Tag: Renting
How you can help kill illegal rental service help wanted ads on Craigslist
The Illinois Real Estate License Act, 225 ILCS 454, makes it illegal for licensed brokers to run blind ads. Section 1-10 of the Act defines a blin [...]
New apartments are getting smaller in major cities
We've previously posted on the trend to micro-apartments. According to Multifamily Executive, one city is bucking the trend:
Washington, D.C. i [...]
On Zillow, Trulia and hotpads, almost every rental service ad is illegal
The headline makes a broad but defensible claim, and one that reflects grossly indefensible behavior on the part of Zillow, Trulia and hotpads.
[...]
State slaps $10K and $25K fines on Chicago rental agents
The most recent summary of disciplinary actions (pdf) from the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR) includes the follo [...]
The Craigslist Apartment Cleanup begins today
YoChicago is launching a campaign to clean up Craigslist apartment ads by putting a stop to the many 1,000s of illegal ads placed every day by the [...]
An updated rental service do-not-call list
Note: See the 2014 version of the do-not-call list. This version of the list is out of date.
New renters in Chicago are often confused or misle [...]
Is this a den or a dining area or an office?
In the not-too-distant past the area labeled "Den" in the above floor plan would have most likely been tagged as a dining area. Many first-time re [...]
Rental service pirates invading the suburbs
A tipster alerted me to a development that's worrisome to suburban landlords, and ought to concern tenants also.
City-based rental services have b [...]
Housing affordability worsens for young renters, improves for young owners
Fannie Mae recently published its latest Housing Insights report (pdf). Among the report's findings is a divergence in housing affordability betwe [...]
The unmet demand for smoke-free housing
Five years ago to the day today we posted the following quote:
There is a tremendous unmet demand for smoke-free housing in America, and it bog [...]
Another rental service trawls for suckers
We've posted repeatedly about the perils of filling out an online rental application. Supplying your Social Security Number and other personal informa [...]
YoChicago’s most popular rental neighborhoods
Where do Chicagoans want to rent? Perhaps the best answer to that question comes via Google Analytics, which taps a database of intentions populat [...]
Urban Lux irresponsibly solicits suckers
Are you naïve enough about the realities of identity theft to send your Social Security and Driver's License numbers, and other personal informati [...]
De-clutter your apartment for a good cause
Chicago's real estate community has a long history of involvement in an endless whirl of charitable activities, both at the corporate and individu [...]
domu wants you to be the renter from hell
Each and every one of domu's "10 must-dos for renters" is a reasonably sensible bit of advice, and the list is supplemented by the caution that "t [...]
domu offers excellent info for landlords, basement-dwelling hermits
I'm not a fan of domu's rental search, despite its slick map-based interface and ease of use. I'd rather take a slower path to accurate, up-to-date in [...]
YoChicago gets around Chicagoland
Keeping faith with one of our tag lines – Chicagoland's #1 real estate video channel – we've shot video in 37 Chicago neighborhoods and 7 suburbs [...]
Where oh where is Roscoe Village?
As the rental season heats up, newcomers to Chicago often find themselves mystified by the many neighborhood names they see in rental ads: Roscoe [...]
How to stage your guest suites and models
Home stagers face a lot of challenges when decorating models and guest suites for apartment owners and real estate developers.
They need to del [...]
Tales from an apartment hunt – unreliable prices, disreputable brokers
One of my correspondents, a veteran renter, has been sending me periodic updates on his experiences in searching for his next apartment. Here's hi [...]