The Rent Doctor & TRD Property Group Inc

Moving to Chicago from Texas was really intimidating. Laura helped take the stress of finding a new home off my shoulders and I could not give her enough stars for all she did. She asked about our family’s unique needs (pets, space and car situations) and only sending me properties that fit our criteria. Her website made it simple to keep track of the properties and which we liked and why. Her assistance didn’t stop once we found the place, she walked us through the entire process up through move-​in. She obviously loves her job and I will be sure to use her again when we are ready to purchase a home.

By FAR the best. Unless you prefer showings where there are 10 other potential applicants and the place looks nothing like the photos you saw. My boyfriend and I just moved into a newly renovated 2 bedroom and couldn’t be happier all thanks to Laura Renaldo!!!

I have been a patient of the docs for over 5 years. I own 100 plus rental units in the
Chicagoland area. Laura has always filled all my vacancies promptly and always with great tenants. Wether it’s a $ 700 dollar studio or a $ 1700 dollar 4 bed duplex unit Laura always finds me great tenants. She is professional and easy to deal with and always tells it as it is. Thanks doctor!

Absolutely terrible. I’ve left messages, emails, and NO CONTACT. This is a terrible way to run a business.
Anyone going to her website should expect to get NO help.
I asked about a specific property that keeps getting listed on craigslist but for whatever reason, I can’t get a hold of anyone at the number/​email address provided. Super frustrating.

We were trying to find a place to rent in Chicago before we had actually moved to the area… so we did a LOT of internet searching before we arrived for a weekend of house hunting… we made appointments with 3 other rental brokers, Chicago Apartment Finders, Rent Here and Élan Reality… although the people were fine at all these other companies, they just didn’t have any inventory that we liked… and we ultimately left our appointments feeling guilted or pressured into settling for something we didn’t like… needless to say, we were about to give up when we stumbled across a Craigslist ad that looked like it could be a perfect fit… that’s how we met Laura… the pictures on Craigslist we’re actually the real unit (no common in many listings we found!) and Laura turned out to be very easy to work with… no pressure, no guilt, just friendly and easy going!

«Landlord»!
ya im one. i got tired of sifting thru tenants years ago. i use her exclusively. i have units 800 to 2500 she fills em all. never a vacancy and all high caliber individuals. not to mention i always get to laugh when i see her.
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I contacted Laura about two and a half months before I needed to move into a new apartment, which was clearly too early, but I wanted to knock out my search as early as possible. She told me that the inventory was a bit low at that time for when I would be moving in and that she would get back to me in a few weeks. Given my experiences with other brokers and their complete lack of organization, I pretty much wrote off any future contact with her. And then, true to her word, she actually e-​mailed me. Not only that, she even sent me apartments that were relevant to what I had asked (gasp)!
Throughout the entire process, she was very responsive to all of my e-​mails and very accommodating to my schedule when actually going for showings. During our last showing, she even offered to drive me to my next apartment, which I was touring with another broker. Bad for business, great for reviews. Before I tucked and rolled out of her car, she even told me that she hoped it went well (although, I feel like that may have been dripping with sarcasm).
Even though I didn’t end up taking one of the apartments Laura showed me, I would definitely go to her again should I be in the hunt for an apartment. Very professional, friendly, and helpful.

Summary: Even though Laura is based in Bucktown, she found me a GREAT place in the Loop, and saved me tons of trouble of negotiating with the listing agent!
Full Version:
Laura helped me find a great place right by my company, and I am moving in tomorrow. I am thoroughly satisfied with every aspect of her service.
At first, I found out that her website contains mostly apartments from Bucktown, and I need a place in Loop, so I was a bit worried. However, I soon realized that all the agents share the same listings, and all it matters is whether the agent is responsible, effective, and nice! Laura is responsible, effective and nice! Compared to other large companies, I think Laura really cares about each customer, and wants to attract clients by the word of mouth, which is a great thing for us customers! She told us that most out-​of-​town clients heard about her from Unilocal.
She first sent me some listings, and was very responsive when I had questions. We then made a trip to Chicago, and Laura picked us up and drove us around. She showed us 6 or 7 places, ranging from 1200 to over 2000 bucks per month, and from 600 to over 1500 sqft. She listed the strength and weakness of each place, which was very helpful, since I am fresh out of college and has never rented a place before. She was not pushy at all, allowing us to think about our decisions, and in the end recommended the place that was not the most expensive one, but the most suitable one for me.
The listing agent of that apartment was clearly not very competent, and Laura saved us a lot of trouble by negotiating and contacting that guy directly. When we had some special requests, Laura was able to make them written in the contract, and made sure that they were executed by the listing agent.
I will definitely call up Laura when i need a place again. Very excited to pick the key and move-​in tomorrow!
I will probably update the review once I move in.

