  Van der Waals magnetic materials are building blocks for novel kinds of
spintronic devices and playgrounds for exploring collective magnetic phenomena
down to the two-dimensional limit. Chromium-tellurium compounds are relevant in
this perspective. In particular, the 1$T$ phase of CrTe$_2$ has been argued to
have a Curie temperature above 300~K, a rare and desirable property in the
class of lamellar materials, making it a candidate for practical applications.
However, recent literature reveals a strong variability in the reported
properties, including magnetic ones. Using electron microscopy, diffraction and
spectroscopy techniques, together with local and macroscopic magnetometry
approaches, our work sheds new light on the structural, chemical and magnetic
properties of bulk 1$T$-CrTe$_2$ exfoliated in the form of flakes having a
thickness ranging from few to several tens of nanometers. We unambiguously
establish that 1$T$-CrTe$_2$ flakes are ferromagnetic above room temperature,
have an in-plane easy axis of magnetization, low coercivity, and we confirm
that their Raman spectroscopy signatures are two modes, $E_{2\text{g}}$
(103.5~cm$^{-1}$) and $A_{1\text{g}}$ (136.5~cm$^{-1}$). We also prove that
thermal annealing causes a phase transformation to monoclinic Cr$_5$Te$_8$ and,
to a lesser extent, to trigonal Cr$_5$Te$_8$. In sharp contrast with
1$T$-CrTe$_2$, none of these compounds have a Curie temperature above room
temperature, and they both have perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. Our findings
reconcile the apparently conflicting reports in the literature and open
opportunities for phase-engineered magnetic properties.
