The Oertel Group, Compass Realtor

05/22/2024

🤍 🌳 We love giving our audience a behind-the-scenes look at what we do. We thought it might be fun to have an open chat with one of our recent Buyers who relocated from Georgia to Lake Forest! As you know we love showing off our town but when it comes to making the move all the way across the country via FaceTime & video, that takes amazing trust and dedication. We couldn’t be more happy with this clients journey to Lake Forest! 🌳 🤍 COMMENT Blog below and we’ll send you the full article!

05/01/2024

It’s M A Y season in the Oertel Household, let’s go!! 🥳🥳🥳
♉️

04/22/2024

S O L D !! This renovated 1922 home was located in central Glencoe on a double lot. It featured the best of old & new. We always love and appreciate a good North Shore 100 year old home that has been restored and taken care of 🙌🏼 Thank you to our sellers for trusting us. We were able to put this house under contract and close within 12 days from start to finish. Congrats to the buyers on your beautiful new home!! 🤍 Listed by Closed at $1,875,000 🤍
Nicole Fabiano Oertel

04/19/2024

Powder Rooms We Love 💙 And Closing On This Beauty Tomorrow! 12 Days Start to Finish 🎉 624 Drexel - Listed At $1,999,000

04/17/2024

Anyone else love estate sales? Answer Below ⬇️

I do!!! And I so scored this original 1950s mid century dresser from an estate sale last year along with two other matching items. More than the furniture I love the stories. This furniture belonged to a couple who bought all of it for their first home back in 1955 after just getting married. The husband told me some beautiful memories him and his wife shared in that home, what the furniture met to them at the time they bought it and what it meant now that he was selling them. You see his beautiful wife had recently passed. It was time to for him to move on. Kids all lived out of town. The home had such good energy and to know I got to take home these items to my home rather than having them thrown away or given to an auction house was so humbling and gave me a whole new perspective on old furniture. I love that I can proudly call them mine and they have a story to come with ❤️ #

04/09/2024

~CLOSED!~ our buyers closed on this beautiful East Lake Forest home and we could not be more happy for them!!! Welcome Home B&A!!

We love your story and how you came to know us! Quick backstory on B&A:
We were referred to them as out of state buyers from a local Lake Forest resident that we don’t even know personally but said they were aware of who we are and told the buyers of “our love for Lake Forest coupled with a strong work ethic of going above and beyond for our clients” (WOW! thank you beyond words…referrals are truly the best compliment we can receive) 🫶🏼. The buyers first came into town a few short weeks after we spoke on the phone, and it was the same wknd it happen to be -30 degrees out 🥶 We had coffee at and looked at a few homes and educated them on the area and different neighborhoods. This current home was under contract by the time they came into town. A few weeks later it came back on the market ✨ Within 24 hours, the buyers drove 3 hours from SW Michigan, we toured the home, made an offer and negotiated the deal. The house was meant to be theirs and we could not be more thrilled for them! Another ~love where you live~ success story for our clients and the OG. Thank you for putting your trust in us 🙌🏼🤍
1101 Havenwood, Lake Forest
Sold at $1,549,000

04/07/2024

What a line up this weekend! 🤩💥

03/18/2024

driving home….

03/17/2024

03/13/2024

Come Tour this light filled, centrally located, fabulous condo!!
Walk to Lakeview shops & cafes & Roscoe Village or enjoy grilling on your private patio while watching the sunset! 🌇 2 large bedrooms and 2 full bathrooms along with an eat-in kitchen and private garage parking! City living at its finest! Tours start today, contact us to schedule!

03/12/2024

We will take it! 💯

Chicagoans are experiencing weather more reminiscent of May than March. This week's forecast ➡️ bit.ly/43b75TJ

03/08/2024

Happy Women’s Day! Don’t be afraid to be YOU! It’s scary to be authentic but there’s only one You so keep being yourself 🩷

03/05/2024

Inside the renovation of our 1960’s bedroom suite. Small closets and old bath NO MORE! What do you think?

03/05/2024

Love where you live….. the joy I get when I turn my faucet on.

Details in blog coming soon

02/24/2024

New Blog Out Now, check it out at TheOertelGroup.com/blog

02/24/2024

02/18/2024

Thank you for the write up! It’s true! We love where we live and want nothing more for our clients!

02/16/2024

Thank you for the feature Chicago Agent Magazine 🤩

John and Nicole Oertel have one driving principle: “We love where we live and...

