Property Specialists, Inc. and the Hill Family are synonymous with the Chicagoland housing market. For almost 100 years, the Hill family has been working diligently to build and maintain vibrant communities throughout northern Illinois. Founded in 1975 by Tracy Hill, Property Specialists, Inc. remains the product of a local family’s strong devotion to housing industry, and the people of Illinois.  

Over the years, PSI has established itself as a strong regionally based company, able to compete with technology offered through larger national firms while maintaining the personal attention of a local entity. Throughout its history, PSI has grown from 10 communities to over 250 throughout the region.  We manage a variety of housing styles, from planned unit developments to mid-rise condominium associations.  

As our portfolio has grown, so too has our business model.  Property Specialists, Inc. currently employs over 50 full-time staff members and utilizes two offices. We currently serve residential communities in the counties of Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry, Will and Winnebago.

Property Specialists, Inc is primarily a residential property management firm.  In addition to residential management, PSI has recently established a partnership to form TRACE Insurance Agency, allowing our Property Managers to obtain qualified bids on property insurance for our clients, and a maintenance partnership called Property Maintenance and Construction Company to provide low cost handyman functions for PSI clients. 

PSI is focused on establishing peaceful, well maintained communities that protect the property value of our clients' homes.  We work with the Board to make it easy for them to take it easy.

Hill Family History	PSI Staffing Model
At the conclusion of World War II, Kimball Hill created a vision of new affordable housing for returning soldiers and their families.  Kimball’s vision grew to become one of the nation’s first planned suburban community, the City of Rolling Meadows, IL. With a production schedule of 20 houses a week, 700 houses sold by 1955, mostly to blue-collar workers. Throughout construction, the Hill family donated $200 per home to establish a school system, then built and equipped the city’s first elementary school. During the post-war period, building materials and supplies were difficult to obtain. It was during this time that Mr. Hill joined together with other homebuilders to share resources needed to provide affordable housing.  This network of construction companies would later form the National Association of Home Builders, one of the largest trades associations in the country. Kimball’s two sons David and Tracy Hill continued their father’s vision of quality housing throughout Chicago’s suburbs. David maintained the construction side of the industry, assuming control of Kimball Hill Homes.  The Hill Family was honored in 2001 when David joined his father as an inductee in the National Hall of Honor for the National Association of Home Builders, the only father-son combination in the organization’s history. Tracy Hill focused on the maintenance side of the housing industry, founding Property Specialists, Inc. in 1975 to provide superior management options for communities currently under construction as well as established mature communities. Tracy applied the same fundamental beliefs of customer service to grow his boutique firm of under 10 communities in its first year, to over 250 communities today, many of which have been with the firm for 5 or more years.  Tracy Hill is highly involved in the Community Associations Institute (CAI), Association of Condominium, Townhouse, and Homeowner Associations (ACTHA), the Home Builders Association of Greater Chicago (HBAGC) and the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). PSI is an Accredited Association Management Company, the highest accreditation offered by CAI.  Just as his father before him, Tracy Hill remains active in the all facets of the industry, placing an emphasis on the educational development of his employs and clients alike. In 2007, Mr. Hill developed the regions first Board Member education program to provide new and veteran Board members the chance to learn more about the basic roles involved in property management, expectations of staff, budgetary concerns and foreclosure procedures.	PSI employs several departments specializing in specific duties required for the successful management of our clients.  Each PSI maintained property in is specifically assigned to three individuals for direct supervision:  Property Manager, Account Executive and Associate.   The Property Manager is assigned with the day to day activities of the association.  They work with the Board, and interact with homeowners.  They are essentially the face of the organization having the most direct contact with the Board and residents alike. The Account Executive oversees the work of the Property Manager and serves as an escalation point if a homeowner and/or Board member is unable to resolve an issue with the Property Manager. They offer the Property Manager guidance and serve as their immediate supervisors. The Associate deals with the secretarial duties of the association while tracking and managing all necessary documents as instructed by the Property Manager and Board.   This three prong approach is utilized to insure continuity in case any one member leaves the employ of PSI.     PSI Departmental Staff: Accounts Receivable: Receives and records all homeowner assessments and invoices. Staff deals with homeowner questions on the finances of the account. Works with Associations attorney to review and proceed with all legal actions related to foreclosures, evictions and collections. Accounts Payable: Issues checks to pay invoices processed by the Property Manager for the specific properties. PSI uses laser printed security coded checks on blank stock for all checks issued to insure against counterfeit and embezzlement. These checks are provided at no additional costs to the Association. All checks must be endorsed by either the firms’ CEO or COO. Accounting: Works with the Association’s Treasurer to manage all operating and reserve accounts for the Association. Tracks and records all expenditures and income in the appropriate line items to be displayed in monthly management reports to the Boards. Closing: Works with real estate agents and banks to provide the necessary documents for all real estate transactions. Sends our Welcome Packet with appropriate documents to all new homeowners.  Customer Service: As previously stated, the customer service department is in a beta testing form. The program will take all service calls from clients and immediately dispatch the appropriate vendor. Property Inspection: Building and construction professionals are used to routinely inspect communities, report safety and structural deficiencies, and follow-up on major capital projects.