The Apartment Tour

High-rise apartments managed by large companies often have a lot to offer renters: great views, plentiful amenities, large professional maintenance and security staff, robust online platforms for rent payment - just to name a few. Prospective tenants can also find online reviews for these types of apartments readily available on Google and Yelp, which is great. The downside to these high-rises, other than high prices, is that renters don't get the same cozy, residential feel and personalized service that many smaller buildings and private landlords provide. Indeed, the benefits of finding that residential gem of an apartment are amazing: comfy home, tree-lined street, cafe on the corner, landlord downstairs on a first-name basis; but conversely, the pitfalls can often be random and completely unexpected - especially if the landlord is new to the game. And although most renters live in smaller, residential buildings, online renter reviews for smaller  residential properties a

A big city can look like a gigantic black box if you're relocating or just kinda new here and need a place to call home. If you're moving to Chicago or just new to the city and need help finding a new apartment, sublet, or room in a shared apartment, just post your details and requirements in our Tenantree Chicago Apartment Finder Facebook Group and we'll do our best to find a good fit. If you're moving from an apt, the knowledge about what it’s like to live there moves with you. Let’s pass that knowledge down to the future tenants so we all have more info about the apartment we’re looking at before signing the lease. If you have a minute, help out your neighbors and future-self by writing a quick, anonymous apartment review and let other renters know what it’s like to call your place home

Let's get this out of the way first: most landlords and most apartments are good, even great. Our experience reflects this, our research reflects this, and actually the majority of our reviews are positive! Renters have a lot of nice things to say about their apartments and landlords, even in the negative (and mildly concerning) reviews.  But they can't all be winners. Here's a quick recap of this week's worst and weirdest bits of renter feedback: We're glad we didn't call these places home.  We really appreciate the insight from these reviews and all the reviews we've gotten to date. The increased transparency is going to help so many renters make more informed moves the next time around. So here's our pitch to join the party: Write your anonymous review and give us the breakdown of what it's like to call your apartment home! 6. Landlord Coming Home? (Via Chicago) Sounds like the apartment is nice and the neighbors are chill bu

When we move, the knowledge we have about living in that apartment moves with us. Tenantree  is about saving that knowledge and passing it down from tenant to tenant. Here's what it's like to call 3108 N Southport home. Looks good to me, and it's available now! The information below is based on an anonymous renter review from Tenantree . If you find it useful, help us out by passing on your own knowledge by writing your anonymous apartment review. What's it like to call your place home? 3108 N Southport Avenue by Chicago Northside Realty 3108 N Southport Ave  Source What Renters Like About 3108 N Southport "Landlord lives on-site in a separate building and is readily available to take care of any issues (of which we've had very few)" "The building is a bit older (plenty of new construction nearby), but is decently maintained." "conveniently located near Brown and Red Line" Read the full renter review on Tenantre

We like to imagine a future where Tenantree has millions and millions of reviews and all of us renters have easy access to all the info we need before making a call on our next apartment ... (blurry dream fades away) but since we're still new and growing and our total reviews count is missing a few zeros, I'm going to do regular highlights of the best apartments and the best companies to rent from in some or our favorite cities to help us all with our next move. I'll start this series by highlighting great apartments and landlords in Chicago, my hometown. Chicago has some incredible neighborhoods: From Pilsen, Bridgeport, Chinatown and Hyde Park on the South Side, to Humboldt Park, Ukrainian Village, West Loop and Logan Square on the West / NW Side, and Old Town, Lincoln Park, Lincoln Square and Uptown on the North Side - just to name a few. I'll do my best to highlight the best of the best from all parts of town throughout this series, even if the focus is a bit mor