We Tracked Thousands of Rental Repairs Across Chicago - These Zip Codes Topped the List For Landlords

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Author: Mark Ainely | Partner GC Realty & Development & Co-Host Straight Up Chicago Investor Podcast

I am super excited about this article because I had an “ah ha” moment last week.  In 2014 we designed and built our own exclusive Property Management software and since then, we have been collecting a plethora of data points.  

The data we have collected has helped us make informed decisions around ramping up hiring, planning seasonally, and forecasting maintenance costs. But we have kept all this data to ourselves.  

The moment I had with myself was not around anything internal for GC Realty & Development but taking that data and sharing it with other Chicago real estate investors like you!  Now this article can't be just data, so I will try to package it the best I know how to keep it interesting.

What 32,000 Work Orders Taught Us About Managing in Chicago

Our Property Management company, GC Realty & Development LLC(GCR&D) manages roughly 1400 units presently and we manage them fairly evenly distributed across the 77 Chicago neighborhoods and 182 Chicagoland suburbs.

Our portfolio is also evenly distributed between what is classified as “A” Class, “B” Class, “C” Class, and “D” Class properties.  The class ranking can be equated to “A” Class properties which tend to be located in the more trendy and popular areas, all the way to “D” Class properties being located in rougher pockets of the city and suburbs.

In the last three years alone, we’ve logged 32,596 maintenance requests, or what we call “work orders”.

I will let that number sink in for a moment and help you break down that math.  

• 32,596 service issues in 1,095 days

• 29.77 average maintenance requests per day

• 32,596 equals the $$  for the maintenance line item on the profroma

As a teaser to future articles, we will have a breakdown of type of maintenance requests so Chicago landlords can be prepared when it comes to preventative maintenance.

The most interesting data we found is that when we actually broke the data down by zip code, we could see where the heavy call volume was specifically deriving from.

Chicago Landlords Have More Maintenance

To be fair Chicago real estate investors have more maintenance requests and costs compared to Landlords in other parts of the country.  Challenges Chicago Landlords are much more maintenance related because:

• Weather - Our weather here fluctuates greatly! It goes from 40 degrees below zero to 110 degrees every single year, wreaking havoc on our infrastructure.  From driveways to bricks, mechanical systems, and everything in between, we get our money's worth out of these buildings and what they are made up of.

• Age of Buildings -  Chicago was founded in 1837 and burned to the ground in 1871 with most of it being brick.  These 120 year buildings are just that, beautiful but aged 120 year old buildings. When things get older, they can remain beautiful, but may require some more maintenance, and that's ok.  The Chicago suburbs are made up of post WWII housing, and when you consider that, there are lots of houses loaded with lots of history.

As a Chicago investor and Property Manager I don't think I would trade what we have here in the Windy City to battle hurricanes elsewhere in the country, even if they may have lower ongoing maintenance volume.

As a Property Manager, we seem to manage maintenance 75% of the time which can be a time suck for investors so if you want your time back, schedule a call with us and we can take maintenance work orders off your list.

Breakdown Of Properties We Manage for Chicago Investors

I will break down our work order volume over the last three years but in this article we will keep it to Chicago specific zip codes and follow up with another article for the suburbs soon.  

In the city we manage roughly 725 units of the total 1,400 we manage including the suburbs.  We have a fairly even distribution of locations with a few exceptions.  

We do not manage many properties on the west side in neighborhoods like Austin, Garfield Park, and Lawndale.  Most of the properties we manage in Humboldt Park are north of Grand Ave.  

We also have a small presence in West Lawn, Clearing, & Garfield Ridge to not have a huge data set.

We are always looking to manage properties in all areas of the city if you want to schedule a call with our team to discuss. (Schedule Call Here)

Top 10 Chicago Zip Codes W/Most Maintenance Requests

This is the top ten zip codes where GCR&D has had the most work orders over the last 3 years                                                                                        

Top 10 Chicago Zip Codes W/Least Maintenance Requests

On the flip side these ten zip codes are where we have had the least amount of maintenance requests.  All zip codes have a minimum of 10 properties to be sure we can give the best picture for you.

What Chicago Zip Code Has The Most Maintenance Requests 

Let’s start with the ZIP code that leads the pack:

60617 – South Chicago (Makes up Deering, Jeffrey Manor, Some South Shore, & East Side)

• 2,924 work orders

• 127 units managed

• 23.02 work orders per unit
  

In other words, if you own a three-flat in 60617, expect nearly 70 work orders over three years. That’s nearly two calls per month.

Now let’s compare that to another solid market:

• 447 work orders

• 28 units managed

• 15.96 work orders per unit

That’s almost 31% lower than South Chicago.

Other Chicago Zip Codes With Most WOs

2. 60621 – Englewood: 277 work orders across 7 units → 39.57 per unit

3. 60643 – Morgan Park / Beverly: 642 work orders across 31 units → 20.71 per unit

4. 60628 – Roseland / West Pullman: 610 work orders across 31 units → 19.68 per unit

Maintenance Dollars Most Investors Didn't Plan For

When an investor prepares to buy a property they will run their numbers completing their proforma and in that proforma is their maintenance line item.

