Category: Renting Safely

I always figured I'd return to the "Unprotected Minorities" series but I didn't think it would be like this. We've got a whole new form of discrimination that has recently entered the housing market. Renters are protected based on source of income in some cities and states including Chicago, but those laws weren't written for people with normal jobs. They weren't written for doctors or bartenders or hairdressers, but those workers are now seeing their rental applications denied by landlords all over the world. So today's article is for you. Continue reading Apartment Hunting for Post-Pandemic Poisoned Professions (Healthcare, Non-Essential and Remote Workers)

Before I started RentConfident I maintained a different personal real estate blog called StrawStickStone. That blog has since been deleted from the internet, but I have access to some of the archives. Today I'll be reprinting one of the more popular articles, which I originally published in April of 2014. I've chosen this article because landlords tend to be older and are therefore more susceptible to death from COVID-19. It is more likely now than at any other time that tenants will need to confront the death of a landlord.

This article is specific to Chicago and some of the things outlined here may not be the same in other cities and states.
Continue reading What Happens if your Landlord Dies?

Last fall I published an article on how to rent an apartment sight unseen. It's a good article with solid advice and should be viewed as a companion piece to this one. However, it relies on the crucial step of having an on-site advocate to view properties on your behalf. The current stay-in-place orders make this step impossible or at least highly inadvisable. We must now learn to embrace the new world of virtual showings conducted entirely online.

Even though virtual showings have been possible for years, their use has been relatively limited to the relocation market until now. People on both sides of real estate transactions are stepping into this environment as newcomers. It's a rapidly expanding frontier rife for both innovation and exploitation.

When you cannot see an apartment in person you have to be extra cautious that you're not getting scammed. You must work around the absence of four out of your five senses when it comes to choosing a place, relying entirely on sight alone. You have to expect that photos and video have been heavily edited for online use. Landlords can pay for fancy digital gadgets that can make it easier to get a sense of an apartment and can make their operation seem quite luxurious when it's actually a slum.

There is a big difference between the virtual tours that were used in the pre-COVID era and virtual showings. Many virtual tours were created to lure prospective renters into booking on-site showings. They showcase the best aspects of a property and may gloss over, obscure or even omit problem areas. COVID-era virtual showings must not omit any part of the property. Many agents and managers may be hoping that their old photos and videos will suffice in this new marketplace. They won't.

While I cannot provide a full set of workarounds that completely counteract all of the drawbacks to apartment hunting entirely with virtual showings, I can provide some recommendations that will make it easier for you to find a place if waiting out the quarantine is not an option for you. Note that this article only applies to Chicago apartments. While some of these recommendations will work across the US, not all are valid in every part of the country. Continue reading Virtual Apartment Hunting in Chicago: How to Avoid Common Traps and Mistakes