Is rent going up? (price, best deal, location)

[Runuova]

Originally Posted by MannheimMadman

For me to keep the same "rent" I pay now, I'd need about $7500-$10K for a FHA backed 5% down payment on a $150K home. For $150K, I'm not seeing stuff in neighborhoods I like. But I'm sure eventually rent increases are going to force me to take a hard look at buying anyhow.

There are a few programs that may be able to help you cover that 5% down.

[andrew61]

Saw this interesting article in this week's Time Out Chicago:

Chicago apartment market gets competitive

Is this really true? Bidding wars? The need to show up with credit report in hand? Those are things I only associated with cities like NYC or San Francisco. Is Chicago's rental market really becoming this cutthroat?

[Drover]

Maybe for high-end units. For working-stiff units... I doubt it.

[Aleking]

A friend of mine just walked away from a long time 1 bdrm in Logan Square after being faced with a $100 rent increase, landlord wouldn't budge. A $100 dollar increase on a bdrm is massive but the reality is that prime Logan is now fetching close to prices seen in Wicker, Lakeview, et al.

[Vlajos]

I think we will see more of this as people are unable or unwilling to buy homes. Good for those who are in the purchase market though.

[MannheimMadman]

I've been told that I'll be seeing a 3% increase in May. It's only $25, but I'm still not happy. There is no way I'd swallow a $100 increase though.

[Drover]

Mine just went up $25 too, but that's still only a total of $50 in 5 years. Plus they just installed new windows that made a solid $100/mo difference in our winter heating bill last winter, so the rent increase combined with the new windows has a negligible net impact our the cost to live in this unit.

[MannheimMadman]

Also - good article Andrew. Though while I feel that Victoria Ave between Clark and Broadway is pretty nice, it's not worth starting a 'bidding war' over. I guess I'd have to see the place, although $1075 does seem cheap for a large 2BR w/ office and free heat.

[aragx6]

Now, to be fair, the unit was clearly listed under market, but when we found out place in WP 3 years ago, we actually lost out on another, slightly larger and nicer, unit than we ended up in. We offered to sign a two year lease and an additional $100/month. It went for $1300 even though it was listed at $1195 originally. So, I'm not super surprised to see this.

[MannheimMadman]

Originally Posted by aragx6

Now, to be fair, the unit was clearly listed under market, but when we found out place in WP 3 years ago, we actually lost out on another, slightly larger and nicer, unit than we ended up in. We offered to sign a two year lease and an additional $100/month. It went for $1300 even though it was listed at $1195 originally. So, I'm not super surprised to see this.

But that was in a rapidly gentrifying Wicker Park. A much hotter neighborhood than the Edgewater Triangle, for sure.

High rents and cut-throat bidding never surpise me in the usual suspect of neighborhoods. I agree though, it could have been a pretty underpriced listing.