Michael E. Byczek
Managing Real Estate Broker
Michael E. Byczek was licensed as an Illinois Real Estate Broker in March 2003 after completing his training at the Chicago Association of Realtors. The State of Illinois revised the real estate license structure in 2012. At that time, in March 2012, Michael E. Byczek was granted the license designation of Managing Broker. He is the founder of a solo brokerage office (sole proprietor) with a registered Illinois service mark for "Byczek Brokerage". The formal name of the business is "Michael E. Byczek, Managing Real Estate Broker", which opened right after the original self-sponsored license was issued in March 2003. His background is computer science and engineering with professional experience in software development. He is also a licensed Illinois attorney. Technical skills, combined with legal insight, enable Michael to offer the highest level of knowledge as an advocate for real estate brokerage technology.
As a real estate broker, Michael E. Byczek is continuing his family's nearly 200 year legacy in Chicago. He is the 2x-great-grandson of Edward H. Talbot, a promoter who launched his own real estate firm in 1896. The company, with an office on LaSalle Street in Downtown Chicago, secured an agreement as property manager of the original Medinah Temple on Wells and Jackson. The company's name was "E. H. Talbot & Co", after initially named "Talbot and Martin" and "Talbot and Knapp". Edward was a co-founder of an international bank with offices planned throughout Europe. The company's name was the "International Hypothecate Bank" with the objective of a mortgage banking business. Edward led efforts, on behalf of the new company, to acquire full ownership of the Medinah Temple. The company ultimately did not purchase the building, but Edward H. Talbot was known throughout the Downtown real estate market for his management of the Medinah Temple and ability to attract prospective tenants. He was involved with several other real estate projects, and worked as the sales manager for a development in Chicago Heights for Charles Wacker (for whom Wacker Drive in Chicago is named).
Michael E. Byczek is the 3x-great-grandson of William and Julia Rooney, an early settler family of Chicago dating back to 1835. Their daughter Kittie A. Rooney (2x-great-grandmother) was baptized at Old St. Mary's Catholic Church in Downtown Chicago in 1849. She married Edward H. Talbot at Holy Name Cathedral in 1880. William and Julia Rooney acquired a large real estate portfolio in Chicago and the suburbs during the 1830s-1880s. This included construction of two commercial buildings in Downtown Chicago during the rebuilding efforts after the 1871 Fire, residential house built in the Gold Coast, and large farm in Cook County (present-day Des Plaines and Mount Prospect) that spanned about 800 acres. One building, constructed on the corner of Lake and Franklin in Downtown Chicago, was formally named "William Rooney's Building". Kittie (Rooney) Talbot managed the property after her parents both passed away while her mother's estate was in probate.
The William Rooney building on the SE corner of Franklin and Lake built in 1873. [Photo from 2017]
William Rooney was related to Owen Rooney, who owned the adjacent farm in present-day Mount Prospect. Analysis of records support the conclusion that William and Owen were brothers, or otherwise very close relatives. Owen Rooney is considered the founder of Mount Prospect, since it was his farm that was used for the initial development. Michael E. Byczek has researched the early days of Mount Prospect and uncovered documentation that it was his 3x-great-grandfather William Rooney, through his own real estate success in Chicago, who coordinated the agreement between Owen Rooney and Ezra Eggleston. Analysis of records support the conclusion that William Rooney built the oldest house in Mount Prospect, which was located on his family's farm.
Over the 200 year history of Michael E. Byczek's lineage in Chicago, his ancestors have owned a large number of residential and commercial properties. He researched the ownership records for these properties to preserve the family chronicles, including reconstruction of documents lost in the 1871 Chicago Fire.
Michael E. Byczek works from a home office in a Bridgeport two-flat owned by his parents since 1979 and where his grandparents, Michael S. Byczek and Marie Flanagan, also resided. His real estate brokerage business will celebrate the 25 year anniversary in 2028. License verification can be verified through The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (https://idfpr.illinois.gov).
Michael E. Byczek is an independent broker and not a member of any national or local Realtor association.