A born-and-raised Chicagoan from the Northwest Side and licensed in Illinois and Florida, Ashley Kaehn makes sure her clients know all of their options before they decide to work with her — even those options that don’t involve her getting a commission.

Kaehn’s niche is working with homeowners with complicated mortgage histories as well as those facing foreclosure. She realized quickly after becoming a broker in 2017 that many clients had been abandoned by their realtors after the ’08 housing market crisis.

“There are so many reasons homeowners find themselves in foreclosure — oftentimes it’s death or sickness or job loss, needing to move to another state for a job, divorce . . . the list goes on,” she says. “Many people would be shocked to see how quickly their equity can disappear when there are several months or years of missed mortgage payments. I decided I would assist these homeowners through what is oftentimes the most difficult decision they will have to make.”

Kaehn is recognized as one of the Chicago Association of Realtors’ Top Producers, a distinction she’s held since the very first year of her career. The Mainstreet Association of Realtors has ranked her in the top 1%-2% for sales and transactions, and she was named Compass Chicago/Bucktown’s No. 1 Individual Producer for 2022.

“Short sales can be extremely emotional events for my clients, so it’s important for me to be a friend, therapist, cheerleader,” Kaehn says. “Given the nature of short sales, coupled with the fact that I independently manage 40 to 70 clients at a time, I also need to be highly business- and process-oriented.”