Aaron Galvin Awarded Chicago’s Top Rental Broker

Last month I was honored to be awarded as a Top 1% Producing Chicago Residential Rental Broker by the Chicago Association of Realtors.

What does this mean? It means I rented a lot of apartments in 2012.

This accolade means so much to me. As a ten year veteran in this industry, I’ve been around a long time and seen a lot of rental agents come and go.

I’ve witnessed a complete cycle of the real estate market go from great to bad to worse to getting better. And through it all one thing remained the same, my drive and goal to provide a professional service.

Because I’ve spent the majority of my real estate career focused on leasing, my knowledge of the downtown Chicago multifamily and condo market is tremendous. My wife and I often joke that there isn’t a building in the city of Chicago that I haven’t been in.

As a business owner, I’ve worked hard to develop a system that helps people find Chicago apartments quickly and efficiently. My passion really does stem from helping people who want to live in Chicago understand where they are going to get the best value for their dollar. Renters may not be purchasing a home, but housing is still the biggest expense in their life.

Last summer, I was hired to lease up a building in the Loop that was converting from student housing to market-rate apartments. This was an exclusive contract and I leased 34 units in 40 days.

I love multifamily housing lease-ups. I see the future of my business working with private investors, developers and property management companies creating and executing lease-up programs.

While I may have rented a lot of apartments last year, 2012 was the most challenging year of my business. Yes, you heard a lot about how people were renting and not buying but that also meant that rent prices rose, inventory was limited and commissions were lowered. More importantly, I was working with frustrated clients. Time and time again apartments were rented from underneath them or the pricing was too high for their budgets. It only made me work harder to find them the right place to live.

All of this combined is what makes this award so meaningful to me.

I’m looking forward to a great year in 2013. So far, the sales market seems to be coming back to life, which is actually a great thing for the rental market. The Chicago rental market will see more than 5200 apartments come online in the next 18 months. These are brand new buildings in their lease-up phase – my favorite time to rent apartments!