Big Shoulders Realty, LLC

Fantastic, sought assistance as prepared repaint our home and update our condo association property. Carrie was highly responsive, helpful, candid and sincere. We truly appreciated her generously sharing her time and expertise giving us the feedback and guidance we needed with understanding that we were not currently in the market for a sale\purchase. We definitely will keep her contact information and go to her and Big Shoulders first when we do make our change in properties

Because we live in Los Angeles we needed a competent and reliable broker to handle the sale of my wife's aunt's home in Chicago. I could not have been more pleased with Lee's market knowledge, responsiveness, professionalism and ethics. I have been a commercial real estate broker for over 25 years in Los Angeles - Lee's service and attention to detail was extraordinary from the beginning to closing the sale.

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I couldn't have been happier with the services Lee and Big Shoulders provided. From the moment we started working together, Lee not only helped guide us to the properties that were right for us, but he helped us better understand what we wanted and needed. Lee also has the funny habit of knowing when houses aren't right for his clients even before they do, and we very quickly developed a trust and partnership with him that made house hunting a much less stressful process. A true pro, but also a really great guy, Lee was always there to help us through the whole search and closing, and should we move again, I'll definitely be using him, and recommend his services to everyone we

Thanks to Lee I am the proud owner of a first home that I love, and I have a mortgage that I can afford. I trust Lee completely, and can't recommend him enough. Lee was (and continues to be) an invaluable adviser, counselor, and resource. Because of my meager budget, and the fact that I wanted a house and a yard on the near northwest side, my house hunt was a long and tedious process that included things like looking at places that smelled so bad we could barely breathe. Partway through the search there was also a break in at my apartment that made me freak out and want to buy something outside of my budget just because i wanted to move immediately. Lee was kind, sympathetic and wise, and kept my spirits up throughout our misadventures. He also strongly advised me to stay within my budget and be patient rather than making a decision I would later regret which was sound advice. I also know that Lee is genuinely interested in finding clients the right home, rather than just a house. After visiting one place that I liked, and looked great to my inexperienced eye, Lee said that if I tried to sign a contract he would leap in front of me and do a barrel roll to get the pen out of my hand because there were so many structural and potential problems That's the kind of guy you want looking out for you in this process! Lee Diamond is a genuine gem. He gets an A+++ in my book.

Thanks to Lee I am the proud owner of a first home that I love, and I have a mortgage that I can afford. I trust Lee completely, and can't recommend him enough. Lee was (and continues to be) an invaluable adviser, counselor, and resource. Because of my meager budget, and the fact that I wanted a house and a yard on the near northwest side, my house hunt was a long and tedious process that included things like looking at places that smelled so bad we could barely breathe, structures we got to and then decided we didn't even want to go in, and days where the first place we viewed was terrible, we both agreed it couldn't get any worse and then the second one was a disaster. Partway through the search there was also a break in at my apartment that made me freak out and want to buy something outside of my budget just because i wanted to move immediately. Lee was kind, sympathetic and wise, and kept my spirits up throughout our misadventures. He also strongly advised me to stay within my budget and be patient rather than making a decision I would later regret which was sound advice. I also know that Lee is genuinely interested in finding clients the right home, rather than just a house. After visiting one place that I liked, and looked great to my inexperienced eye, Lee said that if I tried to sign a contract he would leap in front of me and do a barrel roll to get the pen out of my hand because there were so many structural and potential problems That's the kind of guy you want looking out for you in this process! Lee Diamond is a genuine gem. He gets an A+++ in my book.

Eve J. writes: Lee is one of the few real estate agents that will do showings by bicycle. I generally use a bicycle for transportation, so this made a huge difference for me. He also will go by car if the client prefers or the weather is bad (so fear not if you are not a cyclist). We rode all over the city. Lee was never pushy as I waited for the "a-ha!" moment to take place. We had a lot of laughs, some scares, and most important, he earned my complete trust by time and again revealing an amazing depth of knowledge about Chicago, its real estate market, what is a true "fixer-upper" and what is a tear down, etc.

