At a recent holiday get-together a woman asked how to find an apartment in a smaller building such as a 2 to 12 flat. No one at the gathering could offer a good suggestion. It seems most people have helped their offspring find apartments in highrise type buildings using apartments.com and such.
How does one find a rental like this now? I’d like to help this woman who is older an has trouble with technology. She uses a very old flip phone for calls only and doesn’t use the web at all.
I’d like to help her but it’s been decades since I did an apartment hunt. This is suburban Chicago. The local suburban papers don’t have columns of rentals any longer. Rather not use craigslist because there is potential for fraud.
realtor dot com allows you to do very specific searches by neighborhood and the type of building. She can also reach out to a realtor to help with rentals.
I notice when driving in Los Angeles in some neighborhoods that the buildings have signs in front saying if they have vacancies. Many also have signs noting the company who manages the property. If she is in the area she is interested in she could make note of the management companies and see if they have availability. Many companies managed a wide range of sized properties.
She can go to the neighborhood in person. As someone said above, buildings w/vacancies often have signs saying that.
If she’s willing to rent in a building w/o a washer/dryer, head to the local laundromat, which may have a bulletin board for notices. In my neighborhood–full of high rises–people seeking to sublet an apartment or just rent a room put up signs at the grocery store, which has a bulletin board for “community” notices.
In one NYC neighborhood I lived in, church bulletins had ads. People in 2 family houses were especially likely to use those.
Also find the local library and ask the librarian if she has any ideas for finding an apartment in the neighborhood. If there’s a local website, the librarian may know about it and most libraries have internet facilities.
My experience is in smaller cities, but I have college kids in both Ann Arbor and Pittsburgh where there are many, many smaller buildings like you describe. In those two cities, there are a handful of management companies. Each has a website which lists their available properties, and you can call directly to set up tours.
Chicago is obviously bigger than either of those places, but if you can narrow by neighborhood and do some informed googling, you might be able to find similar management companies.
In the city of Chicago you will see signs in/on the building. Very rarely do you see those in the suburbs. But I will keep an eye out now that I am aware of it. Thanks.
Street Easy is another good apartment website. I would also Google search for multifamily property management companies in the location where you are looking. A number will have their own websites with their own listings.
Not sure where in Chicago she’s looking but if there’s a school nearby you can check their website for guidance to students on finding places. For example, here is the site from University of Chicago. Some sections - specific buildings - will be most helpful for Hyde Park but it will give an idea of resources and some are relevant city wide. There are many schools in Chicago - if there’s one near where she’s looking, it might be helpful.
From your post, it sounds as if she doesn’t have access to the internet. Do suggest the library, because most of them have computers patrons can use and the librarians will help her use them. In NYC, you’re limited to 45 minutes per day, but you get more time if nobody is waiting to use a computer.