STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

boobaby · Kate Spade

Need help from Chicago girls!

cahabo · Kate Spade

I'm not from Chicago, but I know apartments.com is a great site to do a search that you can search and sort by criteria.

jacks435 · Kenneth Cole

Hey boobaby! I'm also doing the apartment search in Chicago right now... not my favorite thing to do.

What are you looking for? I think the service depends on the neighborhood, and if you're comfortable enough looking on your own, you might be fine without a service at all. I like the listings on Chicago Reader and Craigslist the best, and most of those are listed without a service as middle man.

But if you really want a service, I've used Apartment People. In my experience, they can be very pushy and kind of scare you into thinking that you won't find anything. I also felt like they showed me a couple totally awful places up front so that anything I saw after that seemed like a vast improvement. That said, they are good if you're looking in Lakeview/Lincoln Park and don't feel like making appointments on your own. And at least you'll get to see places and you don't have to drive around yourself.

I've heard great things about the Homestead Group, but they don't seem to have as many listings as Apartment People, and I think they have more stuff on the west side (West Town, Bucktown, Wicker Park, etc.). So it depends on where you want to live. Good luck!

boobaby · Kate Spade

Thanks! I called the Homestead Group about one listing. I didn't realize they were a service because they only answered my questions about the apt. I called for which had already been rented. I've been walking around the areas I'm interested in and calling, looking on craigslist and the reader, as I have in the past, and I haven't had any luck! I've seen some awful places, too, including one that smelled like feet.

I just thought a service might help out with the stress of it all.

jacL · Coach

I just found an apartment a couple weeks ago after looking for a month. I saw at least two dozen apartments and called about at least three times as many. I used mainly Craigslist in my search. I did have a nice man named Elliot with the Apartment People show me a few places and I liked him. He wasn't pushy and didn't try to sell me on anything and he was very observant about what I wanted and liked. It was very nice having them drive you around too--less stress.

Farrah · Marc Jacobs

Have you tried the Reader? They always have tons of listings. BTW, what is your search criteria? Neighborhood, size, etc? I've lived in a few different places and all of the management companies were awesome so I could make a recommendation if you are in the same area...

boobaby · Kate Spade

Farrah wrote:

Have you tried the Reader? They always have tons of listings. BTW, what is your search criteria? Neighborhood, size, etc? I've lived in a few different places and all of the management companies were awesome so I could make a recommendation if you are in the same area...

Hey Farrah! I have been using the Reader and Craigslist. I currently live in Edgewater and I would want to either stay in this neighborhood or move to Ravenswood or Lincoln Square. I thought you lived in Lakeview, but if you know of a management company, that would be great. 1 bedroom would be ideal but a large studio may work. Oh, and I have a small dog.

Farrah · Marc Jacobs

Rats, I don't know of anything over there. I lived in Lakeview years ago, then I was in the Gold Coast, I am technically in Wicker Park right now, but I spend 99.9% of my time with Vinny and the BF at his condo in the West Loop. Sorry that I couldn't help:(.