Archive for the ‘rental condos’ Category

Renting A Condo

Wednesday, July 1st, 2009

Have you considered renting a condo versus renting an apartment?  Renting a condo can have so many additional benefits that one should seriously consider this option.  Renting a condo starts with finding the inventory out there.  Whatever the area that you are looking in, you’ll find tons of condos for rent just like apartments. They are many times owned by individuals that cannot sell their condo so they decide to rent it instead. You can find these in newspaper classifieds, on the internet under rental postings, but the best source of finding a complete list of all condo rentals is from your local condo Realtor specialist.

Real estate agents that specialize in the renting and selling of condos are well worth their weight in gold.  They are able to not only find you complete lists of all condos available for rent or for sale, but they will give you insight to the ones that are the best deals as well.  They know the market better than anyone else.  They can direct you to the hot spots, the trendy spots, the opportunities and save you tones of time along the way.  How much do you have to pay real estate agents to find you a condo to rent?  Usually the service is free. In most situations, the landlord pays the real estate agent for renting the condo.

Once you found the condo you want to rent, is it possible that you might be able to buy it after renting it for some time?  Almost in all situations, the landlord may be willing to sell the condo. You’ll find that there are so many scenarios where the landlord actually wanted to sell the condominium but realized, until that time came, he’d better rent it.  If you run in to this scenario, make sure that you ask about the p[possibility to do a rent to own condo program.  A rent to own condo is where you can rent the condo for a short time and apply part of the rent to the down payment.  When you do this, you’re in a position to afford being able to buy it much sooner. Part of the problem in owning a condo is getting enough money to put down on the condo. The rent to own program helps that situation by applying a pre-negotiated rate of how much from the rent will go toward the down payment.  This amount is decided between you and the seller of the condominium.

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Condos for Rent

Monday, June 1st, 2009

The condos for rent in today’s market can be extraordinary in value if you think about the possibility of a rent to own program. Ultimately it would be nice to own a condo in the long run, but if you’re not able to afford one today, renting a condo with the option of buying it somewhere down the road may be the next best thing.

Condos for rent can be found just about anywhere but if you’re looking for “rent-to-own condos” you may need to search through your condo specialist.  There are many real estate brokers that sell real estate but there are very few that just specialize in condominiums.  OwnACondo.com is such a brokerage.  OwnACondo.com focuses on renting, selling financing, insuring and managing condos.  They can help with every aspect of the condo process which can greatly cut down the time and the hassle of looking for several companies do to all these things.

Condos for rent that allow you to also purchase them over time are called “rent to own” condos.  Most rent to own programs allow for you to put a portion of your rent toward the down payment.  This can greatly increase the ability to own a condominium.  There are so many young couples that are not able to save the down payment for a condo but they have enough for the monthly expense.  This allows the couple to slowly save each month eventually saving enough so that they can close a year or so down the road.

Condos for rent can also be a great move just simply to live in a condo versus an apartment. Condos can be much better kept up and attract a better maintenance schedule because the association religiously pays for the upkeep month after month.  There are several landlords of apartment buildings that are unable to keep up with the building like a condo association can.  There are also incidences of landlords having the ability to keep the place clean but just simply choose not to.  Associations are mandated to keep the condo complex up to par.

Condos for rent can be a great thing if you work on making the right choices and make sure you take your time looking at everything that’s out there.  There’s a huge upside to the rent to own condo because you can then control and do whatever you’d like with the condo down the road.

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Rent A Condo

Saturday, April 18th, 2009

How can you rent a condo?  Are condos actually for rent just like apartments?  They sure are and there may be several advantages to renting a Chicago condo opposed to a Chicago apartment.

Many times condo complexes have different upgrades from apartment complexes.  Let’s think of this from a common sense standpoint. Condos are usually owned.  People purchase the condo to live in it, hopefully it appreciates in value and then it’s sold. The owners of the condo are going to take care of the unit and the grounds of the condo complex differently than apartment renters that really do not have a vested interest in the apartment complex.  This means that usually the grounds and the unit itself are better kept and nicer than an apartment complex. That’s number one.

The second reason that you may want to rent a condo versus renting a Chicago apartment is the amount of money that is usually put to upgrading the complex is usually quite a bit higher in a condominium complex versus an apartment complex.  Let’s break this down.  An apartment building owner has only so much money from the cash flow from an apartment building investment.  If the apartment building is 100% occupied, they may be making enough money to do a few upgrades each year.  If the complex is 90% or lower, chances are that the landlord is actually at a break even or may even be losing money on a monthly basis.  There are several examples of this all over the Chicago area.  Most apartment complexes are kept at a level just above mediocre to get apartment tenants, but rarely do you see a class A apartment building that is completely renovated and updated.  This is naturally based on the apartment building investment does have loads of cash streaming from it to allow extra money for upgrades.

But when you rent a condo from a condominium complex, things are usually different.   Remember, these units were sold to someone.  That means they are taken care of differently.  As in a sale, most people try to get the product ready for a sale by renovating it and cleaning it.  Condo sellers will paint and re-carpet.  They’ll make sure the hallways and grounds are clean.  They’ll make sure the association is on that leaky gutter so they won’t be embarrassed when they are walking the buyer through.  All of these factors add up. 

In the end, it’s almost inevitable that you find renting a condo is a better choice than renting an apartment.  There are always exceptions to the rule, but it’s a rare situation to find this philosophy flip flopped.

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Rent A Condo

Thursday, March 5th, 2009

Rent A CondoAre you ready to rent a condo?  Renting a Chicago condo can be very simple or very challenging depending on the company you choose to represent you.  OwnACondo.com has several hundred condos to choose from that not only can be rented but may also fall into the category of “rent-to-own”, a program that would allow you to apply part of the rent toward a down payment of the purchase of a Chicago condo.

 

When renting a condo, there are many things you’ll have to check into before moving forward.  First, the owner of the condo will want to make sure you can afford the monthly condo rent.  In Chicago rents can very immensely, but most fall between $700 a month, to as high as $2,000 a month for a condo.  Condos come in all shapes and sizes in Chicago.  There are studio condos that really do not have a dedicated bedroom away from the living area space.  Basically the studio is a big square room that includes your sleeping area, kitchen and living area all in one.  It’s the smallest of all the choices and because of this, is the least expensive.  For those of you that want to keep costs down and want to move away from the parents, this might be a good start for you.

 

There are several studio condos that can be rented in all areas of Chicago. Next in line would be one, two and three bedroom condos.  The owner will most likely ask for a credit application so they can verify your employment and ability to pay the monthly rent.  This process can literally only take a few hours.  Once the owner approves you, its your choice if you want to move forward.  Most likely the condo owner will want you to sign some sort of a lease.  This lease is a contract between you and the owner of the condo and it states all the rules of your agreement.  It will spell out the length of time you are to rent the condo, what the security deposit will be, the length of time you will live in the condo and how many people will be renting the condo from the owner.

 

Renting a condo can be simple if you have a professional Realtor by your side.  Make sure this is looked in to.  They will get paid normally by the owner, not by the renter.  So it really costs you nothing to use an experienced realtor.  Choose one that rents condos often.  Experience is a must. The next thing to think about is condition of the building.  Make sure you come to the condo complex often before signing a lease.  Check the complex out at different times during the week to see if there are parties going on or people hanging around the complex that you would rather not like to live around. Over all, make sure this is a place you want to be in because once the lease is signed, its hard getting out of it.

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