Chicago’s ever-deceptive apartment rental services would like you to believe that their “service” is free to renters. It’s only “free” in the same way that the stove and refrigerator in your apartment are free – built into the cost of rent and paid for over the life of your lease.
There are lots of things that Chicago’s apartment finders don’t want you to know about how they operate or about how using their “free” service can be very costly to you. We’ve listed twenty-five things rental services won’t tell you in an earlier post.
The screen cap, above, is from the site for 180 North Jefferson in the West Loop. It presents a variation on an offer that you’ll find on many apartment websites: book your appointment online without using a rental service broker and be rewarded with a discount on your first month’s rent.
If you’re wondering about the discrepancy between the $500 offer and the $300 on the coupon, it’s likely due to a failure to update the coupon when the offer was updated.
Are you feeling good about paying $500 for a free service?