Property management
Chicago Property Management from a Team That Owns Buildings
Our sister company, BCG Real Estate Group, manages rental property across Chicago, including the buildings it owns and buildings for owners who want to hand off oversight and maintenance. Dorazio Real Estate is BCG's brokerage partner, so one team can help you buy, lease, manage, and sell.
Photo: Taylor Thompson, Pexels.
Built by building owners
Investors first, managers second
BCG Real Estate Group started out of necessity. As its Chicago holdings grew, the team built its own management arm after bad years with outside managers: six-month vacancies, managers without working phone lines, and accounting nobody could trust. Once its systems worked, BCG began taking on outside owners.
Veteran-owned and operated
BCG and Dorazio Real Estate are both veteran-owned. Our managing broker, a former Army officer, is also BCG's managing partner.
Managing in Chicagoland since 2018
BCG's full-service management team has served the Chicagoland area since 2018. The team treats owners' buildings with the care it gives its own.
Fast answers for tenants
BCG aims for fast replies to tenant requests and works with each owner to set repair priorities, so small problems don't turn into building incidents.
Cost control
Running its own buildings taught BCG to watch costs close to real time. Owning the management side means faster fixes, a stronger hand with vendors, and a clear view of each building's profit and loss.
Buildings and units
What BCG manages
Single-family homes and condos
BCG manages rented houses and condos, whether it's your first rental or the home you kept after a move.
Multifamily buildings
BCG manages 2-4 flats and larger apartment buildings, from finding and keeping residents to maintenance and financial reporting.
Mixed-use buildings
Storefronts with apartments above bring two kinds of tenants and two kinds of leases. BCG coordinates the parties and handles each lease structure.
Mid-term and long-term rentals
Standard 12-month leases, plus furnished monthly rentals for guests like traveling nurses. See our short-term rental investing page for the furnished side.
BCG's focus neighborhoods are Ukrainian Village, Noble Square, West Town, Wicker Park, Logan Square, Avondale, Humboldt Park, Bucktown, Tri Taylor, Pilsen, Lincoln Park, the Midway area, and Beverly, Oak Lawn, Mount Greenwood, and Evergreen Park. BCG also takes properties elsewhere in Chicago and nearby communities.
The Chicago cycle
Time your leases to Chicago's moving season
Aim for leases that end between March and July, when the most renters are looking. A bigger pool of applicants lets you pick the best fit for the building and reach the top of the market on rent.
A vacancy in October is a trap if you sign a standard 12-month lease, since it sets up another October vacancy. A 17- or 18-month lease pushes the end date into spring or summer. A tenant whose lease ends in December may take a six-month extension at the same rent, and the unit resets to the busy season.
Break out pet rent, utility bundles, parking, and technology fees from the base rent. When taxes or trash costs rise, you can adjust those line items at renewal without a big jump in a good tenant's base rent. Our post on the Chicago residential lease goes deeper.
RLTO basics
Chicago landlord rules to get right
Chicago's Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance, the RLTO, requires a summary of the ordinance with every lease you sign. The notice you owe a tenant before a rent increase or the end of a lease depends on how long that tenant has lived there.
Security deposits come with strict city rules on where you keep the money, the interest it earns, and when you give receipts. A small mistake can bring heavy fines, so many landlords we work with charge a non-refundable move-in fee instead.
Deployed, on PCS orders, or wintering south
Owners who live away
If you rent out your home while you serve overseas, a manager can find tenants, collect rent, and handle repairs. Tell your insurer you're renting the home and get landlord coverage, and ask a tax professional about the rental income.
BCG's snowbird package covers a vacant home from November 1 through April 15, with flexible dates. BCG winterizes the plumbing before you leave, walks the home every two weeks or once a month with photo reports, shovels the sidewalks to meet city rules, and responds if the furnace fails.
Questions owners ask
Property management questions
Does Dorazio Real Estate manage properties itself?
No. Our sister company, BCG Real Estate Group, manages them. Our managing broker is BCG's managing partner, and Dorazio Real Estate is BCG's brokerage partner for purchases and sales.
Should I manage my first rental myself?
Our managing broker thinks managing your first property teaches you how a building works and how to handle tenants. Hire a manager when the property sits more than 30 miles from you, or when you own more than 5 units and fewer than 25.
Can you help me buy or sell a rental building?
Yes. BCG's team analyzes deals, runs market rent analyses, reviews leases, and supports 1031 exchanges, and Dorazio Real Estate handles the purchase or sale. Start with our multifamily and investment property page or our mixed-use property page.
Can BCG manage a furnished mid-term rental?
Yes. BCG manages mid-term and long-term rentals. Furnished units take more work between guests, and our short-term rental investing page covers what it takes.
Where do tenants send maintenance requests?
Tenants submit requests through BCG's maintenance request page, and renters can browse BCG's available units.
Start with a conversation
Hand off the building
Tell us about the property, the tenants, and what's taking up your time. We'll talk through what BCG would manage and how its pricing works.
Or send a note through our contact page.