Frequently Asked Questions

October 6, 2018

How is Apartment SOLUTIONS a FREE Service to prospective tenants? Will listing Apartment SOLUTIONS as my referral source raise the monthly rent?

Apartment Solutions is a free service to our customers, those looking to rent. We receive a referral fee from the landlord/management company when we match you with a property that you lease with. Our #1 goal is to help find our customers the very best rental for their situation. Landlords and apartment communities cannot, by law, increase your monthly rent for using an agent or a locator service.

Why should I use an apartment locator?

Most of our clients come to us after being overwhelmed by calling properties and surfing online. What we do is help narrow down the search. We provide CURRENT pricing and availability and address each client’s specific needs. Many online rental sites list a price range that can at times be misleading or outdated. What makes Apartment SOLUTIONS different is that we use our own database of rental communities and partner directly with the landlord and/or leasing agents at each property to provide the most up to date pricing and availability. Aside from the monthly rental rate, there are many other reasons to consider enlisting the help of an experienced local locator company. Our top 8 most common reasons customers call us are below.

1. Breed Restriction/Pet Restriction: Apartment Solutions keeps up to date information on properties’ breed restrictions, weight restrictions, and whether they allow pets in all buildings or just select units. Many properties list themselves as dog-friendly but the weight limits and breed restrictions vary greatly property to property. Before rehoming your furry friend let Apartment Solutions provide listings that can accommodate your pet.

2. Floor Level: We can help you find a 1st floor or a Top floor apartment for your requested move-in date. The western and northwestern suburbs of Chicago offer multiple style apartment buildings from mid-rise elevator buildings, private entry townhomes, secured entry buildings with stairs.

3. Amenities: Need Central Air or Washer/Dryer in your new apartment? Maybe you prefer a fenced dog park on site, affordable on-site storage, a garage, bike storage or a 24/7 fitness center.  We can help you find all of these amenities and more!

4. School District: many of our customers have children in school or are taking classes at a local college. We know which elementary, middle school and high school each of our listings feeds into, as well as which county it is located in so you don’t get hit with out of district school fees.

5. Size of the apartment: Each apartment community has different floor plans. Some offer studio, 1, 2 and 3 bedrooms, others may only offer 1 and 2 bedrooms. We can help match you with an apartment that is the right size for you. Additionally, we get a lot of customers interested in “roommate style” rentals where there are 2 bedrooms that don’t share a wall and offer close to equal space and 2 full bathrooms so they can split the rent equally. We receive this request often and have a list of properties that we can quickly match you with!

6. Income/Credit Challenges: Each property management company has different requirements when it comes to minimum income, credit, and whether or not they will allow a co-signer. While we can’t guarantee approval we do know the general requirements for each property and what items on the credit are red flags for rentals.

7. Lease Terms: In general, most rentals will require a minimum of a 12-month lease and offer their best rates for 12-15 month leases. There are properties that allow leases as short as 2 months. Properties that do offer short-term leases will have a higher rental rate for the short term lease and they won’t always offer short-term leases year round. This can be very confusing to customers as they surf the web looking for short-term leases. We know which properties are offering short-term leases and can provide you with updated pricing and availability for your requested move-in date.

8. Local Knowledge: Customers come to us that don’t know the area and want an apartment with upgrades or close to transportation etc. We have visited each property we list so our local knowledge is something many of our customers rely upon.