Totally useless… After reading all of these rave reviews I can only think that 90% are completely fake… I contacted the «Rent Doctor» (RD) via her website form with all of our requirements plus additional information. After all that RD e-​mails me back that my mix of requirements were usually only found with rents of almost a $ 1000 more than our range (we had already answered these concerns in our first form and e-​mails and also given plenty of leeway to compromise on many of our requirements if others could be met, etc.)…We then e-​mailed yet again reiterating what we had and we have not heard ANYTHING for more than 3 weeks!!! (Of course, we gave up on her long ago). Not an e-​mail, not a phone call, nothing. I have tried to call (at all times of day) more than a few times and always get a voice mail.
Thank goodness we were recommended a realtor (Derek Disera who I will be posting a review of soon) by a friend of mine (the old fashioned way) who lives in the area, is eminently knowledgeable, direct, and ANSWERS correspondence in a prompt and helpful manner (plus he has a cool car ;). Of course, we have already been on more than 10 showings with Derek and always left satisfied with his service and we would highly recommend him…
I trust Unilocal with a lot of decisions I make in many things but I will think twice from now on for things like this…

I have been an acquaintance of Laura for a number of years through a mutual friend. This past spring, while my wife and I were planing our wedding we ran into Laura on the street and told her we were thinking of moving into a new place after our wedding and that we would give her a call…
A few weeks later I got an email from Laura about place that EXACTLY matched the description of what we were looking for. Laura had thought of us weeks after and took it upon herself to seek us out to help us meet our needs. Even though I have known her a while, I got the sense she treats all her clients this way.
Thanks Laura. We will definitely use your services again.

I loved working with the Rent Doctor. The agent Laura was extremely helpful and knowledgeable. She knew exactly what I wanted. We looked at 5 places one evening. By the next day I was ready to sign a lease. I would recommend Laura to anybody looking for an apartment. She was so helpful that when I plan to have my house warming party, she will be on my guest list! Thanks Laura!

The Rent Doc (Laura) used to rent me apartments when I was a city boy.
When I was ready to buy a place out in the burbs I naturally called her for advice. I was sick of the lame duck agents I was dealing with so I asked her for help.
Even though she lives an hour and a half away from my suburb she drove out and hooked up about 8 great showings in an afternoon. Two days later our offer was accepted for less than I was even hoping for.
Of course during the whole process I would get a few runarounds from lawyers, mortgage firms, the seller, and his agent. Laura was on it for me going above and beyond dealing with the issues that arose.
Everything eventually got done and I close next week, and of course she will be there. I can’t believe how fast everything moved, all said and done the entire process took a single month. She has the connections and no bull attitude to get things done fast and proper, even in the burbs.

I was feeling very «sick» after cruising around town with some other apartment broker and I needed to see a «doctor»…THE RENT DOC had the remedy! Within a few hours I had a new «lease» on life!
Laura is fantastic! Professional, knowledgeable, personable and committed to your needs. I really lucked out finding her… couldn’t be happier with her services and YOU will be too!

Laura’s apt website was amazing and had great detailed information. She sent us 50 apts to look at online and was able to narrow it down to 7 and was able to pick one the next day. The website actually gave room sizes of apts, which saved us so much time not having to look at apts that didn’t fit our requirements. Compared to other Brokers, she’s really professional and knows her stuff. Don’t waste your time trying to find a place on your own like I did. She rocks.

While making my plans to relocate to Chicago, I was referred to Laura to assist in finding a new place to live. My original plan was to find a two bedroom to share with a friend who also works in the Chi-​area ‘burbs, but in the opposite direction. Miss Laura not only helped in finding a place with the requirements I specified, but helped a guy with no real knowledge of the commutes involved plan the best location for both my roommate and I to get to where we needed to go.
In just one morning she found us a place that was PERFECT! Great neighborhood, great surroundings… everything. Then as soon as I was signing a lease, my soon-​to-​be roommate turned out to be a lying P.O.S. and it all fell through. This left me exactly one week to find a place AND move and I was FREAKING out!!!
Laura kept me calm by assuring me we could get it done… and she did just that. I can’t say enough about how assertive and proactive she was throughout the whole process and in SIX days time I was packed and moving! THE DOC ROCKS!!!

