Chicago Property Management Blog

During the pandemic years, evictions across the country saw a significant drop due to moratoriums during COVID-19. Chicago was no different, but in the last two years, things have started to change. As the pandemic cleared and moratoriums were lifted, evictions have steadily increased in Cook County.The Cook County Sheriff released a 2023 eviction report that totaled 11,988 eviction orders in the county for the year. This was the h...

Beginning in 2025, Illinois landlords and property managers will have a new set of rules to follow when screening tenant applications. The 2025 state law makes landlords use credit reports from tenants instead of pulling credit reports through their usual processes. That means tenants can provide their own credit reports when the Tenant Credit Report Law goes into effect in January 2025. As part of this new law, landlords and property m...

The opportunity for rental assistance has returned in Illinois, offering much-needed relief for tenants facing eviction. If you're a housing provider or a renter dealing with delinquency, it's essential to stay updated on this assistance and the processes involved. Below is a detailed breakdown of what you need to know, along with some helpful strategies for managing rent while awaiting rental aid.Rental Assistance Program Overv...

Over the past few months, we’ve covered some crucial topics for landlords and investors in the Chicago area. From navigating eviction laws and avoiding rental scams to understanding new regulations, these blogs are packed with insights that can help you stay ahead of the challenges and opportunities in the market. Explore each one below to strengthen your knowledge and protect your investments.Everything You Don’t Know about...

listen to what he shares….What Is Value-Add Real Estate Investing?At its core, value-add investing involves purchasing a property that isn’t currently at its full potential—whether it needs renovations, improvements, or simply a strategic overhaul—and increasing its value through upgrades or better management. You might do this during a BRRRR strategy (Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat), a flip, or by sim...

In a recent podcast, we sat down with Luke Blahnik, a real estate expert, to dive into a major ordinance that will affect property owners in Chicago. The Northwest Side Housing Preservation Ordinance, which went into effect on October 9, seeks to preserve and expand the availability of affordable housing.This newly expanded anti-gentrification ordinance has significant implications for rental property owners, particularly those in areas...

If you own Chicago investment property (and in many other parts of the nation), squatters have become a serious problem. There are many different flavors of squatters. Most often, we deal with people who just move on into vacant properties without consulting anyone. It gets a little trickier with another flavor of squatter who claims they thought they had a valid lease but have been scammed by someone else. We sat down with George McCle...

Happy anniversary to us! After four years and 300 episodes later, the Straight up Chicago Investing is still going strong.  To celebrate our 300th episode, we took to social media to ask our community what questions they wanted us to answer. And you delivered! We received dozens. Unfortunately, we couldn’t answer them all in one episode, but we’ll make sure we do answer them somehow.So without further ado, let’s...

Chicago is one of the ripest markets in the U.S. for real estate investors, and that's no secret. According to research from RentCafe, 54% of Chicago's households are renter-occupied. For comparison, the national ratio is 34% of households occupied by renters. That's a whole lot of rental property!Don't start drooling just yet though. Whether you're new to the real estate investment game or have been around the block...

Remember that old saying that truth is stranger than fiction? Our friend and Straight Up Chicago Investor podcast guest, Joseph Pochinskas, found himself in the landlord twilight zone with his first investment property. A Southside Chicago native, Joseph fell in love with the Bridgeport/Canaryville area and decided that’s where he’d try his hand at house hacking. After a lot of research and walking properties, he settle...