16 days
Sat a year with another broker
Peter Okafor's loft had sat with another broker for almost a year. Marco sold it in 16 days.
A great broker, and an even better stager!
715 North Kessler Street, 8N. Closed at $915,000, 2024.
Chicago, all in.
One broker, start to finish. You call me, you get me, from the first walk-through to the closing table.
$38 million in 2025, City Sales Leaders list. Licensed Real Estate Broker, Northline Realty, 180 East Larkin Street.
Call or text (312) 555-0148Some sell in a weekend. Some take patience.
A difficult board, a year on the market with someone else, a house built in the 1880s. How it went.
Diane WhitcombWhitfield's
“I had a hard apartment to sell (dark rooms, a picky board, too many listings around it, rates going up, and a block that had seen better days). Then Marco walked in with his glass-half-full attitude, found what made the place special, won over the building, and somehow willed the deal into being! He's my broker now and always will be!”
40+
Showings for an 1880s cottage
1912 North Wren Court: one family's home for 52 years. Lakefront Living called it the prettiest little house on one of Lincoln Park's priciest blocks.
If you're still interviewing agents, you can stop. Call Marco Valente.
Ruth Delaney, who sold her Lincoln Park house. Closed at $3,395,000, 2023.
2 days
Listed to under contract
240 East Calder Place, 31A, with open lake views from the 31st floor. Listed April 8, 2024, in contract April 10.
Closed at $2,875,000, 2024.
47listings sold in the last five years, $96.4 million
72%of his deals since 2021 came from the seller's side
Top 25in Chicago sales at Northline, 2023 to 2026
Sources: five years of closed sales in county records; City Sales Leaders 2025; Northline; closing prices from Cook County public records.
How a Marco listing goes to market.
“Let the client do the talking. They'll always show you where they want to end up.”Marco, to The Northline Journal, 2019
SOLD1310 NORTH GARRICK PLACE, 2B · $3,180,000
Ready before anyone walks in.
He stages every listing, and sellers mention it in their reviews without being asked.
careful staging, smart marketing, and a smooth closing with a solid buyer
Brightway Realty, on 125 East Brockway Street
Boards, handled.
Co-op boards stop deals on the Gold Coast. His clients remember how he got them through.
Marco then put together a great team so the board and the loan approvals (and everything else) went smoothly.
Priya S.
The home made the papers.
His listings get written up: Lakefront Living on 1912 North Wren Court, The Lakeshore Courier on a Streeterville loft, and City Property Wire on the penthouse terrace at The Halvern.
The Halvern
A 1928 Walter Brandt co-op with oversized leaded-glass windows and wood-burning fireplaces, two blocks from the lake. Close to one in four apartments here went through him.
9closings here since 2012
8 of 34apartments he has sold in this building
7Dhis newest: $1,725,000, May 2026
Other buildings he knows
- 2600 North Lindquist Avenue3 sales
- The Calder, 240 East Calder PlaceStreeterville
- The Ellery, 345 East Ontwell StreetOld Town
- 18 East Seldon PlaceGold Coast
- 2 East Halvern CourtGold Coast
Where he sells
- Streeterville15
- Gold Coast13
- Lincoln Park9
- Old Town5
Closed sales, last five years (county records). Buildings: Cook County public records and Northline records.
“Multiple offers OVER ASKING.”Penthouse 10B at The Halvern, in his words, 2023.
The record.
Listings he sold, with the price each one closed at.
88 East Tolland Place, 11EGold Coast$4,850,0002020
2031 North Brennan AvenueLincoln Park townhouse$4,325,0002022
1912 North Wren CourtLincoln Park, 1880s cottage$3,395,0002023
1310 North Garrick Place, 2BGold Coast$3,180,0002022
240 East Calder Place, 31AStreeterville$2,875,0002024
410 North Corliss Street, 8AStreeterville$2,240,0002025
155 West Penrose Place, 14EOld Town$2,195,0002025
The Halvern, 7DGold Coast$1,725,0002026
715 North Kessler Street, 8NStreeterville loft$915,0002024
Closing prices from Cook County public records. Listing side.
Written up.
under strict orders to keep the search inside a five-block radius.
- The Great Lakes Herald, 2026
A weekend profile, “Five Blocks at a Time,” on how he works the Gold Coast one building at a time.
- Good Company with Russ Callahan, 2025
“Please welcome the one and only Mr. Chicago, Marco Valente.”
Radio show, episode 114 - Lakefront Living, 2023
“The Prettiest Little House on Lincoln Park's Priciest Block”: 1912 North Wren Court, listed by Marco Valente, Northline Realty.
- City Property Wire, 2018
The planted penthouse terrace at The Halvern, his rental listing, among the week's most-read rentals.
- The Great Lakes Herald, 2016
“The Tour Guide Who Sells the North Side”, on his years before real estate.
Five blocks. Two days.
I wanted a second home in Chicago and only had two days in town to find it. ... I picked the right place on the first visit.
Priya S., buyer
talked us out of chasing overpriced places when we fell for them too fast
Declan Shaw, buyer, on Nestfinder
The best ones trade before they're ever listed.
Marco, on what a seasoned broker hears before a home goes on the market (Good Company, 2025)
$2,640,000520 North Tarrant Street, 3B, 2024. Represented the buyer.
$2,415,00077 East Corwin Street, 2024. Represented the buyer.
For one returning client the brief was five blocks, and never farther from the lake. Search over.
About Marco.
MARCO VALENTE · LICENSED REAL ESTATE BROKER
Made in Chicago. His grandfather was a bricklayer who helped put up two-flats all over the North Side, and Marco grew up “in love with the buildings, the brick, the sound of the city.”
He became a tour guide and founded Lakeside Loop Tours, walking visitors through the city's old neighborhoods for twelve years. In 2012 he brought it all to real estate, and he has been with Northline ever since. He grew up speaking Italian at home.
A tour guide learns to read a group in the first five minutes. Buyers are the same: they tell you what they want before they say a word.
Marco, to The Great Lakes Herald, 2016
NorthlinePresident's Circle 2025 and 2023. Chicago's Top 25 in sales, 2023 to 2026.
Sales$38 million in 2025, City Sales Leaders list.
On airGood Company with Russ Callahan, 2025.
Showing up early. That's most of the job.(312) 555-0148
Call or text Marco directly. marco.valente@northlinerealty.com · Northline Realty, 180 East Larkin Street