Last year my boyfriend and I moved to the city from the suburbs. We had previously inhabited a house that was 3000 sq. ft. Space was a big deal to us and we were unwilling to live in something run down and gross. We looked at over 20 apartments and were having little luck. Then we found a listing that looked promising and when we called we got Laura.
Looking back, we were a huge pain in the rear; picky, needy, and unseasoned in Chicago apartment searching. Laura was unbelievably patient with us. She showed us the apartment that we ended up renting twice and even waited 45 minutes for us to show when we were late because of a snowstorm. She negotiated with the landlord a few requests that we had and within an hour of filling out the application, congratulated us on our new place. She even brought the keys to me at work.
Naturally, when we started searching again this year, Laura was the first person we thought of. I would also like to note that every other agent we dealt with before Laura showed us CRAP. They showed us apartments that we would not even consider renting even after we told them what we were looking for. Laura does NOT lease crap and she will give you exactly what you ask for. Thanks for everything Laura!!!

I’ve recently been in the process of a job relocation over to the bitter cold weather Chicago has to offer from the Sunny Southern California spoils of San Diego. I painstakingly began apartment hunting on Craigslist and through the Chicago Reader but just had a hard time finding anything within my specifications. I also really got tired of the same ad posts over and over such as «This unit will make Lady GaGa go Gaga!» I mean really? Someone should be shot for saying that.
I read the reviews of Laura and decided to shoot her an email requesting for help. Within 30 minutes she responded and I was presented a list of locations in Bucktown/​Wicker Park. After selecting some I flew out to Chicago in hopes of securing a lease so I can begin my move.
I met up with Laura and she drove me around and toured me through several places. Although some seemed decent, I just didn’t feel like they were worth the money and I still had the trouble of planning out my parking situation. She didn’t give up and she gave another agent a call, in which a listing just opened for a really nice 2 bedroom in a duplex walkup.
The unit was perfect, rooms were lightly colored with fresh paint and the hardwood floors were in great condition, you can see the gloss on them. The living room had a great setup with a fireplace, and the windows provided a spectacular view of the snow covered park. I automatically had thoughts of walking my future dog around there.
The timing was perfect, and within a few hours my lease was ready to go. Laura was even kind enough to drop me off at my hotel since it was on the way out of the office.
Laura provided me great tips and described several of the locations as we were driving around. My experience with her has been excellent and I would highly recommend it to any and everybody!

My tenant gave me plenty of notice that she would not be renewing her lease November 1, giving me more than 6 weeks to put the place on the market and find a tenant. I thought no problem. The previous time, there were tons of requests for showings from a single craigslist ad I posted, and I had a signed lease inside of a week.
That was 2008, this is is 2009. The difference in the market is stark; over the course of more than two weeks, and two different craigslist ads, I had received a paltry TWO email inquiries, one showing, no lease, and a growing concern that Nov 1 would arrive without a signed lease. Talk about stress, especially considering that my wife and I have a baby on the way and we’re trying to save as much as we can for childcare!
So upon the recommendation of the new landlord of my old tenant, I decided to try out The Rent Doctor. I have to say that I was little dubious that she could do any better. Boy was I in for a surprise. The Rent Doctor and I (Laura Renaldo) and I met on a Monday to create an agreement. The VERY NEXT DAY, I had a signed lease with a great tenant (awesome credit, gainful employment, etc). The fee for service — one month’s rent. Best money I ever spent for freedom and peace of mind.

Laura is the best. She is the most patient agent I have ever met. I would recommend her to anyone who is looking for a rental home in Chicago. She definetly has home listings that other agents dont have.

Laura, Queen of the Rent Doctor knows really knows her shit. I spent tons of time beating up craigslist and the chicago reader websites trying to find the best stuff, but those sources for rentals get dug through by every other person in the city so you’re wasting your time.
The Rent Doctor has properties that aren’t listed anywhere else and that’s what makes it a good real estate source. I got a sweet deal on a 900 sf apt in bucktown w/​a brand new kitchen and bathroom w/​wireless internet and direct tv included for $ 1k. No way was I going to find that w/​o help from Laura.