Quite a few Chicago renters share the misunderstanding that they’ll save time by using a rental services a/k/a apartment finder a/k/a apartment locator to make appointments to see apartments and drive them from one to the other.
In some neighborhoods, Streeterville being a prime example, it’s far easier to walk from one building to the next. Appointments are unnecessary, since the buildings have on-site leasing staff and are open weekdays and Saturdays and / or Sundays. You can use our at-a-glance list to check available rents and unit types in near real-time, preview some of the buildings via video tours, read objective reviews and visiting the building websites to verify office hours, building amenities and apartment finishes.
You can see how easy Streeterville apartment hunting can be by examining the above photo. Six major apartment buildings with a total of more than 3,300 apartments are visible in the photo and The Lofts at River East will add 285 apartments on the opposite side of the park later this year.
Thousands of additional apartments are within a few blocks of the vantage point from which the photo at the top of this post was shot.
The major apartment buildings have knowledgeable staff who will typically give you far more accurate and complete information than you’ll get from rental service agents. Many of the rental agents are complete rookies who will simply try to steer you to the building currently paying them the highest commission rate.
Using YoChicago’s lists and links to research apartments and visiting them on your own is the right way to find an apartment in Streeterville. Read what the rental services won’t tell you, and you may conclude that working with one is the wrong way.