02/11/2024

See it here first!!!! Listed by J&N

Stunning modern day home in Glencoe on a double lot!!!
Old meets new in this beautiful expanded and renovated home. Grand staircase greets you at your front door. Then a huge mudroom with lockers welcomes you off your garage entrance. Luxury kitchen and huge primary suite!

Contact us at 312-623-7001 to schedule private tour before hits open market!

02/02/2024

It’s Feb 3 and finally not looking like Christmas over here 😅 Tree is officially down and put in its box! Mantle is free of stockings and ready for some new decor. Who decorates for Valentine’s Day? 🩷❤️❣️ I’m kind of thinking a pop of color could be fun for a minute….

02/02/2024

The National Luxury Report is out. As a company we sure do represent some stunning homes across the USA!

Type “REPORT” below and we will message you the link 🔗 to the full report!
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01/18/2024

John’s turn! Gotta love the internet. One quick search & your past is right there in front of you 😂🔥
So for those following along on our journey back in time, this was 2012! John & I had founded Home Solutions in 2010 & due to our distressed property business we were listing homes ALL across Chicagoland. We had listings from the city to Joliet, Peoria, Winnetka, Northbrook, Wheeling, Park Ridge, if it was within an hour of the city we listed it. And the phone was ringing off the hook with people needing help. We also got licensed to teach other realtors & they received CE credit for taking our class. And OMG, John loved it! I mean give him a microphone & a room full of people, he was living his best life!! And thank God because I hated public speaking! I would literally get onstage & black out until John would just grab the mic 🎤 from me as I was rambling about who knows what 🤣 Seriously, ask him, we have so many good stories 🤪But John thrived at it & we literally educated hundreds of Realtors in order for them to also help more distressed homeowners at that time. You see during the Great Recession, almost everyone had negative equity in their homes. But people still needed to sell their homes due to hardships like a lost job, sickness, job transfer, divorce, etc but couldn’t without being hundreds of thousands of dollars short at closing! So The banks actually came up with the short sale process for homeowners with a qualifying hardship get out from under their mortgage debt and sell. BUT the Short Sale process was brutal and not an easy one to get approved. And that’s where we came in. We were the experts & had the experience which allowed us to help our clients but also teach our colleagues how to help even more people. The Financial Crisis lasted from 2007-2014 but some still remain affected. We have many memories of sitting with families we hardly knew & hearing their stories of why they were losing their home. As someone who had personally gone through it, giving others hope & a way out of the darkness is what kept us going year a year. It’s also what allowed us to grow & be considered leaders in our industry. It was crazy times. To be continued…

01/12/2024

✨🤍 We love when celebrities make us feel normal. I mean this could be a lot of people I know and their homes here in the Chicagoland area. But honoring older homes, its roots and the decor, we always give this 💯 We just adore old homes & as the saying goes “they just don’t make them like they use too” 🤍

Repost from
“Actors and moved into their Wallace Neff–designed Los Angeles home soon after their 2016 wedding. A few years later they redecorated it with the goal of honoring the house’s history.”



Take a full tour of their 1920s Los Angeles residence here 👉 http://archdg.co/npYAOvO

01/11/2024

I told you we were going to TAKE YOU BACK in time this year! Ok so this is not my first real estate photo….I’m honestly trying to find a copy of that as it was from 2000!! We didn’t have camera phones back then 🤣 or social media! 😳

BUT this pic is from 2010 & it’s my first magazine shoot just 11 months after getting my IL real estate license & moving to Chicago from Ft. Lauderdale. I was just a pup in a big ol’ city 🏙️ I sublet an apt in the loop because I wanted to be “where the tall buildings were”. I also did it off Craigslist 😳 Let’s just say that was short lived as living in the loop with a car, no bueno. Rookie mistake ✅
I moved here in June 2009 and literally didn’t know even one person living in the Chicago area. I had a friend of a friend from Chicago that introduced me to a mortgage broker who then introduced me to a Realtor. I had lunch with them & within 2 months we partnered on a new venture. The partnership lasted about a year. Fast forward, then I met John and we opened up our own company, Home Solutions (our first child) in 2010. Right smack in the middle of the financial crisis & largest real estate recession this country has ever seen. People thought we were nuts! We were working day and night, living on dreams & cheap tacos (so many tacos) but we sure had fun! And those dreams quickly became reality. By 2011, John was licensed & we won Chicago Realtor “Rookie of the Year” award for most sold units & volume. By 2012 we had an average of 55 listings at a time & I was processing 150 short sales with banks all over the country. It was wild times!! 30 years old, Making money in a new city & literally saving homeowners all over Chicagoland from getting foreclosed on. Looking back, it blows my mind how fast we got there but when I think of all those long days & nights, I’m reminded of the saying Hard Work Pays Off!! And it sure did!
Fast forward to 2012, we got engaged 💍, 2013 married👰🏼‍♀️ & then came 👶🏻 baby Lincoln #2014. And not only did our lives really change so did the market! The recession was over!! Which meant it was time to start over again,Stay tuned for the birth of the Oertel Group!