In my 23 years of doing this I have never seen someone plug a number into this proforma that is higher than 10-12% no matter what Chicago neighborhoods or suburbs they are investing in.  

When we broke down the maintenance work orders in these top two areas we saw numbers drastically increased because of a few factors.

• Heavier Turnovers - Our twelve month trailing average for a turnover is roughly $3200 across our entire portfolio of 1400 units in both the city and the suburbs.  In an area like 60617 the average is closer to $6000 for a turnover but we also noticed the turnover scope of work is expansive.  We get the turnover done and we find more things to address or take care of to make it rent ready.  The wear and tear in a zip code like 60617 or 60621 is considerably higher.

• Chicago Housing Authority - In zip codes like 60617 or 60621 we have a larger volume of section 8 tenants which comes with the maintenance work orders of initial inspections and annual inspections.    

• Appliances - Not 100% sure of the correlation but the amount of work orders submitted around fridges is a multiple of anywhere else.  Will dig into more in future articles.

Those are 3 factors that will increase the maintenance spend and time and most investors are not factoring that into their plan up front. They put the pretty 8% and fail to account for section 8, larger turnovers, and higher ongoing maintenance.

It’s Not Just Dollars—It’s Time, Too

Let’s say each work order takes one hour to resolve (and that’s generous). That’s 230 hours of maintenance coordination for 10 units in 60617 over three years.

That’s the equivalent of 6 full workweeks. And if you’re doing that yourself? That’s six weeks you’re not underwriting new deals, improving resident experience, or even just having a weekend off.

Let’s take even a zip code that is in the middle of the road.  A neighborhood like Tri-Taylor still averaged 4.2 maintenance requests per year which for an investor with a 3 flat is still close to a full workweek of time being spent.

Time is money. And in property management, maintenance is where your time disappears if you don’t plan for it.

What These Numbers Really Mean for Landlords

The data paints a clear picture:

• Older buildings = more maintenance

• Certain ZIP codes = higher ongoing issues per unit on average

• More work orders = more risk, more time, more stress, more churn
  

But the biggest takeaway? Maintenance is predictable—if you track it.

The landlords who win in Chicago aren’t the ones who get lucky. They’re the ones who operate based on numbers, not hope. They’re buying right, budgeting properly and being sure they are reinvesting in preventative work.

If you own in:

• 60617 (South Chicago)

• 60637 (Woodlawn)

• 60619 (Chatham)

• 60621 (Englewood) 

...you’re not just playing a different game—you’re playing on a harder level. And you’d better have the right playbook.

I have watched a lot of people get burned out in these pockets of the city including myself when we BRRRRed 482 properties between 2008-2018.  (Watch the video where I break down all the mistakes I made)

Want to Fix It? Here’s What Smart Landlords Are Doing

1. Budget Based on Data, Not Emotion - If your neighborhood averages 23 work orders per unit—budget for 23, not 10.

2. Put A Quality Tenant In - All parts of the city have good tenants, rougher tenants, and then just outright bad tenants.  As an investor you chose who lives in your rental so chose a good one.

Choosing a quality tenant starts with setting the right price.  Grab a 👉 Free Rent Analysis from our site now.

3. Build a Maintenance System - Be predictive and not reactive. Include a process and systems around maintenance.  Have a way to submit work orders 24/7 for your tenants and be sure you respond quickly with solid communication. If you don’t have this? You don’t have a management system—you’ve got a full-time job.

If you can't produce this set up for yourself, hire someone.  I watch Chicago real estate investors get burned out all the time from dealing with maintenance.

Final Thoughts from the Maintenance Trenches

As a real estate investor that holds properties long term you manage the tenant and you manage the maintenance and they are the exact chicken and the egg scenario.  Need to have paying tenants that take care of your place in order to afford to put the money into the property and you need to have a great looking solid property that functions properly in order to make sure you get quality paying tenants.  

Maintenance is the silent killer of profit and peace. And the only way to beat it is to manage it—hard.

There is a lot of information contained here if you plan on investing in real estate locally. It may seem overwhelming for those wanting to invest in the Chicago market, but it is really just a team sport. Who is on your investing team? Do you even have a team? GC Realty & Development, LLC. has a dedicated team of professionals that are willing to share their decades of experience in all facets of real estate. We handle everything from Brokerage, Leasing and Property Management. Whether you hire us or not, we are happy to provide you with our resources and expertise.

What gets me up in the morning and keeps me going twelve hours a day is the ability to add value to local area investors, in Chicago and beyond! Those who connect with me often hear me say that our goal is to bring value to everyone we come in contact with. We hope that in return, they will one day hire us for our Tenant Placement,or Property Management Services, refer us to someone they know, or leave us a review about our services. We would clearly love all three, however, we are happy whenever we get the opportunity to help!

Reach out today!

Partner / Co Host of Straight Up Chicago Investor Podcast

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