Apartment advice (Chicago, Lincoln: apartments, rental, home)

[DSMHawk]

Hey all-

I apologize if this has been covered previously, but its another moving to Chicago thread. I'm just looking for updated information that can aid in our apartment search.

Moving from DC, hoping for a 4/1 move-in date. Girlfriend and I are visiting Chicago the weekend of 3/6-3/9 to look for housing.

So far, we have used Domu and Padmapper to line up several appointments on our own. I've done a lot of research and these seem to be the best sources for quality listings. Is this accurate? Anywhere else you would recommend looking?

I've read a lot of negative things about apartment-search agencies such as Dwell, Apartment Finders and Apartment People. To what extent are these worth looking into? My thinking is that while they might not be ideal, it would be helpful to have a company like this show us several apartments in a single day, given our somewhat tight timing. Would this (or similar company) be worthwhile, or should we continue trying to book listings on our own?

If it helps, we are looking for a 2BR, targeting the Lincoln Square/North Center/Ravenswood area...but also interested in Bucktown/Wicker/Logan/Ukrainian, and also maybe West Lakeview.

Thanks for the help!

[SavannahInChicago]

I tried both Apartment Finders and Apartment People when I moved from out of state. I did not have the extra money or time to come to Chicago and find an apartment before starting my job. Finders was okay. I feel like what they showed me was nothing special and they weren't super friendly. People was very personable and friendly. I felt like my realtor made it a priority to make sure I found a place. I like their selection better as well.

This being said, I am thinking of moving to a cheaper neighborhood when my lease is up and I will be looking on my own. No real reason. I am in town now so it will be easier to find a place independently now that I live here.

This is does not mean that you would not be able to find a place on your own. My cousin got her first apartment here by walking around and calling numbers of 'for rent' signs. I guess it is all about preference.

[Drover]

If you've been able to book a full day's worth of appointments yourself, great. But if you still have some extra time on your hands, going to a rental agency can be helpful, because they have ready access to lots and lots of units all over the city. Just schedule an appointment and they'll have a bunch of showings lined up for you when you walk in.

Apartment People gets mixed reviews, to put it optimistically. I've used them twice because they have the largest inventory of units and I've been generally satisfied with the results. My complaints about them are two-fold: 1) they don't keep to their appointment schedules very well, keeping you waiting as much as 45 minutes after your appointment time, and 2) they try to up-sell to a higher price point than you've specified. Not much you can do about the former except be punctual yourself and hope your agent isn't too far behind schedule. As for the latter, I've found that as long as you're firm about your price point and your expectations are realistic, they'll stop trying to push you into a more expensive unit than your specified upper limit.

[jsk1983]

I used Apartment People before I moved here. Walked in without an appointment and didn't wait too long to be set up with an agent to show me a few places. Saw about three or so and found one I liked and went back to the office to do paperwork. Thought I had the apartment. When I get home they call up and tell me it had been rented to someone else. Still needed an apartment so I had them send me available ones within my budget but they honestly didn't give me much to choose from and I eventually just took one so I would have a place to live.

[DSMHawk]

Thanks everyone for the responses. I think we're going to use private appointments (and hopefully some walking around) on Thurs/Fri, and then meet w/ Apartment People on Saturday. Hopefully between that we'll be in good shape.

Appreciate all the feedback.

[jjjttt]

I just moved here in July. My boyfriend and I visited in June and had a week to find an apartment. We signed a lease within 24 hours of arriving!

Anyways, we used Craigslist. I know there's lots of warnings against it, but we actually found two perfect apartments on Craigslist. Their map feature is pretty great too when finding apartments.