Century 21 American Sketchbook

After reading the last two posts, one would think Michael Rein was a horrible realtor. I’ve been involved in a number of real estate transactions where he was involved and I found them all to be above par. It seems as if the reviewers don’t like that he expects that written offers be correct and is willing to ‘coach’ younger realtors to help them fix faulty offer contracts. As a real estate attorney I can tell you that you can’t always ‘polish up’ a poorly written contract once it’s been signed, and I wouldn’t expect anyone to sign a contract which they knew had faults. Rather than complain about Michael requiring that the offer be fixed, perhaps those reviewers should be asking why their agent did not have the skill or experience to correctly fill out a contract in the first place? This seems like misplaced anger. I’ve known Michael for several years professionally, and I’ve not seen him be rude to another agent’s clients. In fact I don’t think I’ve ever seen him communicate with another agent’s clients directly, preferring to go through the agent. So I wonder how Sarah S and Brian S knew that he insulted them personally? Finally, I’m not familiar with the workings of this offer, but going off of one reviewer’s admissions it seems like they did not offer to buy the property at the asking price, and were not happy that the seller did not accept. However the Seller did not have to accept less than the asking price. That’s the way it works. And, by the reviewer’s own admission, in a few short days they displayed behavior that might be a red flag (i.e. turning on all of the lights and leaving them on… which is NOT customary by the way…, neglecting the courtesy of leaving a business card, not submitting a correct offer, expecting that the ‘loose’ performance would somehow be excusable, etc.) I think it’s reasonable for professionals to view that behavior and draw some conclusions from it. And I think it’s reasonable to choose not to enter into a business transaction based on those conclusions.

There are lots of people that think they can sell real estate. They get in the business for a year and fail while others stand the test of time. Michael has not only stood the test of time but risen to be one of the best agents in the State. Call me and I’ll tell you why not all agents are the same: 847 873 7295
Purchasing or selling real estate can be a stressful time for both buyers and sellers. In today’s environment the «details’ make a difference. Not all sales are created equally, with the complexities of selling or purchasing real estate in today’s environment, having Michael Rein on your side can make a positive difference for you. I have known Mike for over five years now, I have to say Mike is a stickler for details and getting things done right the first time. He is engaged in the real estate industry not only as the broker/​owner of two offices, but also as a member of the Grevience Committee of the Heartland Organization of Realtors and the the President of the Century 21 Greater Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana Broker Council. His involvement in the real estate industry gives him knowledge the typical agent/​broker does not possess. Over the years I have witnessed Mike coaching not only his agents, but cooperating agents to make sure contracts are are prepared correctly to enable them to process through both the attorney approval and mortgage underwriting contingencies without the need to backtrack and resubmit paperwork because it was not completed correctly the first time. It is my observation Mike is honest, ethical and knowledgeable, and that he has fantastic support staff and agents at both his offices.
If someone is looking for a real estate broker to tell them what they want to hear, rather than what they need to hear, Mike is not your guy. If, however, you are looking for a seasoned real estate broker who takes the time to realistically evaluate the value of property and structure sales/​purchases so that they really happen, Mike is the «go to guy» in the greater Northwest and North Suburban markets of Chicagoland.

As my wife Sarah stated below, our experience with Michael Rein of Century 21 American Sketchbook was downright horrible. After viewing 3 homes previously in the day, we went to see Michael’s listing. While we were a tad late (approximately 15 – 20 minutes) because we were running behind schedule, the showing seemed to go well. One of the homeowners was home during the showing, but he ran off after opening the door and let us go about our business. It was a shock when our agent received a rude email from the other homeowner, who wasn’t even home at the time of the showing. She claimed she was «fed up with realtors who leave all the lights on and don’t leave business cards,» calling it «very offensive.» Our agent stated that it is customary to leave on the lights in case there’s another scheduled showing afterwards, and while he normally would have left a business card, he ran out of the ones he had on him. Leaving a card is just a way to show an absent homeowner that you indeed did come and show the home as scheduled, but the homeowner was home anyways. We shrugged off the email as just a rude homeowner, but Michael Rein picked up right where she left off. Our agent, while still relatively young, has worked in real estate for a number of years, and he has written hundreds of contracts. Michael was condescending towards him, even saying that he was «coaching» our agent at one point. He was extremely nit-​picky about things in the offer contract that are normally polished up after an offer is accepted. Rather than give our agent a call and nicely point out what he wanted changed in the contract, as is protocol when dealing with other agents, he wrote a series of insulting emails. After he finally received a contract that he deemed adequate, he informed us that the homeowners needed to meet with their attorney to iron something out that may prevent them from even selling the house. The house had been on the market for 250 days at this point, so we were quite taken aback at this news. After being jerked around for a few days, we gave an ultimatum of 5pm yesterday for the homeowners to accept or reject our offer. We waited anxiously all day, and at 3:15pm we received an email from another American Sketchbook employee stating that the homeowners had simply decided not to sell their home at this point. It is a shame that Michael and his clients had to make this experience so negative for us. The home they were selling was beautiful, and we were excited about the opportunity to make it our home. I would steer clear of any property that is listed by Century 21 American Sketchbook or listing your own property with them unless you want to deal with an unparalleled level of unprofessionalism and downright rudeness.

At a time that should have been exciting, Michael Rein who owns Century 21 Sketchbook, turned it into one of the worst experiences of my husband and my life. My husband and I were interested in a house that was listed under Michael and right from the get go, he was rude and condescending towards our real estate agent. Not only was he unwilling to work in a friendly manner towards our agent, he also personally insulted my husband and I. We offered Michael’s clients 2K under their asking price for their home. After we made the offer, Michael’s clients decided they no longer wanted to sell their home. This is after the home had been on the market longer then 250 days! I would highly recommend people stay clear of Michael and Century 21 Sketchbook in Lake Zurich, IL. My husband and I were so disgusted with his unprofessionalism that we want to make our story known to potential buyers and sellers that may consider using his services.