Planning to move to Chicago, but you don’t know how to begin your search for your next home? If you are looking for cheaper apartments or condos in Chicago, then these are the top 5 must-know things to do when apartment hunting in Chicago.
1. Be Aware of Your Area
When you are looking for a good place to live, do not only search for good housing, or rents. Make sure you know enough about the area or location you are moving too.
- Live in a sector or block from where a clinic, police station, grocery stores, and restaurants are near enough for you to reach there easily.
- School, if you’re a family with children, consider living near good schools with good reviews and high ratings. It will be nice for your kids to live near their school so they can easily take a walk to school. Hence, making you less worry about the kids being late to school or the bus system.
2. Apartment Amenity
If you have a good amount of budget to pay for the house or apartment, choose the one that offers you the amenities best suitable for your lifestyle. There are some best apartment finder Chicago like Domu, Hotpads, Zumpper, and many more through which you can find the right and handy shortcut searches like pet-friendly or family-friendly apartment, condo, or studio of your dreams. Some of the facilities a building must provide are as follows:
- Kitchen amenities
- Tech amenity
- Miscellaneous amenity
- Laundry amenity
- Parking and pet amenities
3. Size/Landlords
If you are on a low budget, don’t look at how much square area the apartment or condo is. If you choose a studio, you do not need to worry about the furnishings as they already are provided by the landlords.
Speaking of landlords, landlords can be quite problematic or the worst slumlord. Be sure to do your proper full-on investigation on the landlord. Ask the neighbors on how they take on rents or search the person’s name on sites like Yelp or Everyblock to get more information on them.
4. Expenses & bills
As I have mentioned earlier, be aware of your area. Yeah, it will be nice to get a 600$ monthly apartment in the South Shore, but if your work is one cab and two train stops away, then you might want to rethink the decision. Travel or Transport expenses add up quite easily if you are far enough from your workplace.
When you decide on a place you do not only think about the rent, you also calculate the daily bills coming in.
5. Paperwork
As boring and troublesome it sounds, that’s how important it is. Always read your lease papers carefully and sign something you understand. A lease will always have the information on what utilities you have to pay, so don’t go nodding okay to your landlord and be scammed. Also, always refrain from online paperwork and payment as these are great sources for the opposite side to deceive you.
Various jargon and advisers are shouting about the different apartments available in Chicago, which will make you puzzled. But now as you know the important parts of choosing an apartment, it will be quite convenient for you to find the proper flat.
