Renting a house, what to look out for. Also chicago neighborhood advice.

Madpanda

I've been in my current apartment for 7 years and need a change of location, so come march I will be renting a house with my brother.

What types of things should I look out for that would be a given when renting from an apartment.

I already know to establish who is responsible for what bills, commonly it seems the landlord is just responsible for water/trash which is fine.


For the neighborhood we are looking at forest park/oak park as a possibility. My brother needs to be close to a blue line stop, preferably within walking or a ~10 mile drive. Forest park looks like a youngish area that's gotten renovated over the years. I only know it from ~15 years ago living in Berwyn when it was kind of crappy. Oak Park is about the level of cityness we are comfortable with. We'd like things going on etc but not gunshots every other day.

Our rent budget is about ~1900 a month to give you an idea of the neighborhoods we are looking at. We can go below that and looking at padmapper it doesn't seem like that will be a problem as long as we don't want something in like logan square.

mts

bills and utilities
yard work if applicable
maintenance procedure

not much is different than an apt.

Jasconius

Renting a house is all about the landlord and their mindset. Landlords who are in the business of being landlords tend to be alright, because you'll get most of what you get when you rent an apartment. They understand, shit's gotta be maintained, appliances need to be repaired, bugs need to be killed

When you view a house to rent, try to find out the history of the property is, why it's being rented, and how long it's been a rental, is the owner has any other rentals

If you find out it just went on the market as a rental within the past two years and the owner is doing it because they got a job transfer or something, DO NOT ENGAGE

because those are the assholes who are just renting it out while the market recovers, are taking huge bloodbaths on their equity, and are determined to salvage every last nickel they can out of what is already a loss. these are the worst people to do deal with, because they are in a really bad mood before you even sign the papers

If you find out it's owned by some lawyer who has had it for the last decade and he's got three other properties, ENGAGE.

there are exceptions, but as someone who has rented a couple of different types of private properties and recently bought a house that was previously a rental, I can tell you by far the worst experience was with the jaded owner who had to move away mid-housing-collapse

OSUJumpMan

It sounds like you have a pretty decent idea of what you want, so that's a good start. Does he need to commute on the Blue Line specifically or is that just the most straightforward commute? You might try looking at this commuting real estate map to get an idea for commute times and alternative routes.

As regards crime, I won't begin to know the ins and outs of every neighborhood or suburb in Chicagoland. If you're looking inside the city, this crime rates by neighborhood map might be helpful. I'm not really sure about the near suburbs, but none of them have every struck me as "gunshot every other day" type places, but I ride through them on the train or in a car, so take that with a grain of salt. If you're able, get into the area you're looking to rent and walk around (after dark too if you'r'e up for it). This not only gives a feel for the safety/convenience of the neighborhood, but will also be a way to spot houses for rent that aren't listed on the internet anywhere.

Renting a house versus renting an apartment? Keep in mind that most of your utilities will be a lot higher. Water, gas, and electric particularly. Check out the age/quality of the windows and appliances, feel for hot/cold spots on the walls/near the windows. Find out who's responsible for maintaining the lawn, shoveling the walk, etc. Renter's insurance is likely to be pricier, but the difference probably won't be massive. Keep in mind you're much more likely to be renting from an individual owner and not a managed corporation. This means that "emergency maintenance" might be first thing the next day with your 60 year old landlord and a hammer instead of vetted professionals. There's also a lot of foreclosures still going in Chicagoland so try and do whatever homework you can on said landlord. There are some protections in place for a tenant whose landlord is foreclosed on, but the bank isn't likely to help you since you're just an impediment to them selling the house and recouping their losses.

I hope that didn't come off as overly negative. I too am looking to rent a house in the area and thought I could share some of the things I've found so far is all.

Madpanda

Blue line is the most straightforward. He doesn't own a car, and while we talked about him driving mine to the station depending on distance its not something I'd like to rely on. I work from home. Pink line also stops at medical center but all of the earlier stops are neighborhoods we really want to live in.

Thanks for the tips on the land lord, thats the kind of gotchas I was more looking for.

Is there an objective resource for finding out how long a property has been a rental? I imagine if we ask the landlord and get an evasive answer thats a pretty bad sign but I would prefer to have that information beforehand.

zepherin

This is advice for any person renting.

Walk the street outside the perspective house, condo or apartment at night. Do you feel safe, do you see people out, bicyclists, women, thugs, little people? Neighborhoods can be extremely different at night than they are during the day.

