Tag: Renting
Be aware of these high-rise apartment gotchas
If you're a first-time renter in one of Chicago's attractive apartment towers you might be enraptured by visions of creature comforts and neglect [...]
Did you get dinged at lease renewal time?
We've been hearing tales recently from apartment renters who faced steep increases when it came time to renew their lease.
Reports of 12 perce [...]
The top five most-viewed Chicago new apartment reviews
Our new apartment review pages provide a clear window, via Google Analytics, into which new buildings are generating the most interest among renters a [...]
Announcing Chicago’s only objective apartment reviews
If you've been a regular visitor to YoChicago you've probably noticed that we've recently begun to expand our detailed reviews of major apartment [...]
Is it time for a dog-hostile new apartment tower?
Only a few years ago there were only a very few rental high-rises in downtown Chicago that accepted dogs.
In an almost complete turnabout, [...]
Available MLS-listed downtown rentals at 30-month high
There were 1,927 homes and condos listed for rent in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) in 14 downtown ZIP Codes when we first began tracking the [...]
Is iMove Chicago circling the drain?
We've written repeatedly about iMove Chicago, one of the rental services / apartment locators / apartment finders on our do-not-call list. The company [...]
Short-term furnished rentals take the pressure off a move
If you're moving to Chicago, and aren't on a tight budget, you don't need to feel pressured to find an apartment immediately.
You can sample l [...]
Where are the renters’ gift cards?
"Where are the customers' yachts," a visitor to a New York harbor famously asked, after seeing yachts owned by bankers and brokers.
Two days ago we [...]
Where rental rookies rate rave reviews
Have you ever wondered about the fact that complete novices at Chicago rental services almost always receive rave reviews on Yelp?
I think it' [...]
It’s not too early to start your August apartment search
We're starting to see August availabilities on the hot sheets that the large apartment buildings send out to brokers and on the near real-time ava [...]
Don’t be blindsided by a rental service blind ad
On any given day you can find 1,000s of apartment and help wanted ads placed by rental services that don't disclose their name in the ad. These "b [...]
How life’s lived in renovated vintage apartments
BJB Properties, one of our sponsors, owns and manages dozens of newer and recently-renovated vintage apartment buildings in prime Gold Coast, Lincoln [...]
Is Chicago Apartment Finders soliciting students to commit a crime?
The Illinois Real Estate License Act requires people who refer or assist in referring apartment rental prospects for compensation to be licensed. [...]
Find your next apartment with foot power
The worst mistake Chicago apartment hunters make is not getting a solid fix on where they want to live and satisfying themselves that acceptable a [...]
ApartmentList.com is a garbage dump
Yesterday's email from a real estate broker included a link to ApartmentList.com, a site I hadn't previously seen, along with the following summar [...]
Don’t overlook construction noise when renting your next apartment
Yesterday I stepped out onto the balcony of an 18th floor northwest corner unit at Astoria Tower, 40 E 9th St in the South Loop, to capture the ab [...]
Chicago summer rentals – no Irish need apply
We recently received the following inquiry concerning summer housing:
Hi my name is [redacted] and I am a twenty two year old student from Dubl [...]
Accurate Chicago neighborhood maps and boundaries
As the rental season heats up, a lot of Chicago newcomers, and long-time residents alike, are encountering unfamiliar neighborhood names, and are [...]
Is this a bad move for Chicago renters?
A major property owner recently gave rental services, via its non-exclusive brokerage agreement, sweeping written authorization to advertise its p [...]