Link to full article: https://chicagoagentmagazine.com/current-issue/vol-8-2011-2/whos-who-2011/nicole-fabiano/?fbclid=PAAabTwtw0XPsTv7-dE6TTljbBcbpWsPN_baUuBGzm53EoSYbbxNLft_HvZOE_aem_AV3gMdvkgNNK7ui1a7f7nJyflvX87xsLO8_J5Gm2jH5VB8kCypA-pLE0wASypgz2Pos

01/10/2024

Hi! It’s me! I’m the..Sorry I can’t help it. I mean who doesn’t immediately think of that song when starting out with those 3 little words…
Anyways, it’s the start of the new year and we have had lots of new faces & names pop up on the gram so I thought it made sense to do a quick introduction to those that may be wondering who we are! 👋🏼
We are Nicole & John Oertel, founders of The Oertel Group and real estate professionals for over 20 years 🥴 I (Nicole speaking) actually got my real estate license in the year 2000! This June will be 24 years in this industry and it’s been a ride, let me tell you!
And Actually, this year we’re planning to do a lot more of that! When I started this journey, people always said things like real estate comes in cycles, every 10 years, this boom, that recession, that recent pandemic 😳 Well when first starting out I had no clue what they really meant by all that. But 24 years later not only do I understand it but I’ve lived through it! I’ve seen cycles, I’ve seen the every 10yrs (twice) and I’ve lived and almost didn’t survive the biggest financial crisis and real estate crash most people have ever lived through. And not only did I survive it, I met my business partner and now husband & we thrived through it (once I actually crawled out of the rubble)! We have an arsenal of knowledge and real life experiences to share! Not only did we make it out but we came out the other side of that recession 10x stronger and wiser! And everything we learned is everything we provide to our clients. So stay tuned for more!
Every client and every purchase is different and we love guiding our clients and investors to make the best decisions they can rather it be their dream home or a multi unit investment, we are here with you all every step of the way! Plus we like to have fun too! We like to think we’re pretty cool peeps that make real estate fun and have lots of knowledge to share! So stick with us if you think so too! Thanks for stopping by and most importantly please know you can always personally reach out to us to discuss your real estate needs anytime! Lots of storytelling & knowledge sharing to come in 2024! -Nicole & John

01/08/2024

Hello 2024!!! We have been off the gram for a hot minute! We wrapped up the holidays, we celebrated the New Year and took a quick trip and now we are back!!!! And 2024 already feels like a winner. And we are already off to the real estate races!

We are starting off the week with a CLOSING coming up on Wed with buyers relocating from Georgia to LAKE FOREST!! We just adore them and can’t wait for them and their family to move here!!! More to come on their fabulous real estate journey with us and how they met us is just awesome!! It makes me smile every time I think about it.

We have had a slew of past buyers that never bought in the last year and some from even the year prior reach back out to us and restart their search! We have had new buyers coming from all over the country also reach out to buy in the North Shore & set up their search! A new couple coming from Michigan with their family this week that we can’t wait to meet!

Rates are coming down and the buyers are ready!!! Which leads to me saying, WE NEED INVENTORY!! It’s going to be another great market for sellers looking to sell this year so let’s chat now about what we can do to get you & your home prepared!!

Lastly, we are working on a client appreciation event in the Spring. John and I can’t thank YOU and our community enough for all the support and referrals you send our way. You will never truly understand how much we appreciate it but we hope to try and show you & return the love.

Oh! And we are updating some of our branding which we have worked hard on with our marketing team that we can’t wait to show you!! So if you have made it this far, thank you for reading! We are so excited to work with as many homeowners and future homeowners as we can this year!! We are ready, refreshed and as always here for you and all your home buying and selling needs! Talk soon!! - J&N