SARAH McLENNON | CHICAGO REALTOR
Knowing Chicago means understanding more than where things are.
It means understanding how they got there.
Intelligent strategy is required in a complex market.
I help buyers, sellers and investors understand Chicago property through critical experience, knowledgeable analysis and invaluable local expertise.
This city raised me.
I grew up in Lincoln Park, in and around my mother’s longtime neighborhood store, Presence. My father—a historian and statistician—managed Chicago political campaigns before working alongside Cook County Clerk David Orr for decades. The first campaign I worked on was Harold Washington’s mayoral run!
Chicago was never simply the backdrop to my family’s story. Our roots are set in steel and concrete, neighborhood storefronts, political campaigns and decades of public service.
I’ve since lived across the North Side and in Oak Park, raised my own family here, and watched neighborhoods change, reinvent themselves and get rediscovered under new names.
My route to real estate wasn’t conventional. Film and art taught me to observe. Second City taught me to listen and adapt. Culinary school and working in kitchens taught me keen awareness to preparation, timing and details. Valuation taught me to separate appearance from evidence. My background, parents and life experiences have taught me critical thinking, determination and grit.
Today, those instincts come together in how I help clients understand not only what a property appears to be, but what it really is, what it’s really worth and what it truly could become.
MORE ABOUT SARAH
I know the story. I also know the numbers.
Context without evidence is nostalgia. Numbers without context are noise. Smart property decisions require both.
Buying Chicago
What does this block do differently from the next one? How will housing inventory, property condition, taxes and eventual resale affect you? I help buyers see beyond finishes, and other chaos to ask better questions and understand what they’re buying into.
Selling Chicago
Pricing isn’t optimism. I study the property, how buyers will perceive it, where its value sits in the current market and how to create competition around it. I build a custom marketing plan and strategy for every property.
Valuation + Investment
Comps, condition, usable space, rent potential, land and competing inventory all tell part of the story. I combine valuation experience with local context to clarify risk, opportunity and the numbers beneath the property.
STRATEGY IN ACTION
20 offers.
$132,000 over list.
Their next home secured off market.
Clients originally came to me through a referral from an old friend. I stayed connected for nearly five years before they were ready to move—offering useful guidance without pressure. Along the way, they became friends too.
When the time came, their property—listed at $400,000, in Portage Park—generated 20 offers and an accepted contract at $532,000.
But the sale was only half the strategy. I also negotiated the off-market purchase of their dream home, securing the property they truly wanted without waiting for it to reach the public market.
Strategic pricing created leverage on the sale. Relationships, access and negotiation created opportunity on the purchase.
I value relationships first, intelligent strategy when it matters, and support that doesn’t disappear at the closing table.
CHICAGO PROPERTY
Chicago property speaks a language of its own.
Bungalows, two-flats, greystones, workers cottages, courtyard buildings and vintage condos didn’t appear here by accident. They reflect Chicago’s industry, immigration, transit, politics and patterns of growth.
I pay attention to the details that change how a property functions and how the market values it: lot dimensions, construction, condition, usable space, additions, basement and attic work, flood control, tax history and renovation choices.
This is where architecture, neighborhood history and valuation meet.
CHICAGO BUNGALOWS
TWO-FLATS & THREE-FLATS
GREYSTONES & WORKERS COTTAGES
VINTAGE CONDOS & COURTYARD BUILDINGS
ATTICS, BASEMENTS & USABLE SPACE
RESTORATION, RENOVATION & VALUE
Schedule a free consultation today.
Schedule your appointment for a free Real Estate consultation with Sarah.
