Category: Original Research

Here in the US we celebrate the birthdays of two different major Presidents from our history, but different states observe them on different dates. Here in Illinois, along with Connecticut, New York and Missouri, we observe Abraham Lincoln's birthday on February 12. Indiana observes his birthday on the day after Thanksgiving. The rest of the country lumps Lincoln together with George Washington, celebrating their birthdays together on the nationwide holiday we call "Presidents Day," the third Monday in February.

Regional differences also show up in apartment life. Today we wanted to give you a quick comparison of the various quirks and major laws that affect apartment hunting in the 10 largest, most apartment-filled cities in the United States. Sources are linked as needed. Some definitions of the information provided here, along with my research methods, are included at the bottom of the post.

Information is current as of February 2016 to the best of my knowledge, but it is subject to change.

Boston, MA

Rent, 2 bedroom:  $1600 - 4800, Median $2400.
Fair Market Rent, 2 bedroom: $1537
Apartment Stock: Apartments make up 35% of all housing.
Renting Population: 65% of housing is occupied by renters.
Rent Control: No
Who Normally Pays Rental Agents: Tenants
Maximum Security Deposit Allowed: One Month's Rent. (Note: under Massachusetts law, a landlord cannot collect any additional fees or deposits such as pet fees, key fees, etc.) [Source]
Predominant Heating Fuels Used: Natural gas, Electricity, Heating oil
Recycling & Composting: Landlord must buy recycling bins from the city for all buildings with 7 or more units. [Source (PDF)]
Landlord Notice of Entry: Landlord must give notice, but no specific time period is specified.
Special Protected Classes: Age, Sexual orientation, Military history, Single parents, Unmarried parents, Source of income, Source of rent.
Don't Assume That... You'll be able to find an apartment for any date other than September 1. Nearly 80% of Boston's apartments turn over between September 1 and September 14 each year. [Source]

Chicago, IL

Rent, 2 bedroom:  $850 - 7100, Median $1995.
Fair Market Rent, 2 bedroom: $1176
Apartment Stock: Apartments make up 30% of all housing.
Renting Population: 55% of housing is occupied by renters.
Rent Control: No
Who Normally Pays Rental Agents: Landlords
Maximum Security Deposit Allowed: No restrictions.
Predominant Heating Fuels Used: Natural gas, Electricity
Recycling & Composting: Landlord must provide an "effective plan" to separate at least 3 types of recyclable materials from other trash. [Source]
Landlord Notice of Entry: 2 days for most buildings [Source].
Special Protected Classes: Ancestry, sexual orientation, marital status, parental status, military discharge status, source of income, source of rent.
Don't Assume That... You will need to provide a refundable security deposit. Due to quirks in Chicago rental laws, many landlords now charge non-refundable "move in fees" instead of deposits.

Dallas, TX

Rent, 2 bedroom:  $940 - 3498, Median $1583.
Fair Market Rent, 2 bedroom: $780 - 1440 depending on Zip Code.
Apartment Stock: Apartments make up 41% of housing.
Renting Population: 57% of housing is occupied by renters.
Rent Control: No
Who Normally Pays Rental Agents: Landlords
Maximum Security Deposit Allowed: No restrictions.
Predominant Heating Fuels Used: Electricity, Natural gas
Recycling & Composting: Landlords are not required to provide recycling.
Landlord Notice of Entry: Landlord must give notice, but no time period is specified. [Source]
Special Protected Classes: Sexual orientation.
Don't Assume That... Your building will have a basement. Dallas has what is called "expansive clay" soil, which means underground portions of buildings get squeezed and shifted around.

Denver, CO

Rent, 2 bedroom:  $835 - 5700, Median $1687.
Fair Market Rent, 2 bedroom: $1227.
Apartment Stock: Apartments make up 33% of housing.
Renting Population: 50% of housing is occupied by renters.
Rent Control: No
Who Normally Pays Rental Agents: Landlords
Maximum Security Deposit Allowed: No restrictions.
Predominant Heating Fuels Used: Natural gas, electricity.
Recycling & Composting: City recycling does not cover buildings with 8 or more units. The landlord is not required to provide recycling. [Source]
Landlord Notice of Entry: No laws.
Special Protected Classes: Creed, Sexual orientation, Marital Status, Ancestry
Don't Assume That... You will be allowed to consume marijuana in your apartment. Landlords can currently set their own rules in the lease that override the state laws.

Houston, TX

Rent, 2 bedroom:  $420 - 6222, Median $1735.
Fair Market Rent, 2 bedroom: $948.
Apartment Stock: Apartments make up 41% of housing.
Renting Population: 55% of housing is occupied by renters.
Rent Control: No
Who Normally Pays Rental Agents: Landlords
Maximum Security Deposit Allowed: No restrictions.
Predominant Heating Fuels Used: Electricity, Natural Gas
Recycling & Composting: City recycling does not cover buildings with 9 or more units. Landlord is not required to provide recycling. [Source]
Landlord Notice of Entry: Landlord must give notice, but no time period is specified. [Source]
Special Protected Classes: Ethnicity, Age, Marital status, Military status, Sexual orientation, Genetic information, Gender identity, Pregnancy.
Don't Assume That... Your apartment will be surrounded by other residential buildings. Houston is known for its lack of usage-specific zoning, which means your building could be surrounded by shops, restaurants or factories.

