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Old 12-19-2010, 10:16 AM
 
20 posts, read 38,903 times
Reputation: 15

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Hi guys,
I've had a goal for the last five years to move to Chicago once I graduate college and I had an internship there this past summer that definitely helped affirm my decision because I absolutely loved everything about the city when I was there.

I'm graduating in May and will probably start applying for jobs during spring break. Since I don't have much experience living in Chicago (I lived in Evanston for my internship) and my only knowledge comes from apartments.com and apartmentratings.com, I would appreciate any tips for areas to live in and really any tips in general. I was looking into the Apartment Finder service, it seems like a good opportunity to see many different apartment options. I was wondering if anyone had any experience with that.

I also have a friend who wants to live with me, but she is going to be having a lot of financial responsibilities when she moves to Chicago because she's planning on paying for her Columbia College tuition with student loans and has no money saved. I can afford my own rent every month, but not hers as well, so my biggest concern with living with her is that she might tell me she can't pay a month or more of rent and then we would get evicted.

I told her about this possible issue and she didn't give me any sort of reassurance that this wouldn't happen, which is one of the reasons I'm looking into just living on my own in a studio apartment because I don't know if I want to deal with that uncertainty all the time. So my second question is does anyone have experience with living with other people who couldn't pay rent and what happened?

Thanks =)

Last edited by HillaryClare; 12-19-2010 at 10:28 AM..
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Old 12-19-2010, 01:30 PM
 
16,393 posts, read 30,273,687 times
Reputation: 25502
Quote:
Originally Posted by HillaryClare View Post
so my biggest concern with living with her is that she might tell me she can't pay a month or more of rent and then we would get evicted.

I told her about this possible issue and she didn't give me any sort of reassurance that this wouldn't happen, which is one of the reasons I'm looking into just living on my own in a studio apartment because I don't know if I want to deal with that uncertainty all the time. So my second question is does anyone have experience with living with other people who couldn't pay rent and what happened?
This happened when I was in graduate school. The guy I was living with had a bipolar order and left school.

What happens? YOU pay the rent. Or the landlord sues you. Your credit gets trashed and the like.

Personally, I would recommend living alone OR finding an apartment that YOU can afford WITHOUT your friend and sharing it with her (thereby reducing your rent).

The best way of ruining a friendship is to share an apartment.
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Old 12-19-2010, 11:05 PM
 
2,059 posts, read 5,747,992 times
Reputation: 1685
Definitely don't live with your friend if you can't afford and don't want to pay her rent. It's better to lose a flaky friend than lose your home (and good credit).
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Old 12-20-2010, 01:53 AM
 
Location: Chicago
4,085 posts, read 4,335,025 times
Reputation: 688
Simple. If your roomie can't pay her share of the rent and you are not willing to pay her share, you should not be live with her.
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Old 12-20-2010, 11:36 AM
 
29 posts, read 59,495 times
Reputation: 19
When I was looking for an apartment in Chicago, I found the Chicago Reader classifieds most helpful. You should check those out. Real Estate | Chicago Reader Classifieds

As far as what neighborhood to live in... what are you looking for and what is your budget? Do you have a job lined up that you need to be close to? How trendy does it need to be? How safe? Do you need to be close to the L?
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Old 12-20-2010, 02:57 PM
 
Location: roaming gnome
12,384 posts, read 28,508,014 times
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Umm... just both sign the copy of the lease. You are both responsible. If she flakes out you can legally sue her. It might be a headache but you'll eventually get your money back. Also if she can't pay ummm you need to tell her she needs to leave then so you can find another roommate. If she can't give you that reassurance, why should you give your assurance to her? I know she is your friend and all but, time to be an adult.
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Old 12-20-2010, 03:07 PM
 
16,393 posts, read 30,273,687 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by grapico View Post
Umm... just both sign the copy of the lease. You are both responsible. If she flakes out you can legally sue her. It might be a headache but you'll eventually get your money back. Also if she can't pay ummm you need to tell her she needs to leave then so you can find another roommate. If she can't give you that reassurance, why should you give your assurance to her? I know she is your friend and all but, time to be an adult.
You can sue her if she does not pay BUT YOU would be on the hook for the money also,

And what do you get if you sue someone who has no assets? NADA. NYET. BUTKIS.

Why would the OP want the headache?
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Old 12-20-2010, 03:40 PM
 
Location: Tower Grove East, St. Louis, MO
12,063 posts, read 31,618,797 times
Reputation: 3799
You can sue the crap out of her, but if you don't pay the rent it's your credit that will get ruined too.

You can do a lot with just a little bit of money if you're smart, but having bad credit? Good luck with the rest of your 20s and 30s!
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Old 12-20-2010, 04:27 PM
 
20 posts, read 38,903 times
Reputation: 15
Quote:
Originally Posted by geegollygosh View Post
When I was looking for an apartment in Chicago, I found the Chicago Reader classifieds most helpful. You should check those out. Real Estate | Chicago Reader Classifieds

As far as what neighborhood to live in... what are you looking for and what is your budget? Do you have a job lined up that you need to be close to? How trendy does it need to be? How safe? Do you need to be close to the L?
I would like to be close to the L because I won't have a car when I move there. Since I've spent a lot of time in Evanston, I'm partial to the north side, but definitely want to be closer to downtown than Evanston is. I've been looking at Times Square Apartments (Times Square Apartments in Chicago, IL | Apartments.com (http://ww2.apartments.com/summary.aspx?page=summary&HideBackResults=T&proper ty=100061.12 - broken link)) and they seem good, but seem to have small studios.

I don't have a job lined up just yet and probably won't be moving to Chicago until I find one, but I'm hoping to obtain a job in the loop and will be scouring the job ads soon enough looking for one. Safety is a definite concern since it's probably just going to be me. A trendy place would be fun. I think it'd be great to live in a neighborhood that has a relatively younger crowd, like 20's and early 30's. Since I don't have a job yet, I'm not quite sure of my budget, but I think the average starting salary for my line of work in Chicago is around $35,000 to $38,000.

I also decided I'm not going to live with my friend because I wouldn't want to worry about the rent all the time so I'm thinking my best bet is to get a studio, or one bedroom apartment if I can afford it.
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Old 12-20-2010, 08:25 PM
 
Location: Chicago
4,085 posts, read 4,335,025 times
Reputation: 688
Quote:
Originally Posted by HillaryClare View Post
I've been looking at Times Square Apartments (Times Square Apartments in Chicago, IL | Apartments.com (http://ww2.apartments.com/summary.aspx?page=summary&HideBackResults=T&proper ty=100061.12 - broken link)) and they seem good, but seem to have small studios.
For more info on that neighborhood (Buena Park) do a search of the forum.
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