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Renovating Your Chicago Condominium? Things to Avoid When you’re a property owner in Chicago, you want to make sure that your investment property is rented at all times. Sometimes your tenants will stay for years, but inevitably, they will leave, and new tenants will look at your building. As a Chicago condominium owner, you sometimes need to invest in the property and renovate your current apartments. It can be as simple as a fresh coat of paint or a total remodel of an entire floor. Working with your Chicago property management company can help you to get the job done while...

Pet Policies and Service Animals Pets are a huge part of many families in the Chicago area and around the nation. Many people own multiple pets ranging anywhere from a couple dogs to cats, fish, and even snakes in some cases. As a Chicago property owner, how can you restrict pets in your building without being discriminatory? Can you have a no-pets policy in place by law and stay protected? There is a way to post a no-pets policy with your Chicago property management company as long as you’re aware of the exceptions you need to have in place. Your pet...

Maintenance on Your Condominium: Why You Should Consider Someone Else You own one or possibly multiple Chicago properties in the big city and you’re trying to do all the maintenance yourself. Have you gotten overwhelmed yet? While it’s admirable to try and maintain all the properties by yourself, as a property owner in Chicago, your best bet is to hire a property management company to handle all those tasks for you. There are many benefits to hiring a management company that can handle the day-to-day tasks of maintenance and rent collection for you. Take a look below to discover all the...

Tips for New Landlords in Chicago Are you just now getting into the real estate investment market? If you’re a new landlord, you may be feeling overwhelmed and a little anxious about your new adventure. Managing a Chicago condominium can be quite a daunting task at the beginning. You may be curious as to what you are responsible for, should you hire a Chicago property management company, how you will go about finding tenants, and what your safety requirements are as well. All these questions can seem to take over your excitement at becoming a new Chicago investment property owner. Here...

Tips for Finding Great Tenants The lifeblood of any rental property is the tenants you place in the property itself. Whether you have bought an established property with tenants in place or you’re looking to find new tenants, there are a few things to keep in mind as a Chicago property owner. You not only want tenants that pay the rent, you want tenants you can trust to take care of the condominium like you would. You want tenants that will take pride in the home and help to make sure that other tenants want to stay around as well. It...

Tips to Handle Rent Increases as a Landlord A hard and fast truth is that the price of everything is going up. From the price of milk to gasoline fluctuations, the economy tends to be on an upward trend of raising prices. That also means the cost of living increases and even mortgage payments if you’re not on a fixed rate. One issue this can lead to is having to increase the rent your current tenants pay for their Chicago condominium. Rental increases for new tenants is simple as they’ve never rented from you before. However, rental increase with current tenants...

What to Look for in a Property Management Company As an investor in property in Chicago, you want to carefully consider your options when it comes to running and managing your properties. It is important that if you intend on investing in more than one location, you consider hiring a Chicago property management company. There are many benefits to leaving the everyday running of your condominium to someone who is skilled and experienced in this matter. From securing quality tenants to managing the maintenance and repair requests, you want someone in charge of your Chicago property that knows how to handle...

Tips for Buying an Established Rental Property As a real estate investor, you may be inclined to buy a property in Chicago that is already inhabited by tenants who’ve been there for some time. When you inherit tenants that are established, it can be quite a daunting task to know how to handle the situation. There are some ways you can make this transition easier by working with the tenants and your property management team in Chicago. You want to get to know your tenants while also informing them of any changes and updates they need to know to keep the...

Bring Your Property Management Into The Digital Age! Are you a board member or investor that is still taking payments through a person or through the mail? How do you manage the day-to-day aspects of your commercial or residential properties? Are you really on top of the management aspect as you may think you are? Have you ever considered streamlining the process with digital rental and association management software? All of these questions can easily be answered by working with a property management company in Chicago. You can bring your rental properties into the digital age with software made accessible by...

6 Benefits of Hiring a Property Management Company Are you considering investing in rental property in Chicago this spring? If you are looking to expand your portfolio or to get started in rental property investment, you need to consider the immense benefits you’ll gain by having a property management company on your side. While you may think you can manage the condominium in Chicago yourself, there are many advantages to working with a Chicago property management company instead. Take a look below at these six benefits you can obtain by working with a manager. Quality Tenants When it comes to finding...