Los Angeles, CA

Rent, 2 bedroom:  $1025 - 27100, Median $2193.
Fair Market Rent, 2 bedroom: $1490.
Apartment Stock: Apartments make up 41% of housing.
Renting Population: 63% of housing is occupied by renters.
Rent Control: Yes. [Source]
Who Normally Pays Rental Agents: Landlords
Maximum Security Deposit Allowed: 2 months rent for unfurnished apartments, 3 months rent for furnished apartments. [Source]
Predominant Heating Fuels Used: Natural gas, Electricity
Recycling & Composting: Landlords are required to provide recycling. [Source]
Landlord Notice of Entry: 24 hours. [Source]
Special Protected Classes: Sexual orientation, Gender identity, Gender expression, Marital status, Medical condition, Ancestry, Source of Income, Age, Genetic information, Arbitrary discrimination.
Don't Assume That... Your apartment will come with a refrigerator. LA is a "bring your own appliances" kind of town.

New York, NY (All 5 Boroughs)

Rent, 2 bedroom:  $645 - 12000, Median $2425.
Fair Market Rent, 2 bedroom: $1571.
Apartment Stock: Apartments make up 51% of housing.
Renting Population: 68% of housing is occupied by renters.
Rent Control: Yes. [Source]
Who Normally Pays Rental Agents: Tenants
Maximum Security Deposit Allowed: No maximum except for rent-controlled units, then generally 1 month. [Source (PDF)]
Predominant Heating Fuels Used: Natural gas, heating oil, Electricity
Recycling & Composting: Landlord must notify tenants about recycling requirements and provide a recycling area. [Source (PDF)]
Landlord Notice of Entry: "Reasonable" notice. [Source (PDF)]
Special Protected Classes: Creed, Age, Alienage or Citizenship Status, Gender identity, Sexual orientation, Marital status, Lawful Occupation, Military status, Source of Income, Source of rent, Partnership status, Retaliation.
Don't Assume That... Your bedroom will have a window, nor that your bathroom will have a shower.

San Francisco, CA

Rent, 2 bedroom:  $1200 - 15500, Median $4495.
Fair Market Rent, 2 bedroom: $2289.
Apartment Stock: Apartments make up 40% of housing.
Renting Population: 63% of housing is occupied by renters.
Rent Control: Yes. [Source]
Who Normally Pays Rental Agents: Tenants
Maximum Security Deposit Allowed: 2 months rent for unfurnished apartments, 3 months rent for furnished apartments. [Source]
Predominant Heating Fuels Used: Natural gas, Electricity
Recycling & Composting: Landlord must provide both recycling and composting. [Source]
Landlord Notice of Entry: 24 hours. [Source]
Special Protected Classes: Ancestry, Place of birth, Age, Creed, Sexual orientation, Gender identity, Source of income, Weight, Height.
Don't Assume That... You will be able to just move in with any roommate. Prepare for interviews. Bring a resume.

Seattle, WA

Rent, 2 bedroom:  $950 - 6802, Median $1939.
Fair Market Rent, 2 bedroom: $1523.
Apartment Stock: Apartments make up 38% of housing.
Renting Population: 54% of housing is occupied by renters.
Rent Control: No.
Who Normally Pays Rental Agents: Tenants
Maximum Security Deposit Allowed: No maximum.
Predominant Heating Fuels Used: Electricity, natural gas.
Recycling & Composting: City recycling and compost bins are available for landlords. Landlords may be fined if their garbage dumpsters contain more than 10% recyclable material. [Source]
Landlord Notice of Entry: 24 hours for showings, otherwise 48 hours. [Source]
Special Protected Classes: Creed, Marital status, Sexual orientation, Gender identity, Military/veteran status, Age, Political ideology, Use of a trained guide dog, Source of Rent.
Don't Assume That... Water, Sewage and Trash pickup service are included in the rent. Many landlords will bill you separately for these public utilities.

Washington, DC

Rent, 2 bedroom:  $840 - 7230, Median $2580.
Fair Market Rent, 2 bedroom: $1623.
Apartment Stock: Apartments make up 42% of housing.
Renting Population: 58% of housing is occupied by renters.
Rent Control: No.
Who Normally Pays Rental Agents: Landlord
Maximum Security Deposit Allowed: One month rent [Source]
Predominant Heating Fuels Used: Natural gas.
Recycling & Composting: Landlord required to provide recycling for buildings with 4 or more units. [Source]
Landlord Notice of Entry: No law.
Special Protected Classes: Age, Personal appearance, Sexual orientation, Gender identity/expression, Family responsibilities, Political affiliation, Matriculation, Familial status, Genetic information, Source of income, Place of residence/business, Victims of domestic violence/stalking/sexual assault.
Don't Assume That... You'll be able to live alone. Roommates and "group housing" are the standard arrangement in DC.

