So ICM promised maintenance on Saturday, painters on Sunday.

Well, the painters were great. They even decided to show up a day early.

Maintenance, on the other hand... never came. The guy I've been working with, Brendan, "appears" to have no idea that they didn't show up, and would get in contact with me. He said he'll try to re-schedule, but I'm starting to doubt it.

Any lawyer recommandations? How much should I expect this to cost me?

I'm kind of sick of dealing with this myself, and the guy who was in before said he wouldn't fix certain things (like the kitchen sink) anyways, so I might as well get this over with.

For anyone who remembers my post a while back about doing self repairs to an apartment I'm renting, I had put in a list of repairs about 2 weeks ago. I spoke to the guy at ICM who rented the place to me, and he said that there "was an issue" between me and the maintenance guy. This "issue" was that I had asked for, what as for as I know is my legal right according to the Illinois Tenant Union, 48 hours notice of entering my apartment. I explained my situation (that I have a young kitten who will need to be locked up on days people are in my apartment), and said that I would at a minimum would need to know the night before. Now, when I talked to the maintenance guy he said they wouldn't know when they're entering my apartment until morning of. I leave for work at 6am and am in the office at 7:30; they open at 8am, so there's obviously a problem with that situation. He said the day before should be fine and that they could now try to schedule repairs (basically saying they didn't even bother trying before now).

So I sent him the following e-mail (with response), and CC'd the Illinois Tenant Union; ICM requested 30 days to complete all repairs, and at the end of the month if these still haven't been addressed I'm going to attempt to kick some legal ass.

( e-mails )
The part that bothers me the most is the "we were at a standstill"; really? Because I asked you to follow the law? I almost hope they don't get anything done so I can go after these guys...

I already checked Craigslist...

I just broke up with my live-in boyfriend. Awesome. I am from California, and just going to school here, so I have no family or friends in Chicago that I can go running to.

Basically, I need to find a sublet/somewhere to stay until the end of the semester in December.

Any suggestions as to where I can find such a short sublet?

Hi guys, thanks for your help last time. I have more specific questions now.

First off, my Mom told me to talk to people at Remax & Coldwell Banker about finding an apartment, because we plan to get a 6 month lease and then look into buying a house. I have never heard of using them for apartment finding... I've been checking craigslist & the reader, too. What do you guys think of that? Are there other resources I could use?

Could someone recommend an agent or company that would be good to work with? We're looking to stay in the Woodridge/Downers Grove/Lisle areas.

Also, is it really hard to find in-unit washer & dryer/hook-ups, or what?!

I just moved in to Chicago/Lakeview, and apparently my last tenant was a very naughty naughty boy. Besides the fact that the bathtub and both bathroom and kitchen sinks have been leaking for noone knows how long (the management company tells me they just found out yesterday when they inspected the apartment), there are also several other items that I want to replace and/or require to add to make this place a little more habitable.

In particular, I need about a half-dozen small lamp-shades, and new blinds for pretty much every window. This is less of a regional question, but I also need to remove an obscene amount of rust from the bathtub that's accumulated with the incessant pouring of water (this is not a drip-drip-drip leak, picture more like you'd think I'd left the bath running type of leak), any product recommendations? Lastly, I need to find a somewhat local hardware or hardware department of a larger store where I can get things like a mop and broom and etc; my last apartment the landlord had left all the cleaning supplies there but I wouldn't feel right taking his.

I think that's all I need right; I've only been a Chicago resident for about 5 hours so I'm not 100% certain what else I'll need for this apartment.

Also, with agsux's recent problems, I was wondering if anyone had any knowledge of ICM Properties as a management company? So far they seem good; while unpacking cleaners showed up at my doorstep to clean up a lot of the mess and they'll be re-painting the walls within the next week or two supposedely, and while that's not exceptionally good really, it's not exceptionally bad either.

P.S. God bless you, Jake, for leaving your wireless router, conveniently named after yourself, unsecured and allowing me access to sweet sweet internet while I finish unpacking and waiting for my own internet to arrive.

Hey all,

potentially moving back to chicago for a temporary gig (3-5 months) and am wondering if anyone knows a good resource to find month to month renting? i've checked craigslist under sublets and such but would rather do a month to month than have to find a sub-leaser that fits perfectly into my schedule of being there.

ideas?