Making renovations to your condominium association can be an exciting undertaking. When you envision the changes, it brings you joy! However, you cannot make all of the changes on your own if construction and remodeling is not your specialty. There are also restrictions and risks involved with a board member or unit owner directly performing repairs on a common element of a condo building. In most cases you will need to hire someone to complete the job for your association. When your board is ready to hire a contractor, take these 10 pointers into consideration. 1. Licensed, Bonded, Insured These official...

Chicago is one of the United States’ largest cities, ranking third as of the 2010 census. New York and Los Angeles are the only two cities in the US with larger populations than Chicago. However, according to expatistan.com, the cost of living for Chicago ranks 11th in the nation, while New York ranks as the most expensive in 1st place, and Los Angeles ranks 7th. Not too terrible. On the cost of living index where, 100 is the national average, Chicago registers above that average at 112. That equates to Chicago’s cost of living being about 12% higher than the national...

  With the arrival of spring comes the desire to make everything in your condominum fresh and clean. The sun is shining, flowers are blooming, but the insides of our units may feel gloomy. Before summer comes along, it is great to crack open your windows and deep clean your condo. Use this checklist to make sure you cover every nook and cranny in your spring cleaning frenzy. Spring Cleaning Notes: Always dust first. Dusting surfaces first allows for the dust to settle to the fllor before you sweep, vacuum and mop. If you have operable windows with screens, open them...

Despite all of the beautiful things that Chicago is known for, its reputation for crime and gun violence precedes it. Each year, national news channels and websites report on weekly, monthly, and annual statistics of gun violence in Chicago, leaving the citizens of America flabbergasted. Violent crimes include gun violence and murder/homicide.  Here, we are breaking down the violence, where it happens, and how it affects Chicago real estate. Gun Violence There were 480 homicides in Chicago during 2015; a record high at the time. This record was immediately broken in 2016 where the city saw a 57% increase in homicides...

  Chicago’s housing market took a plunge with the rest of the nation in 2006, and it has yet to fully recover.  2017 won’t see much of a change in that.  According to the Chicago Tribune, Chicago will be at the bottom of the list for the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas housing markets in 2017.  In 2016, average national home price levels returned to what they were before the 2006 crash, but Chicago remained 19% below the pre-crash values.  Despite this outlook, a slow and steady rise in home sales is projected to cause a favorable change towards a healthier...

Chicago is a city that is well known for deep dish pizza, wind, good music, a big silver bean, and snow. Winters in Chicago can be harsh, and snowfall has reached as high as 23 inches in a 1967 blizzard (January 26-27). In more recent times, a 2015 Chicago blizzard (January 31 - February 2) produced over 19 inches of snow. In fact, for exactly as long as the Chicago Cubs baseball team has existed, it has snowed each Chicago winter. That’s 146 years to be exact. So, is it ironic that the year they break a long losing streak, the...

Electricity costs are something that we all want to minimize. No one wants to receive an expensive electricity bill. The good news is that you have more control over the outcome of your bill than you may think. We often forget that it is our own actions (or lack thereof) that, at least in part, determines the final amount listed on the invoice. We’ve all heard of the age-old tips to avoid over-using electricity. “Turn off the lights when you’re not in the room,” “Don’t go to sleep with the TV on,” and “Unplug your appliances,” among others. These tips are...

  Nearly every apartment and condominium dweller has at some point come in contact with one of their neighbors. Residents should do their best to embrace these meetings, not avoid them. Establishing and maintaining healthy relationships with neighbors has the potential to enhance the apartment and condominium dwelling experience. Here are a few tips for getting along well with neighbors.  Be volume considerate Perhaps one of the simplest steps apartment and condominium residents can take to ensure they maintain healthy relationships with their neighbors is to be volume considerate. The most common complaints fielded by property managers are related to noise....

  As freezing temperatures begin to move across the United States, condominium owners in Chicago should begin considering what steps should be taken to properly weatherize their units. By not taking the correct precautions, individuals leave their units open to the possibility of damage caused by cold weather. Listed below are several tips condominium owners may follow to protect their units from the harsh effects of Chicago winters.  Maintain Air Circulation One simple step condominium owners can take to weatherize their units is to leave interior doors open in order to create healthy air circulation. By opening all household doors such...

This article provides a brief overview of Chicago’s energy benchmarking program and links to resources where further details can be obtained. Instructions are also provided for board members of condo associations that are required to participate in the program. The practical requirement for most boards is to hire an energy-certified company to complete the benchmarking work on behalf of the association. While it is possible for a board to perform some of the required energy benchmarking steps directly, most will find it far easier to hire a firm to handle the entire process on their behalf. Ordinance Overview Information about the...