me how they work and how they could help our residents relocate.
Now, 2 months later, I know that our prior residents have found new homes and they all gave me great information about Renters Refuge. I hope they all write their own testimonials. Renters Refuge also took the time to send me a thank you card. The company these residents work for will likely continue to transfer employees. I look forward to working with Renters Refuge in the future and highly recommend them to anyone relocating to the Chicago area.