At Downtown Apartment Collective, we have the systems in place to set you up for success in building your career as a real estate agent in downtown Chicago. Many of our agents start their career as a leasing agent and get their sales license when their leasing clients start asking them for help purchasing in subsequent years. Here’s what you need to know about getting started as a leasing agent in downtown Chicago!
Our River North Office
After on boarding, new leasing agents are matched with a team leader. Team leaders are a select pool of top agents who also have strong teaching and leadership skills. The first portion of training for new agents is one-on-one with the team leader through a combination of in-office training, field training (agents shadow their team leader), and reverse field training (team leader observes the new agent with clients and provides feedback). The second part of training is becoming familiar with our inventory. We work with roughly 400 rental buildings throughout Chicago. Team leaders put together a plan to help familiarize new agents with those buildings between in-office research and site visits. We attend broker events on a regular basis as a team to build industry relationships and further familiarize themselves with buildings. The third portion of training is ongoing. We offer consistent training opportunities in and out of the office. Most of our leasing agents go on to get their sales licenses and find that leasing has given them a fantastic foundation for starting the sales portion of their career.
Our agents learn how to self-generate leads as part of training. After completing training and getting approved by your team leader to start working with clients, you’ll be eligible to work with company provided leads. Leads are distributed with priority given to whoever is in the office. We want our clients to get the service they need right away, and if you’re in the office we know you’re available to respond.
Yes, you do. However, you don’t need a license to get started or initially get hired as a leasing agent. Downtown Apartment Collective can give new hires a one time sponsor card. That means new hires have 120 days from the time they officially get hired to obtain a license. If you’re approved by your team leader to begin working with clients, you can get started under our supervision. There are other stipulations, (for example, new hires need to be enrolled in the leasing course within at least 60 days of getting hired), but in a nutshell, you do need a license to work as a leasing agent, but you don’t need a a license to get hired as one initially.
Character is always our top priority when hiring. We have record breaking retention amongst our team and the majority of our agents have been with us for many years, when the industry norm is for agents to stay at their brokerage for less than a year. We also have over 700 Google Reviews and every one of them is 5-star. We want to continue to hire people who are going to respect the other agents on our team, respect our clients, and provide exceptional service. When hiring new candidates, real estate experience is always a plus, but not a requirement. We pride ourselves on not being very “salesy”, and instead really offering a customer service focused experience for clients where they feel totally comfortable, heard, and are receiving exceptional service start to finish. Therefore, many of our strongest agents have come from hospitality backgrounds. Whether it’s putting together restaurant or fitness studio recommendations, doing some extra FaceTime tours of the neighborhood, or helping clients figure out their commute to their new office, our clients love working with us because our agents always go the extra mile to help them get their new life set up in Chicago. We would always prefer to hire great people and then teach them real estate skills than vise versa.
If you’re someone who prides yourself on professionalism, integrity, enthusiasm, being self-motivated, organization and time management skills, loves working with people, and wants to be in a vibrant office culture with a flexible schedule, we welcome you to apply!
Interested in joining our team? Email your resume to careers@downtownloop.com or contact us!
Ever wondered what being a luxury leasing agent is like? Here’s what you need to know!
 
Although some luxury leasing consultants work with both MLS listings and high rises, some just work with high rise buildings. These high rises are seldom listed on MLS. Through years of mutual relationship building, Downtown Apartment Collective (DAC) has gotten the privilege of non-exclusively representing over 200 high rises in downtown Chicago. High rises appreciate working with DAC because we bring them qualified clients, that is– client’s whose wants, needs, price ranges, and preferences match what the building has to offer.
Most high rise apartment buildings have dedicated on-site leasing teams. On-site team members have extensive knowledge of the ins and outs of their particular building. DAC’s luxury leasing consultants work to have extensive knowledge of the overall market as a whole, strong familiarity with each building, and get a deep understanding of the client’s wants and needs. DAC’s leasing consultants and on-site building teams have strong relationships and stay in regular communication so both parties can give the client all the information they need and find them the best suited options. This allows DAC leasing consultants to act as matchmakers between clients and on-site teams.
If there’s a great deal or rare unit on special, on-site team members will be the first to alert DAC’s leasing consultants. Similarly, when a client reaches out with specific search criteria, a DAC luxury leasing consultant will use their market knowledge to narrow the options from over 200 downtown high rises to a selection of 5-8 buildings. Then, the DAC leasing consultant will get in touch with the on-site experts to see which layouts in the building will be best for accommodating the client’s move date, price range, view and lighting preferences, and furniture quantity.
The chief responsibilities of a leasing consultant at DAC are to (1) know all there is to know about your client’s wants and needs, (2) know all there is to know about the market, an (3) know all there is to know about your inventory, all so you can serve your clients’ best interests. The market, pricing, and availability can change on a day-to-day, or even moment-to-moment basis, so staying on top of current information takes ongoing initiative. It takes a village to know the city!
DAC works primarily with luxury high rise buildings in downtown Chicago
At DAC we value character above all else. There’s a misconception that you need to be “tough” or “cut-throat” to succeed in real estate. That could not be further from the truth. The people who are most likely to succeed at Downtown Apartment Collective embody professionalism, kindness, great listening skills, patience, and integrity for two reasons: (1) it just feels good to be a good person, and (2) being a good person is good for business. You only do a high quality job when you’re looking out for your client’s best interests. When you find your client a great deal that is exactly what they’re looking for, they will naturally refer you to their friends. Your clients want to help their friends, not expose them to a “cut-throat” agent who doesn’t really listen.
The Chicago real estate industry also feels pretty small. Over time, you’re bound to run into the same agents again and again. Being kind and professional with other agents is a must. Each interaction is an opportunity to plant the seed for another positive interaction in the future. No deal is ever worth jeopardizing a relationship.
 If you’re someone with integrity, professionalism, a desire to learn, a good attitude, and an interest in being part of a tight-knit team, we’d love to talk with you, regardless of whether you have any real estate experience! If you’re interested in learning more about leasing and real estate careers contact us at careers@downtownloop.com or click here to learn more.