Glossary and Research Methodology

Rent rates are calculated based on the 100 most recent 2 bedroom apartments posted to Craigslist in each city as of February 11, 2016 at about 10pm Central Time.

The Fair Market Rent Rate (FMR) is set by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) each year, and is used to set the amounts that government entities will offer for subsidized apartments across the country. You can search for the current FMRs for all apartment sizes near you here.

Rent Control, also known as Rent Regulation, is government-controlled limitations on how high rent can be raised in an apartment when a lease expires.

Apartment Stock, Renting Population and Heating Fuel data are all sourced from the 2014 American Community Survey 5 year estimates as provided by the US Census Bureau.

Federal law protects the following classes of citizens from a fair housing perspective nationwide: Race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status, national origin. The City by City lists above mention only protected classes specified by local laws in addition to these seven groups.

A couple of months ago, I sat down and looked up every Chicago neighborhood in Google. I made note of how Google portrayed each neighborhood, focusing on loaded keywords and adjectives. This is the final article in a four-part series discussing my findings. I suggest you start at the beginning.

We've discussed in the previous articles in this series how Google can affect our perceptions by changing the order of their search results. We've also discussed how a Google search results page (SERP) will have both a list of links, and a list of "related searches" at the bottom. In the course of my research I noticed that for some neighborhoods, Google would suggest "homes for sale" as a related search. In some cases it would alternatively suggest "condos for sale" or "lofts for sale." For others it would only suggest "apartments for rent." The difference is more important than you'd initially think. Continue reading Is Google Quietly Manipulating Property Values? Chicago Neighborhoods According to Google, Part 4

This is part of an ongoing series discussing how Chicago neighborhoods are described through the lens of Google's search results. You can find a list of all four articles at the bottom of the post.

Today we'll be looking at how Google's search results portray the racial and economic breakdown of Chicago's neighborhoods. As I mentioned last week, I tallied mentions of race and class separately from the emotional terms. While calling a neighborhood "poverty-ridden," "affluent" or "Swedish" might have a positive or negative impact on your overall impression of a given area, it won't necessarily have the same impact for everyone in the same way as something like "dangerous," "pretty" or "boring."

In some ways, Google's take on the race and class makeup of Chicago is far more important than any adjectives sprinkled through its search results. It's crucial information for many newcomers that real estate agents cannot discuss. In fact I would argue that race and class information are probably the main things that would prompt someone to Google a neighborhood in the first place.

Race and National Origin

Chicago is infamous as a highly segregated city. Maps such as the one featured on Radical Cartography use census data to highlight exactly how clustered we are along racial lines. Google's map, by contrast, looks like a crazy quilt that's been nibbled by moths. Continue reading Who are the people in your neighborhood (according to Google)? Chicago Neighborhoods According to Google, Part 3

Last Monday I introduced our most recent research project, involving Google search results and the impressions they give of Chicago's many neighborhoods. I outlined the goals and methods of the project there. I also revealed the 55 neighborhoods that are only mentioned by real estate companies on the first page of results, and explained why those results are unreliable when trying to choose a neighborhood to live in.

Today we're going to start getting into the heart of the matter. If you were using Google to research Chicago neighborhoods, would its results influence your initial impressions in a good or bad way?

The Scoring

Here at RentConfident we've got some experience in creating scoring systems. We designed our Confidence Factor as a means of weighing risks in Chicago apartments, and include it with every Signature Report. When it came time to analyze our search engine results I applied those same scoring design skills to create a system that tried to make something objective out of a very subjective thing. After all, can you really quantify the emotional impact of one adjective over another? It turns out that to some extent you definitely can.

Every neighborhood started with a score of 0. Here's the scoring that I came up with: Continue reading Does Google love or hate your Chicago neighborhood? Chicago Neighborhoods According to Google, Part 2

A couple of week ago, Politico Magazine covered a recent study about how search engines could change opinions in a big way by changing the order of their results. The research focused on something called the "search engine manipulation effect," or SEME. In a controlled study, over 20% of test subjects with no prior opinions on a given candidate wound up choosing sides based only on the order of search results presented to them. The article was focused on how this could affect political elections, but it made me curious as to how search engines, independent of the sites they catalog, could be affecting our decisions on where to live.

I decided to do a little study of my own. I took a list of 234 Chicago neighborhoods, generated by the Chicago Department of Tourism. I ran searches for all of them on Google and analyzed the first page of search results. I was looking for key words that could sway a city newcomer's opinion.

Over the next few Mondays I'll be reviewing some of the things I found. Today I'll be talking about my research methods. I'll also be looking at the 55 neighborhoods for which I could find no data at all - Chicago's imaginary neighborhoods.
Continue reading Chicago’s Imaginary Neighborhoods Chicago Neighborhoods According to Google, Part 1