I had gotten the name of this agent and agency from Angie's List. While I was initially impreseed with Lee's knowledge and expertise, I was put off by his professionalism and lack of follow through. I had called him because we were in the market to purchase a home and had a telephone conversation with him for probably almost an hour. I was very impressed and thought I'd be in good hands. However, when I had not gotten a call back from him for a week, I called him back. He informed me that he had lost my telephone number and all of the information that he had written down during the first contact. Not a big deal... it happens. We then made a couple of appointments to go look at houses, none of which worked for us. I noticed that he repeated himself with the same information that he had initially given me during our first conversation, verbatim. I took pause but it wasn't anything to be alarmed about. But then I never heard from him again. I felt that I was not going to call him back again because I had done that once already and if he was at all concerned with maintaining me as a client, he should be contacting me. He never called me.

We enlisted Big Shoulder's Realty in 2010 after seeing many positive comments about them on Angie's List. Lee Diamond met with us and provided excellent information on understanding the market in our area. We listed our house late in 2010 and didn't get much response initially. Winter arrived and we took the house off the market. We relisted the house approx April 2011 and based on Lee's research on the market and his suggestion, we reduced the listing price. The first person who looked at the house submitted a bid and we ended up agreeing on a price. Lee was very helpful in the negotiation process; we especially appreciated Lee's high ethical standard. He has a good understanding of the real estate business and helped us make good decisions throughout this process.

I made some phone calls to people that had extensive referrals from Angie’s List. I spoke to Big Shoulders Realty and one or two more providers. He came out to my house. I didn’t use him per se. I didn’t look at properties or go out with him to try and find properties. He came out and looked at my house, and then followed up with sending me a lot of listings of properties to buy as well as, I believe, comparable listings of properties for sale in my neighborhood, so I had an idea of what my property was worth. He was a very good, friendly, professional and hard-working guy. He seemed to be quite honest. I might use him for another quote or estimate.

Lee Diamond is a great agent to work with. He has and honest and straight forward approach. Lee answered all our many questions and gave us feed back on all the properties we visited.

He recommended that I get someone more local; within 5 miles. He could have been greedy and taken my business, but he helped me out and was extremely nice and honest.

Found exactly what i was looking for.. very satisfied

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He seemed like a thorough, conscientious and nice guy. He did follow up and sent me a slew of listings. It seemed like an interesting outfit, but I never listed my property with him or looked at properties with him. I am in the process of listing with another agent now. He was on time and professional the one time that I met with him.

Lee Diamond was actually the second real estate agent I worked with. The first company didn’t seem at all interested…telling me that maybe we could set something up for “next week” and not getting back with anything or returning calls, etc. Lee not only responded immediately but got a clear picture of what I was looking for and could afford. He began setting appointments and getting showings scheduled. It seems like, in this market, it should be easy to find a really good deal on great houses. That isn’t the case. There are a lot of houses for sale. That doesn’t make them a good deal. Lee not only showed me properties, he acted as a set of professional eyes and ears. At one house, as we followed the owner around the outside, Lee pointed. I looked where he was pointing and saw the crack…the foundation was cracked all the way around the house (and, yes, the matching narrow crack was around the interior basement walls). I might very well have missed it. We saw many, many properties that had severe mold/water damage in the basement. He showed me where to look to spot serious potential disasters to my health and finances; for example, at one house I noticed that the roof probably needed to be replaced. He said that he thought it might be more of a structural issue…not just a new roof. Sure enough, when we went into the basement he pointed out that one of the supports was angled in and another was bowing. At no time did he ever try to “sell” me on a property which is a huge plus with me…it’s really annoying when the real estate agent is gushing about a place you’re trying to look at objectively and basically reminding you that their commission is being paid by the seller. I always got the feeling that he was on my side. We would walk back to his car and he’d wait for my first impressions. At all times he was thorough, thoughtful, helpful and professional…and maintained an excellent sense of humor throughout the process, no matter how frustrated I got about the prospect of actually finding something I liked that was in my price range. There were times we had to exit a house promptly due to the fact that pipes had burst and ruined floors and ceilings, that vandals had broken in and trashed the interior, that man-eating mold was attempting to attack from the basement. They don’t show pictures of those things in the MLS. During those times especially, being able to reassure that it’s worth the time to find the right place and maintaining a sense of humor are crucial. Just closed on my new home. Lee gave me several suggestions for choosing contractors, etc. for some work I want done. Working with him was great. I can’t recommend anyone higher than Lee Diamond and Big Shoulders Realty.

We are in the process of looking for a new house now, and it is not too easy. So far Lee Diamond has been wonderful. We’ll be seeing him again in a few days.

