Growing up in Oak Park, Zak Knebel was exposed to Frank Lloyd Wright and the magic of innovative architecture at a young age. Now, as a real estate broker with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Chicago, Knebel passes on his love of design to buyers and sellers in his hometown, as well as in River Forest, Forest Park and the western suburbs.

Knebel got his introduction to real estate during college when he took a part-time job alongside his uncle, who worked for a new-home builder in Columbus, Ohio. Through walking potential clients around model homes, he discovered how exciting helping buyers can be, whether it’s with choosing their homes, picking the finishes or drafting the layout. “First-time buyers bring an energy and a joy that are gratifying to witness,” he says. “After that job, I knew I wanted to get into real estate.”

After 2 1/2 years with @properties, Knebel joined Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, partnering with the brokerage network to open its new River Forest office. Last year, he received the Chairman’s Circle Gold award from BHHS and earned the title of Five Star Professional from Chicago magazine for the fourth year in a row. While with @properties, Knebel won the Driven award in 2017 and the Road to Rolex award in 2018.

Prior to joining the industry full time 13 years ago, Knebel co-founded an audio-visual company in Phoenix. “Learning the process of building a small company from scratch has helped me tremendously in treating my real estate career as a business,” he explains, adding that after four years of expanding the company throughout Phoenix and Scottsdale, Arizona, he decided to return to Chicago and become a broker.

Knebel is a member of the National Association of Realtors and Oak Park Area Association of Realtors. He is also a proud husband and father.