We have contacted our landlord on 2 occasions about our unit's lack of power...basically after 6 p.m. when the other tenants have their ACs on, we have little power to our unit. So little that our microwave, DVD player, desktop computer, and our own AC and fans cut out or run so low it's not even usable. Our lights are very dim and they flicker once and a while.

We have been told everything is safe after major work was done to the whole building's electric months ago when one unit had a ceiling-fan related electrical fire. I know they DID take care of all electric-related violations (we saw a written form from the city) they had but obviously our unit still has major problems.

We've pretty much been told there's nothing they will do because there's no safety concern. WTF. So, does anyone know if indeed we just have to deal with this? Our unit stays between 80 and 90 degrees during warm weather! We can barely sleep, and can't use any of the things I mentioned. Is there anything we can do, people we can contact for help?

Thanks in advance.

PS--don't rent from Mark B. Weiss.

My father has a vacancy in the building he owns in Chicago. The unit is a 1-br and I thought I would post some questions about the best way to go about advertising the vacancy and soliciting tenant applications. I posted an ad on Craigs and got 1 response. Is Craigs the best route to go? Are there local papers that might work as well?

The building is near Lincoln Ave. & Montrose Ave., which I think is the "North Center" neighborhoood? It's on the 2nd floor, newly remodeled kitchen (new stove, fridge & cabinets), hardwoods in the bedroom & living/dining room, 3.5 blocks to the Montrose stop on the Brown line, rent includes 1 off-street parking space. It does not have a dishwasher or laundry facilities in the building and does not have air conditioning. Is $950 a month rent high/low?

Any advice is appreciated and if by chance you or someone you know is seeking a place to live in Chicago, please contact me!

I tried to work with "The Apartment People" recently, because they had come highly recommended, but have gotten the run around from an agent with them. While calling places I found in Craigslist, I ran in to a group called "Homestead Group".

Has anybody worked with them before? Should I ask for a different agent with Apartment People? Any suggestions besides the two? I'm still going to peruse craigslist as well, and I have a little bit of time, with a Sept. 1 move-in date.

Ok, I've tried the craigslist and Reader and got nothing but missionaries and people offering to send me certified checks if I send them back the left over money... weird...

The roommate is moving to LA around July 19th so I'm looking for a new one.

Hey Chicago!

I'm a 22 year old recent college graduate looking for a place in Chicago. I'd rather live with roommates so I have someone to help me figure out the city but if you know of a one bedroom or studio that might be open or you are subleasing that would work too. I can move in as soon as I find a place. (I've struck out on the places I had come here to see most were filled in the week since I had called to make the viewing appointment)

my email is: nissa.morin at gmail.com

If I'm looking to rent a house or a coach house (not a condo or apartment) in Chicago or the surrounding area (Forest Park, Oak Park or, heck, anywhere that won't be an hour long commute to downtown), where do you suggest I look to find such a thing? I've tried craigslist but only came up with one item.

Suggestions please! Thanks!

EDIT:

I just wanted to update this post to say that we found the perfect place in Forest Park. How? We called the Oak Park Chamber of Commerce and had them recommend a realtor. That realtor checked all her sources and found a house that had just been put up for rent. So, while it was a little more labor intensive than just checking a website, it worked.

I'm looking at moving to Evanston, and I have mainly been looking at the area bordered by Oakton, Sheridan/Forest, and Chicago Aves.

Can anybody let me know feedback on other areas of the city? How's the area north of St. Francis (bordered by Oakton/Asbury/Dempster/Chicago)? What about areas further north, like along Green Bay? I'm finding a lot of good-looking apartments there for the price range we'd like to pay (up to about $1200ish for a 2BR+).

We'd also consider Wilmette/Winnetka, but I really love Evanston and need to be convenient to L/Metra for commute downtown.

Thanks for any feedback!

Does anyone have any recommendations for movers?  It's a fairly small, short, uncomplicated move -- not much furniture outside of the normal bed/couch/kitchen table, and aside from computer equipment, the move is mostly just boxes.  My husband and I are moving literally about a mile down the road within Lincoln Park.  Not looking for movers to pack our boxes, just looking for someone to do all the carrying and truck driving for us.   I hate moving with a passion, and really would rather just throw money at someone to carry all of my stuff.  The move would take place at the end of this month.  Thanks!

Can anyone tell me if I should be concerned about any of the following properties? And/or if these would be good location wise to the L and bus lines? I just want to make sure I'm not wasting what little time we have there this week. All the apts are between the prices of $750-$930 with varying amenities.

