When to start looking to rent? (Chicago, Naperville: apartments, rentals, condo)

[ZoranB]

This October I will be starting a new job in Schaumburg and my wife and I will be looking for our first place together. Not knowing how my job will be, and my wife still not having found a permanent job, we think it would be best to rent for the first year until we figure everything out.

My work is roughly at the "intersection" of Higgins and 290 so we're currently looking at Schaumburg, Arlington Heights, Hoffman Estates, Elk Grove, Palatine and Rolling Meadows as options since all of those are relatively close to my work (15-20 minute drive).

Being that this will be our first time living on our own, when should we start seriously looking for a place? We were tentatively planning an October 1 move-in date but I'm not sure if that would give us the most options (ie, will rental "inventory" be higher in September/November)? Also, since we want to eventually purchase a house, should we focus our search on towns/cities that we are unfamiliar with to get a feel for different areas?

Any other tips/suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Vasily]

I'd be looking now through July to find a place for October ... Many places will have a waiting list you can get on for a small deposit. Rather than renting in a place you don't know I'd suggest renting for convenience and spending your first year getting to know the surrounding communities on weekends.

[chet everett]

There are tens of thousands of apartments convenient to that work location... No need to waste money on a "waiting list".

I would avoid larger complexes, as too many in that area have some issues with unsupervised youths. Depending on budget / longer term plans it may make sense to consider which towns have better schools and such but renting for a year is a good idea and as long as the rental is not in some far away corner you can certainly explore the whole region at your leisure...

Lead time of 60-90 days is generally fine for an October start date. The college kids and such will have things settled by late August / early September.

[ZoranB]

Originally Posted by chet everett

There are tens of thousands of apartments convenient to that work location... No need to waste money on a "waiting list".

I would avoid larger complexes, as too many in that area have some issues with unsupervised youths. Depending on budget / longer term plans it may make sense to consider which towns have better schools and such but renting for a year is a good idea and as long as the rental is not in some far away corner you can certainly explore the whole region at your leisure...

Any tips on how to go about looking for a place? Right now we're just looking at places on Craigslist and Zillow. Are there any other sites that give you a good idea of what's out there?

Originally Posted by chet everett

Lead time of 60-90 days is generally fine for an October start date. The college kids and such will have things settled by late August / early September.

Dumb question: how much earlier can you sign a lease than it's starting date? For example, if we find the perfect place in August, and the landlord knows the tenant will be out Sept. 30, could we sign a contract at that point?

Thanks for the replies.

[chet everett]

...and who knows where Zillow assembles is "rent" list. The trend for most suburban landlords has been to utilize the local newspapers -- Daily Herald is a good resource as are most of the Suburban Life / Patch newspapers and websites.

Most landlords like to sign existing tenants 30 days or more to renewal. If you find a landlord that signs 60 days ahead that is generally fine. Earlier than that gets a little risky, as sometimes an existing tenant "changes their mind" and then you have to re-think your plans even if the landlord returns any deposit in a timely fashion...

[Vasily]

Originally Posted by chet everett

There are tens of thousands of apartments convenient to that work location... No need to waste money on a "waiting list".

It depends on one's situation. I've lived in Naperville for 25 years and knew where I wanted to live, so a $50 deposit was worth it to me to lock in the apartment I wanted. The deposit was refundable if an apartment didn't become available in my time frame, and was applied to my first month's rent.

[chet everett]

Some of the areas in Chicago's super heated rental market are very tight supply. That is not the case in most suburban areas. Although there are some areas with limited rentals the Schaumburg subregion has lots of options.

There are unscrupolous landlords (and scam artists on Craigslist) that prey on the naive and have no intention of refunding any "deposit".

(ps You have not been renting the whole 25 years, have you? The rents back in the 80's must have been a pittance but the overall value you'd get as owner with a quarter century of appreciation have been stellar...)

[Vasily]

Originally Posted by chet everett

There are unscrupolous landlords (and scam artists on Craigslist) that prey on the naive and have no intention of refunding any "deposit".

Yeah, I went with a higher-end smaller complex in the Brookdale area when I moved last year that does extensive background checks on residents. I personally would never rent anything from Craiglist.

ps You have not been renting the whole 25 years, have you? The rents back in the 80's must have been a pittance but the overall value you'd get as owner with a quarter century of appreciation have been stellar...)

I owned a townhome for 10 years, but went back to grad school and had to sell the place. There were ups and downs after that so I never got around to buying another place. At this point I'm 66 and will probably move to SC in a few years so I don't know there's much value in purchasing at this point in my life ... unless I win the Lottery or something.

[ZoranB]

Just thought I should update this. My wife and I ended up going with a condo 5 miles from work. It's a 2 bedroom, 1 bath, washer/dryer, with an attached garage for $1,100 + utilities. The owners have given us a lot of leeway as far as decorating goes and we're still trying to make it look "homier" but so far we're happy with it.