Tag: Advice
The first step in your Chicago apartment search
Chicago's neighborhoods vary widely in livability, ranging from close to paradise to barely survivable to scary as hell.
Long before you begin [...]
What to expect when renting a condo
If you've never rented a condo before you might be in for a series of rude shocks: unexpected delays, hefty fees, gotcha pet policies and page aft [...]
Typical Chicago apartment rental policies
First-time Chicago renters are often clueless about what to expect in the way of fees and policies when they set out to rent an apartment. Their c [...]
How to research homes for sale in Cook County
If there's one thing I've learned from reading 10s of 1,000s of comments on real estate websites, it's this: few people know where to find public [...]
Saturday night apartment funnies and Yelp’s review filter
The first Yelp review of Reside at Belmont Harbor, 426 W Belmont Ave, dated 12/18/11, was written by a first-time Yelper and flagged as suspicious [...]
Do you know where your neighborhood school is?
If you're a single person or a childless couple you may not much care where your neighborhood school is located, or what its reputation or attenda [...]
Does your real estate agent need a yardstick?
Or just a larger measure of common sense?
Real estate agents these days seem to assume that every kitchen has 42-inch upper cabinets, and that [...]
Good luck with that new construction search
Searching for new construction through real broker sites can be frustrating. Real estate agents are wildly inconsistent in how they code data abou [...]
Outrageous claims about the ABR credential
We've previously called attention, on more than one occasion, to the frequency with which the ABR (Accredited Buyer's Representative) credential i [...]
Aldermanic newsletters and trash collection rebates
If your Alderman has an email newsletter and you haven't subscribed to it, you might want to do so.
A number of the Aldermanic newsletters are [...]
Should you wait until spring to list your home for sale?
A Realtor who retired from a successful career for medical reasons wrote us, offering this timely "little tidbit" of advice for home sellers.
I [...]
Common tenant complaints – parking pirates
Pause a moment, as Chicago approaches the season of dibs, to consider that paying for a parking spot doesn't guarantee you one.
If you read apa [...]
Don’t act on agent-placed ads with no broker named in them
An individual by the name of Michael Gutierrez has been and is running multiple ads in the Housing Wanted section of Craigslist, claiming he's in need [...]
Quote of the day – Illinois intimidates good home inspectors
During the 25 years I've known him home inspector Tom Corbett has been a fierce, outspoken advocate for his clients, a posture that's made him few [...]
Chicago’s best apartment rental website
There's no single website that's best for Chicago apartment searches of all types.
There is, however, one that stands out if you're limiting y [...]
Is your developer in financial trouble?
I recently took a cursory look into the history of a developer offering a to-be-built single-family home for sale, and wasn't encouraged by what I [...]
Roommate tip – ask to see the lease
Most Chicago landlords have a “one roommate per bedroom” policy. And most Chicago tenants have never read their lease.
If you’re scanning Crai [...]
Sage rental advice from a commenter
This recent comment by nwzimmer merits your consideration if you're in the market to rent an apartment in Chicago:
There is a HUGE discrepancy [...]