Chicago Property Management Blog

We believe there are the four questions you should ask a property management company before hiring them.  Number 1:What is their tenant screening process? How do they screen them? Take me through what their process looks like. What's included? Is it a full criminal, credit, eviction, background check? Do they require proof of on time rent payments? Pay stubs? Do they look into their social media accounts? Do they call reference...

Whether you are considering your first rental property or just closed on your 50th, you have many decisions to make relating to how you will manage your investment. Keep that pink bathroom or tear it out? Update the landscaping yourself or hire help? One of the questions you may not have considered is whether or not to hire a property manager. Many investors (both new and experienced) are hesitant to hand over any of their cash flow to ...

Homeowners looking to rent out their properties want to know when they get paid and how they get their money when working with a professional property management company in Chicago. That’s an important question, and today we’re providing some insight into how we do things and handle your finances.Property Management Chicagoland: Processing PaymentsWe do our payouts by the twelfth of every month. Why the twelfth? Generally, w...

One of the questions we are asked most frequently is – what happens if my tenant doesn’t pay rent? This is an understandable concern for landlords, and today we’re sharing some ideas about how a property manager will handle a nonpaying tenant. Treat Your Property as a BusinessWhen you are a landlord or you own investment property, you need to treat it as a business. So, make sure you have two or three months of re...

There are some things to consider, however, which may lead you to realize that hiring a professional can be better for you and your property. Risk ManagementWhen you manage your own property, you are taking on 100 percent of the risk. If you work with a professional property manager, you are passing on a large part of that risk. If something goes wrong, you have an extra layer of protection. As an inexperienced landlord, you might ...

When we begin working with new clients, they often ask if they should allow pets, or they tell us they don’t want to allow pets at their rental property in Chicagoland. We always advise them to keep an open mind. You have a large part of the population with at least one pet, and those tenants are looking for rentals that will accommodate their families and their pets. It’s becoming more common for rental properties to allow ...

Pro house-flippers and Chicago natives, Mark Ainley and Bryan Sonn star in the final episode of CNBC's four-episode hit reality tv show, The Deed with Sean Conlon. It is set to air April 5th at 9 p.m., Central Time.For 14 years, GC Realty has been revitalizing the Chicagoland area with housing repaired right and made affordable.Now, with host Sean Conlon's experience, aid, and financial backing, Mark and Bryan put their renova...

A lot of people ask us how we screen applicants so I thought I’d share our screening process with you. First of all, we screen all applicants over the age of 18. The first thing we do is have the applicant complete an online application. This is where the applicant enters all of their information for us to review.Next, we run a full credit, criminal, eviction, and background check. Sometimes we do find red flags on these reports a...

One of the first questions we’re asked by owners is: how much will my rental property in Chicagoland rent for? There are so many factors that go into determining the rental market value. It’s based on several different things.Comparable Market AnalysisFirst, we look at the comparable rents in the area. We want to know what other properties similar to yours are renting for. We look at the amenities they have, and whether ther...

Many people ask that question “What do I have to do to my place to get it rented?”First and foremost you want to appeal to the masses. You should have neutral colors and tone since that appeals to the most amount of people. Accent walls may look good with a particular style of furniture but now that the property is vacant and you are trying to rent it accent walls are no longer as appealing. We always say “GO NEUTRAL!&...