Overview
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Known as the Windy City and the City of Broad Shoulders, Chicago, Illinois holds all the excitement of big city living coupled with small town hospitality. Home to countless sports teams, parks and shopping venues, Chicago is also centerstage for a vast and diverse collection of apartment homes to fit your precise needs.
Chicago holds over 181 neighborhoods full of apartment choices that will fit your exact tastes! Chicago apartment living is woven around all the attractions that make Chicago an international hang-out spot! For Chicago Cub lovers, the Wrigleyville neighborhood has an apartment selection allowing you to be in hands reach of Wrigley Field for home games. Choose a cozy apartment from an array of pocket neighborhoods located within the arms of Lincoln Park. Bucktown and Wicker Park nuzzle their apartment dwellers within a haven for the arts. Relish the vintage lighting of Logan Square that holds the historic viniculture of Chicago past. Enjoy apartment living steps away from Lake Michigan in Gold Coast or relax in the suburban amenities of Edgewater. From the large parks of Lincoln Square to the cosmopolitan digs of Streeterville, Chicago apartment living has much to offer in comfort that caters in individual style.
Experiencing all four season with extremely heated summers and painstaking winters, Chicago is a much sought after place to live and play. From Hyde Park to Roscoe Village, there is a Chicago apartment waiting with your name on it!
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I would definetly recommend to people to visit Chicago if they want the World's Fair with great food and music all wrapped together. The living is wonderful especially for singles and working professionals since Chicago is one of the cleanest and most accessible cities in the world. You can live anywhere in the city, but many working professionals especially the high end ones like to live close to downtown where all the action is. Most singles stay close to the city since they're wanting to be near all the bars and restaurants and social activities.
Chicago is the third largest city in the United States, with a population of nearly three million people. Its scenic lakeside location, world-class cultural offerings and unique architecture are just some of the reasons why Chicago is a great place to live and visit.
Renting is quite the arduous task. First, be prepared to fork over some major dough if you plan to live in the main neighborhoods. Apartments in the loop can cost you from $2.15/sf a month to over $2.85/sf (for 1,000 sf that comes out to $2150 to $2850). Also, be prepared to pay extra for parking (anywhere from $75 for a non-covered spot to $250 per month for a garage space). Should you want to live outside of the loop, you can find bargains, but be ready to settle for less than great if you are looking for a deal. Vintage-rehab is a term used quite often in classifieds and can mean quite a number of things (I've seen vintage re-hab meaning an entire gut rehab that comes out exquisite to changing door knobs in a home that needs to be demolished). Also, be prepared to pay extra for proximity to transportation. Some may not mind this, but if you haven't lived in the city during a winter, you will thank you stars if you selected the condo a block from the "EL" versus the one four blocks away.
At these rates, you owe it to yourself to look at new construction home sales in the city. A 30-year fixed rate as of 12/29/08 was a very low 5.14% making a $300,000 is roughly $1627/month. Talking to a loan officer is critical to learn your buying power and well worth checking.
First, renting is very different than buying. You aren't putting equity into your apartment, therefore ask for the best deal.
Second, make sure to visit your tour on a Sunday. Typically, most apartment communities review their weekly goals on Monday, and are pushing to report the most rentals in a week. Don't be ashamed to ask for no deposit/ no admin fee/ free rent/ free movers/ free upgrades to make this apartment feel like home.
Third, review peer reviews--and be wary of the ultra good ones that keep coming after the bad ones. These tend to be mgt trying to boost scores up.
Finally, be mindful of scents, space, lighting, security, transportation, etc that will make a difference once you get settled into your apartment.
A lot of this information can be found on www.movingtochicago.org.
Chicago real estate continues to be a safe and stable market compared to other major markets as reported by the Case-Shilling index (September 2008 report) that measures the fluctuations in home sales prices year over year.
For those looking to buy in Chicago, your best options are to look for the most reputable builders and developers in the city; to avoid developments that are offering incentives to purchase (i.e. $10,000 off the home price) as this creates a depreciation in home value, and to find the neighborhood that makes the most sense to the type of quality of life being sought.
Areas that continue to draw in strong buyer traffic include the city's West Loop (renters, entry level buyer, relocated buyer, second home in-town buyer), Lincoln Park (townhome buyer; expanding family buyer; single family home buyer); UIC/ University Village area (entry level buyer, value conscious buyer; townhome buyer); and Streeterville (high-end buyer; in-town buyer).
Remember the importance of builders. Too often I have heard from friends about recent purchases from builders who are nowhere to be found. Best to stick to the Chicago names: Belgravia Group, Ltd. comes to mind. With over 60 years in business, this developer is highly regarded by its buyers, the media, and its vendors.
Chicago is home to:
•237 square miles of land
•An estimated 2,896,016 residents
•Dozens of cultural institutions, historical sites and museums
•More than 200 theaters
•Nearly 200 art galleries
•More than 7,300 restaurants
•77 community areas containing more than 100 neighborhoods
•26 miles of lakefront
•15 miles of bathing beaches
•36 annual parades
•19 miles of lakefront bicycle paths
•552 parks
•United States President Barack Obama
•237 square miles of land
•An estimated 2,896,016 residents
•Dozens of cultural institutions, historical sites and museums
•More than 200 theaters
•Nearly 200 art galleries
•More than 7,300 restaurants
•77 community areas containing more than 100 neighborhoods
•26 miles of lakefront
•15 miles of bathing beaches
•36 annual parades
•19 miles of lakefront bicycle paths
•552 parks
•United States President Barack Obama
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