Does this sound like a decent plan? (Chicago, Lincoln: apartments, lease)

[DogStar5988]

So my boyfriend and I are planning on moving to Chicago in June or July. My older sister already lives in the Ravenswood area so she will be able to help me out and give me advice once I'm there. I have a degree in Hospitality Management and my bf is a CNA at a nursing home. Anyway our plan is to use our tax returns ($2000-$3000) to help us move and provide a little buffer. We plan on coming down for a visit in June and looking at apartments (maybe sign a lease) and (hopfully) get a few interviews and/or secure jobs. We would like to get a place around Ravenswood or lakeview and plan on spending about $850 on rent tops. Does this sound reasonable? Any opinion? Words of encouragement or discouragement? Thanks

[ARFeno1]

I know that you MAY be able to find a studio for $850 in the Lakeview area, but probably not a one-bedroom and DEFINITELY not a two-bedroom. Just depends on what you're wanting. If you know anything about the Lakeview area, it along with bordering Lincoln Park run decently high. I don't know much about Ravenswood but I am gonna say it's cheaper.

[DogStar5988]

Yeah lakeview is probably not going to happen, but you never know. We only need a one bedroom and I've seen a few in the SunTimes for around that plus a lot online. Ravenswood area is cheaper although not a lot from what I see anyway.

[long101]

thats not reasonable for 2 people in lakeview imo. I would look into different areas.

[jdiddy]

Originally Posted by DogStar5988

Yeah lakeview is probably not going to happen, but you never know. We only need a one bedroom and I've seen a few in the SunTimes for around that plus a lot online. Ravenswood area is cheaper although not a lot from what I see anyway.

You might be able to pull of a 1 br at that price in Lakeview. When you come down, just walk/drive up and down the sidestreets. You'll see a lot of units up for rent that don't make it up on craigslist or the reader.

[skipcromer]

I do not want to discourage you, because you are doing something similar to what I did.

Just remember that 2000 - 3000 dollars goes pretty quickly in chicago. In order to move in your going to have to put down a deposit and first months rent. So if your apartment is 850 dollars you are looking at 1700 dollars before you even move in.

My suggestion would be to look at other areas of the city that are a bit off the beaten path. I understand you probably want to live in Ravenswood because your sister lives there. However, you can save quite a bit of money by moving into other areas on the north side.

[jdiddy]

Originally Posted by skipcromer

I do not want to discourage you, because you are doing something similar to what I did.

Just remember that 2000 - 3000 dollars goes pretty quickly in chicago. In order to move in your going to have to put down a deposit and first months rent. So if your apartment is 850 dollars you are looking at 1700 dollars before you even move in.

My suggestion would be to look at other areas of the city that are a bit off the beaten path. I understand you probably want to live in Ravenswood because your sister lives there. However, you can save quite a bit of money by moving into other areas on the north side.

Also good advice. I think you'll see once you get up here that there's no reason to restrict yourselves to those two neighborhoods.

[DogStar5988]

My sister and her boyfriend moved to Chicago without jobs at all and no extra money and she insists that I will be more than secure with that amount of money. She and my boyfriend seem to think everything will go fantasticly....I on the other hand have a little more realistic approach and tend to agree that 2-3 thousand is on the low side and am trying to plan for worse-case senarios as best I can with my limited knowledge and fear of cities. So basicly I am thinking we will not be making much more than we are now and will be paying a lot more in rent and other expenses. So basically I agree that a could never come there with too much money or be too prepared. Yikes I'm freaking myself out. Thanks for the replies

[icebergsyndrome]

I think you should take the middle ground between your sister's laissez-faire approach and completely freaking out, easier said than done I know.
You're taking the right steps, keep us posted!

[eevee]

Originally Posted by DogStar5988

My sister and her boyfriend moved to Chicago without jobs at all and no extra money and she insists that I will be more than secure with that amount of money. She and my boyfriend seem to think everything will go fantasticly....I on the other hand have a little more realistic approach and tend to agree that 2-3 thousand is on the low side and am trying to plan for worse-case senarios as best I can with my limited knowledge and fear of cities. So basicly I am thinking we will not be making much more than we are now and will be paying a lot more in rent and other expenses. So basically I agree that a could never come there with too much money or be too prepared. Yikes I'm freaking myself out. Thanks for the replies

yeah, but did she make this major move BEFORE the current recession? granted, you guys are in nursing/health care, so you should hopefully have an easier time looking for a job.

I agree that $2k may be somewhat low. when I first moved to Chicago, I have around $3k saved up, and saw nearly a third of that go bye-bye just in deposits for the ROOM I was renting. thankfully, that room was furnished, so I didn't have to worry about that expense. I moved into a two bedroom apartment over the summer and surprised myself by how much it costs to furnish an apartment, even w/ used furniture and junk from Salvation Army: nearly $1k just in cheap furniture (new bed, used couch, tables, and bookcases), $500+ in appliances, supplies, and decorations, and another chunk of money just to turn on or start several utilities (granted, my credit is admittedly not that pretty, but even Comcast requires a nearly $100 just to install service, regardless of credit)

I would say $2k is a good amount to set aside for cheap furnishing and very basic stuff (first grocery trip for example), but your budget will be shot if you have to pay hefty deposits (1st, last, and a security deposit for a place that's $850 will deplete your savings, and then some!).

don't worry though, it can be done, even in this crap economy, but you'll just have to make some decisions about how "comfortable" you want to live (do you need a car? a super renovated apartment? junk from Crate & Barrel?)