Does the word affordable scare you away.... (Chicago, Maryville: section 8, real estate)

[glass_of_merlot]

.......when it comes to locate an apartment. As some of you know im looking for a 3 bedroom apartment in the area I'm already living in. I want walking distance to my sons school located in Ravenswood. He has already been to 3 different schools sense kindergarden due to moving, so Im done with that.

So....Im looking around Ravenswood, Andersonville or Uptown. I go on Craigslist a lot trying to find apartments for around 1600 to 1800 a month for a 3 bedroom.

I came cross this one:

3 Bedroom - 1.5 Bathroom Other - Uptown - 1444778 | Apartment Guys of Chicago

It sounds good, but when I read the word affordable somehow I see a red flag. It's within walking distance of Target so in other words it's close to the Wilson red line stop which is the roughest part of Uptown, but overall I like the area. I just don't want this place to be some section 8 housing.
The only way of knowing is to go there I know. Im still pretty new here but is 1650 average price for a 3 bedroom in Uptown?

[nearnorth]

Affordable is a funny term when it's used in a universal sense like that, since it's completely relative. $10,000 a month is affordable rent for some people and $300 is unaffordable for others.

I wouldn't worry much about what buzzwords the landlord uses to try to sell the place. I would check the place out and research the area.

[chet everett]

I tend to agree that there are some adjectives that as you grow acustomed to "real estate speak" often take on a connotation different than what others may see in the same word...

Beleive me, one of the reasons that I do not miss being a landlord was the negative effect that I knew relocation can have on school aged kids, frequently when I have a nice single parent I would forego raising the rent to help them stay in the schools for several years. Unfortunately the nature of many renters is that even if a landlord were actually cut rent the lack of solid employment might still result in disruption...

When it comes to "affordable" the best "sniff test" is to eyeball the place around the time kids get home from school -- if it is crawling with kids and lacks adequate parental supervision I would say "keep looking". OTOH if there are families tht can arrange their schedule so kids are not "left on their own" it is probably worth pursuing. Of course all the other cautions apply -- swing by on a Thursday / Friday (payday) and see if the place looks like "party central", take a walk past on "garbage pick up morning" to see if it looks there are a few hundred pounds worth of fast food waste vs the much healthier signs of folks actually cooking for themselves, ask around if the landlords do actually check for credit / criminal backgrounds of tenants and employees....

Good Luck!

[marothisu]

I do the same thing when I read something that says "affordable" with housing - to me it has a certain connotation with it that it may be cheap or missing some features some people may take for granted. I've helped a few friends move, a few of whom were on a budget, and found that it's definitely a mixed bag. Some stuff is affordable in the sense of being cheaper construction or the interiors are like that, and some just literally mean affordable.

[YoChicago]

I wouldn't worry about the word "affordable." If there are income restrictions due to subsidies, the landlord would want that stated.

I'd pay more attention to the inconsistencies in the ad, e.g. "in-unit laundry" and "Laundry is conveniently located in the building," and the fact that this is an ad from a rental service and therefore not to be trusted.

[glass_of_merlot]

Ha, yes, i did notice the inconsistency about the laundry. Why do people not proof read?

[Aleking]

it's an ad from a rental service and they are as a whole, a group without scruples

[Aleking]

fwiw and more on topic, many of my uptown neighbors through a fit over the number of "affordable" units in the proposed JDL high-rise at Maryville. The "affordable" units were like $1,400 1 bedrooms. But i'm not surprised, the word affordable has been poisoned by nearly a decade of classist and thinly veiled racist posting from a popular neighborhood blog.

as for wilson, i'd buy there for the long term but would skip a sketchy rental.

[pete6032]

Affordable could be scary. In my opinion there are worse words though, like "charming" or "vintage."

[treemoni]

Originally Posted by pete6032

Affordable could be scary. In my opinion there are worse words though, like "charming" or "vintage."

Just goes to show how things are relative. "Vintage" means Chicago classic to me, and those are the apartments I seek. Hardwood, radiators and lots of natural sunlight, please.