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Old 04-04-2023, 08:59 AM
 
Location: Chi 'burbs=>Tucson=>Naperville=>Chicago
2,176 posts, read 1,801,839 times
Reputation: 2925

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Hiruko, you'll appreciate this.

There was one on Zillow that looked perfect for us. I contacted the person listed. It took 2 days, but he finally responded. We set up a time to look at the property. When on the phone, he said, "Oh, by the way, I'm the tenant, and I'm moving out in 3 months, so you'd be finishing my lease and then upon renewal the owners are increasing the rent by $750/month". We canceled the appointment. I was so mad.

Another time we got the owners directly. They were very responsive, smart. But clearly had never been landlords. They are in the "accidental landlord" situation where they are buying a place but don't want to sell their current one because of the low mortgage rate - they can make money renting it. They were above board and stuff, but we didn't like the apartment enough to sign a lease.

Another one was listed directly by the management company, no realtor.

With Zillow, unless the company is listed you just don't know who you are communicating with.

Last edited by Kmanshouse; 04-04-2023 at 09:20 AM..
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Old 04-04-2023, 12:26 PM
 
Location: Illinois
3,205 posts, read 3,469,059 times
Reputation: 4239
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kmanshouse View Post
Hiruko, you'll appreciate this.

There was one on Zillow that looked perfect for us. I contacted the person listed. It took 2 days, but he finally responded. We set up a time to look at the property. When on the phone, he said, "Oh, by the way, I'm the tenant, and I'm moving out in 3 months, so you'd be finishing my lease and then upon renewal the owners are increasing the rent by $750/month". We canceled the appointment. I was so mad.

Another time we got the owners directly. They were very responsive, smart. But clearly had never been landlords. They are in the "accidental landlord" situation where they are buying a place but don't want to sell their current one because of the low mortgage rate - they can make money renting it. They were above board and stuff, but we didn't like the apartment enough to sign a lease.

Another one was listed directly by the management company, no realtor.

With Zillow, unless the company is listed you just don't know who you are communicating with.
A lot of tenants know people aren't interested in a sublet, so they will avoid disclosing it. Truth be told, sublessors should be contacting an agent more than probably anyone. I choose to let my tenants break their leases in exchange for one month's rent penalty. That allows me to pay my PM to "re-rent" it. It's easier for everyone, and when you price your rentals competitively, there are never any longstanding vacancies. I've never had a unit go vacant for more than a month.

I have noticed that many of the websites obscure the name of the listing agency/manager. As far as I know, that is not actually legal, so I am not sure how some of the platforms have gotten away with it. I think the law is pretty clear: Illinois Compiled Statutes
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Old 04-05-2023, 11:26 PM
 
Location: West Loop Chicago
1,047 posts, read 1,546,713 times
Reputation: 849
I use the same agent the past couple times and he's been awesome if you still need a referral.

One tip I've figured out - don't waste your time viewing any tenant-occupied units if you don't have to. It's amazing how people, even renting 2300/month 1br places in a decent building, can live like absolute slobs. If I view a place with a sink full of dirty dishes and a bathtub coated in hair & grime no way am I renting that place. Doesn't matter if they hire professional cleaners I'll never be able to get the images out of my head and feel comfortable in that apartment.
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Old 04-06-2023, 01:32 PM
 
Location: Chi 'burbs=>Tucson=>Naperville=>Chicago
2,176 posts, read 1,801,839 times
Reputation: 2925
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hendu View Post
I use the same agent the past couple times and he's been awesome if you still need a referral.

One tip I've figured out - don't waste your time viewing any tenant-occupied units if you don't have to. It's amazing how people, even renting 2300/month 1br places in a decent building, can live like absolute slobs. If I view a place with a sink full of dirty dishes and a bathtub coated in hair & grime no way am I renting that place. Doesn't matter if they hire professional cleaners I'll never be able to get the images out of my head and feel comfortable in that apartment.
It definitely takes some imagination. When we were looking in 2019, we saw some God-awful places. The place we ended up getting was also in disarray because it was a young family and baby stuff was everywhere. But my wife, thankfully, could see through it and said, "apply right now", and it's been a great first place for us in the city.

In this next journey, we've been unable to control this. Inventory is not so available that you can just pick only empty ones to see. We've seen 5-6 places now, only one wasn't occupied. The one we saw yesterday was occupied but pretty clean, thankfully. It's been a mixed bag.

I know our place won't be pristine when/if he shows it.
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