CHICAGO, October 8, 2026 – High-end residential real estate in the Windy City isn’t exactly lacking in heavyweights. But when a media-savvy, tech-forward firm decides it’s time to set up shop in town, people take notice.
The New York-based real estate brokerage SERHANT. has recently established SERHANT. Illinois. Establishing itself with two office locations—one serving Chicago and another the upscale suburbs of the North Shore region—the company made its entrance with more than 40 agents who collectively produced a total sales volume of over $600 million in the last 12 months.
It’s a calculated move in a competitive market environment where several deeply rooted local companies control Chicago’s premium real estate market. However, founder Ryan Serhant saw fit to explain the expansion.
“Real estate in Chicago has run the same way for a long time,” he pointed out during the launch announcement. “Agents here are ready for something built for how buyers and sellers actually live today, and through S.MPLE, we’re giving them the AI, technology, and reach to lead that change.”
Rather than operating like a traditional brokerage, the firm positions itself as an “AI-native” real estate brand. It doesn’t see itself as just another real estate business but sees itself as offering an “AI native” product instead. According to SERHANT, each of the agents has access to S.MPLE, which is the technology that the company owns, and it recently introduced S.MPLE 2.0. The platform acts as the agent’s assistant, handling things such as lead generation, social media distribution, and transaction processes.
Steering the local expansion as Managing Director is industry veteran Dina Lissner, tasked with spearheading the Illinois operations and attracting top-producing talent across the region.
The managing director responsible for the operation in the region is Dina Lissner, who is supposed to start the Illinois office from scratch by attracting talented producers.
Driving that initial recruitment wave are four founding agents: Melissa Siegal, Jennifer Mills-Klatt, Bobby Grilli, and Brendan Murphy. These leaders joined alongside their respective teams from established Chicago-area brokerages.
“After 37 years in this business, I know the difference between a brokerage that’s maintaining and one that’s building,” noted Mills-Klatt. “SERHANT. is building, and I’m proud to bring that energy to Chicago.”
For Illinois, it is the 20th market in the country for this firm as they expand into Massachusetts, Texas, California, and Colorado. As per this firm, their system has been selling property worth $1 billion in just 18 days.
Whether these sophisticated AI tools and high-production media capabilities will disrupt long-standing client relationships along the shores of Lake Michigan remains to be seen. But for local buyers and sellers, there’s suddenly a very distinct new option on the table.