MegaMan001

As @Zepherin said, also check it out during rush hour. Good Lord I rented a place not knowing that between 0700-0900 was a major thoroughfare for trucks and commuters when I was working night shift.

Creagan

I grew up in the Chicagoland area, and currently rent in Hyde Park for college.

Safety: Like others have said, the best way to scope out an area is to go visit in person. If there are mothers walking around with their kids, it's probably pretty safe during the daytime. If there are groups of adult males hanging around gas stations and street corners at 11 am, it's probably not safe. Unoccupied buildings are a bad sign.

Now, my understanding is that Oak Park is pretty safe... Comparatively. It's not on the list of places my parents have warned me never to go, but it's also kinda like downtown Evanston, and they do have gangs. So while regular gunshots aren't something I'd worry about, I would definitely NOT want to be outside there after dark alone. Although generally, being outside alone in Chicago is a bad idea. Don't do that.

Renting: Don't rent from Mac. They kind of have a monopoly in the Hyde Park area, and they suck. My friends and I all live in the same apartment block together, and there's been a whole slew of problems. Pipes backing up, no water pressure in the showers, fried wiring, laundry machines that never work, questionable maintenance people who we think are robbing residents... And they lied about apartments coming with AC window units, meaning I literally cannot live there during the summer because of heatstroke.

Public Transportation: Just because the neighborhood's not dangerous doesn't mean the train line's safe. It's pretty common for groups of teens to get on random trains and harass passengers or steal their phones. If you have an iPhone, don't take it out during the commute, especially on the CTA. (Metra's chronically late, but generally safer.)

Ketar

I live about a block away from the Oak Park Ave Blue Line stop. I also grew up in Oak Park before spending a number of years in Hyde Park, and then bought a condo in Oak Park later when I got married.

First up: safety. Creagan has a somewhat strange view of Oak Park. It's totally safe to walk around at any time of night, regardless of where you're at in town. I'd recommend against living anywhere east of Ridgeland, but that's because the first few blocks west of Austin get more break-ins due to proximity to the west side, not because of potential for person to person crime. There are no gang-related problems for Oak Park in general at all. Some limited concerns in OPRF high school that don't spill out of the school. I take the Blue Line to and from the city regularly (on the train right now) and wouldn't worry about safety on this line much. Even coming back to Oak Park at 4 am drunk, there's just about always enough people on the train that my only concern would be a phone snatch if you were near a door, and that's an occasional problem for all L lines.

Blue Line commute to the medical district is fast and easy. Also an easy drive early in the morning, but traffic really sucks coming back west anywhere near rush hour.

These days I'd probably recommend Forest Park over Oak Park, as long as you were within walking distance of Madison Street. Much better variety of restaurants, some decent eclectic shopping, and the only semblance of nightlife anywhere nearby in the burbs with the various bars spread out from Harlem to Des Plaines or so. With a car though it's super easy to get to whatever interests you from either township.

This week is crazy busy for me until Friday, but I'd be happy to answer any and all questions about the area when possible. If you get serious about anything out this way I'd also be happy to provide food and shopping recommendations. Heck, I'd be happy to drive around with you sometime and show you around a bit. Though coming from Berwyn a while back you should have a decent idea of what to expect. Forest Park revitalizing a bit is really the only change in the last 15 years.

Creagan

Ketar wrote: »

First up: safety. Creagan has a somewhat strange view of Oak Park. It's totally safe to walk around at any time of night, regardless of where you're at in town. I'd recommend against living anywhere east of Ridgeland, but that's because the first few blocks west of Austin get more break-ins due to proximity to the west side, not because of potential for person to person crime. There are no gang-related problems for Oak Park in general at all. Some limited concerns in OPRF high school that don't spill out of the school.

Sorry about that. My parents have some... interesting views on neighborhoods here. (They don't want me to go south of the Midway because apparently I'll get eaten by hobos.) I thought my understanding of Oak Park hadn't been tainted by that, but evidently that wasn't the case. They'd said Oak Park is "like Evanston" but also complained about Evanston having safety issues at night. Anyway, my apologies.

Ketar

No worries. Personally, I usually wouldn't go south of the Midway by more than a block or two, unless heading significantly further south (like 95th). Occasional exceptions for some really good south side barbecue or soul food.

Anyway, Oak Park and Forest Park are good choices for someone who wants to rent a house near the Blue Line, so didn't want safety worries to be an obstacle. I'm more than comfortable raising our 2 year old here. Will probably look elsewhere when looking to buy a house in a year or so, but mainly because of exorbitant property taxes and a desire for change after so many years off and on in one area.