Great. Lee is very knowledgeable about the housing market, market trends, and the loan process. He is thorough and went above and beyond what I asked for. When I sell my house, I will definitely give him a call. He is very friendly and helpful and is not just in this business for the money.

Carrie showed us many many properties and was very patient with us as we considered all of our options. She was very open to our interests but also had suggestions for places that were a good fit for us. We had a difficult time negotiating our deal with our seller but she stayed calm and thoughtful throughout the whole process--a much needed attribute when emotions are high! Eventually, she was able to negotiate a deal that met our needs, which we were very happy with. She acted with integrity every step of the way, from our first meeting with her throughout the closing process.

Trust. That s really what you want in a realtor, right? When it comes to the largest purchase you will probably make in your life, there s a lot of trepidation. But when it came to looking at houses, we had a lot of fun. Lee was completely professional, always showed up on time, was courteous to the other realtor, even when they were not, and asked all the right questions. We had so much fun that we ve joked about looking at houses again, just for kicks. At our closing, everyone thanked us for such a smooth and laid back process. It wasn t until afterwards that we heard all the horrible things that could have gone wrong: being sold a house out of your price range, or with hidden pitfalls(we love our house and got a good deal), getting a mortgage that was different from what you thought it was(nothing could be further from ours), losing all contact with your realtor after closing(we talk with him all the time). I would whole-heartedly recommend Lee Diamond to everyone, you must get to know him!

As a selling agent, Lee was very effective in putting together a sales plan to price our home competitively, and was able to move it in less than one month with a price within a few thousand dollars of our asking price and no write downs related to the inspection. It really could not have gone better. We never even put a sign in the yard. As a buyer's agent, Lee helped us search for a new house in several different locations and was great at putting together search tours that made effective use our our time. He helped sort the poor quality offerings from the gems and matched our needs and sense of aesthetics to the available stock. During both sales, he was on top of every detail and made sure the process ran smoothly, despite a lack of responsiveness from some of the other parties involved. Lee's extensive knowledge of finance and economics made the mortgage process easy and gave us much more information to make a decision on than we would likely have had with anyone else. During the actual closing, one of the lawyers was late due to traffic, so Lee took it on himself to talk us through some of the contractual details to keep the process moving. The other attorney commented that Lee knew this material better than she did and it wasn't even his job. Lee's style is less formal than some realtors you might meet who wear suits or drive fancy cars. If that sort of thing is important to you, then Lee may not be for you. However, what he lacks in formality is made up for in hard work, attention to detail and extreme knowledge of all aspects of the real estate business. I would never consider working with anyone else.

Lee is an excellent real estate agent. He came highly recommended and I in turn would highly recommend him. We were first time home buyers and therefore needed someone who would really help us understand the process. Lee was very patient in answering all our questions, supporting us at all steps, through showings, the inspection and closing. It can be hard to find someone you can really trust when making such big decisions and Lee is completely trustworthy. He made the entire process much less stressful than we expected it to be. Whenever it comes time for us to move on to our next home we will certainly turn to Lee again for his insight, thoughtfulness and expertise.

As a first-time home buyer, Lee Diamond at Big Shoulders Realty walked us step-by-step through the entire process. He helped us determine what was affordable - and some of the best neighborhoods to consider in Chicago. From the first day we sat down to discuss what we wanted in a house - to our closing day, we were lucky to have someone that was 100 percent committed to helping us find the best house possible for the money. We looked at over 60 houses in a 2 week period - and Lee was willing to rearrange his schedule to fit our needs. Once we found the "perfect" house, it was a matter of closing the deal in a short 3 weeks. And, while this can be an overwhelming process, Lee walked us through each detail with all the patience in the world. Lee is a hidden gem in the world of real estate - you would be hard pressed to find anyone else that cares this much about the end result. When I go to buy my next home in Chicago, I can't think of anyone else that I'd trust more.

Couldn't be any happier with the work they did for us. They were extremely patient with us (first-time buyers), as we looked at about 60 properties over the course of a month and a half. They were more than fair with their commission, responded immediately to every phone call and email, did a remarkable job of scheduling in an extremely efficient manner an appointment at every unit we wanted to see and recommended an excellent home inspector and lawyer when we needed them. I was totally happy with them and would use them again any time.