1. 7531 N Sheridan Rd (My previous post last week was in regards to this property. It of course would have a garage parking space, dishwasher, washer/dryer in unit along with AC at a really great price. That posts' responses have me tempted to cancel the appointment.)
2. 3002 W Ainslie
3. 2655 W Haddon
4. 745 W Gordon Ter
5. 6200 N Hoyne Ave (Granville Court Apt)
6. 7239 N Sheridan
7. 2446 N Marshfield

The following don't have appointments and said to call the day before
8. Wrightwood and Avers
9. 1522 W Bertreau
10. Western and Division
11. 2025 W Melrose
12. 3930 N Wayne

In case none of the above 12 work out we made an appointment on Friday with the Apartment People and I already picked out ones from their website, Craigslist and the Reader that seemed acceptable.

Any input or STAY AWAY LISA will be greatly appreciated! The weather shows it's supposed to rain all day Thursday, the one day we'll be looking at things all over the map, yikes!

So here's my deal:  I currently rent a studio apartment in Wilmette for $730/month + utilities.  While I would honestly be willing to continue paying this amount to live where I do (close to a ton of things, including metra and El), I'm so fed up with the management company (North Shore Apartments) who have been nothing but a hassle, that I want to move when my lease is up at the end of May.  Now, I've only lived in Chicago for about 4 years, two of which were spent in college in Lake Forest, and one of which was spent in Waukegan.  So I don't know Chicago neighborhoods that well, or what I can reasonably expect to get for my money.


People have suggested certain areas of Rogers Park and Andersonville.  I also know that shopping in Lincoln Park is fun.  I work at Northwestern, so would prefer my commute not take more than 30 minutes by train or car (my commute now is maybe 10 minutes--two train stops--but pretty much expect that any move will take me beyond that).

I plan to drive around this weekend to scope out some neighborhoods, any in particular you would suggest?  Or any rental agencies to try or to avoid?

Alternatively, if anyone knows of any places for rent in Wilmette (near town center) or on the border of Evanston and Wilmette (esp Central in Evanston, west of the metra) for relatively cheap that would be AWESOME

(Sorry if anyone sees this twice, I also posted it to another Chicago comm)

Hello Chicagoans. I am a girl who currently lives in a small liberal city in Kansas and I have plans to move up north in the summer.

I looked thru the tagged entries and couldn't find anything on coop housing. I have searched the intraweb and have come up with some interesting answers, but I wanted to hear from y'all.

Do any of you have experience living in a Chicago Coop? Anyone have any recommendations?

I am looking for one that is ok with couples(although we just want to live in the same house, not share a room.) is ok with a cat(if possible) and has a veg option on the meal plan.

I am ok with more radically inclined housing( as long as it is more to the left...)but in general I am just seeing what people know.


Thanks for the info.

Hey everyone,

So I'm looking for a new 2 bedroom apartment for move-in on April 1st. I've already been to several of the Apartment finding services (Apartment Savvy and Chicago Apartment Finders), and am doing Craigslist to its full potential, but I think I'm going to do some cold phone calling as well.

I think I'm going to start my search by going through landlords first...does anyone have any recommendations on their landlords or buildings? (Anyone but Jefferson Adams Company...they're my landlords right now and they aren't exactly the best).

So in short...best of & worst of landlords in Chicago?

For building recommendations...I'm looking mainly in Lakeview East, but I'll consider any other nice neighborhoods; I would like to stay close to public transportation (Brown/Red El, Addison/Belmont buses). I'd prefer courtyard or high rise apartments...houses sort of creep me out (I saw a couple of really scary ones in Roscoe Village yesterday) but if you have a really good one in mind, I'll still check it out.

Finally, thanks to everyone who offered support for my post last week about my laptop...it's still MIA, unfortunately. :(

For convenience's sake...let's have a running list:

Dimensions Management: +1
Water Tower Realty: +1
Stanley Rosalowski: +1
Jefferson Adams Co: -1
Mark B. Weiss: -1
Horizon Realty: -1
Jerome Goldstick: -1
Ampol Development Co.: -1
Kappa Realty: -1

Anyone have suggestions for reliable (and cheap) movers. I am relocating to the east coast from Chicago and wondered if you good folks had some recommendations. Thanks so much!