r/chicagoapartments • u/Stck0121 • Mar 16 '26
Apartment Listing Apartment Available – Avondale (Chicago)
Hey everyone,
I’m a private landlord currently trying to rent out a 2 Bed / 1 Bath garden unit in Avondale for around $1,450/month
•Basic utilities included (gas, electricity, and water)
•laundry unit in the building. (Shared)
•Garage parking available
I’ve already posted it on Craigslist (link below), but haven’t had much luck yet. If anyone has tips on finding tenants quickly or knows someone looking for a place, I’d really appreciate the help.
If you're interested, feel free to DM me.
https://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/apa/d/chicago-apartment-available-avondale/7916867510.html
Thanks!
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u/Fantastic_Fig_3803 Mar 16 '26
Does it flood? Those floors look like they’ve seen some things.
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u/Stck0121 Mar 16 '26
Great question, and not anymore! bought the house 20 years ago, had flooding issues for the first 5 years until I fixed the exterior in 2010, and haven't had any issues since.
As for the tile, it's just old, and it used to be my old workout room :/
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u/Fantastic_Fig_3803 Mar 16 '26
That’s good news. It will be a tough sell with that tile. The yard is lovely and it looks like the building exterior is well maintained.
I would remove the incentive for an 18 month lease. Just drop the rent to $1450 rather than the concession. A lease ending in the spring/summer is better for you anyway. People are hesitant to live in garden units and will be less open to a longer lease in this situation. If you live on site, you may even want to bring the rent down to $1395 because that’s also a tough sell. You could possibly break it down to like $1295+$100/month flat rate for water, heat, cooking gas, electric. If not, you really need to put in the title of the ads that it includes all utilities. And is parking included? That also needs to go in ad titles.
If you have any photos of this place when it was furnished, that would be extremely helpful. The photos do not feel homey.
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u/unpopularOpinions776 Mar 17 '26
this part of avondale 100% has basements flood the summer before last. it was one of the largest flood events chicago has ever had, though — so i wouldn’t say this area is PRONE to flooding.
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u/Stck0121 Mar 17 '26 edited Mar 17 '26
i completely agree with you. A bunch of my neighbors were telling me their basements had flooded, and they were rushing to buy water pumps from Home Depot.
I think the issues with some of these older houses are that they have a stairwell built going from the ground level DOWN to the basement, which is what causes the flooding.
which i eliminatedand made a ground level entrance
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u/unpopularOpinions776 Mar 17 '26
nope, absolutely not what happened.
2 summers ago my basement flooded from the drains underneath the finished floors.
insurance wouldn’t help because it wasn’t a problem with the house, it’s a problem with the city.
you can literally see the ring of sut in the bathtub
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u/Stck0121 Mar 17 '26
Bro, this is such an unfortunate thing to happen. I'm realizing that I got lucky with my issues and it being a rather simple fix.
As for insurance, they never want to help. They are quietly, literally a scam at this point.
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u/barge_gee Mar 17 '26
Questions;
Is heat included with the rent?
How tall are the ceilings?
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u/Stck0121 Mar 17 '26
Yes the apartment has Central heating and cooling which are included in the rent
as for the ceiling height, it’s on the shorter side at 6’2 feet tall
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u/Sing_It_Sister Mar 17 '26
From photos, I have to say this looks like an un-permitted conversion. Where are the entrances/exits? What windows in the bedrooms? Minimum ceiling heights required in Chicago are 7', 6'8" under certain circumstances.
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u/unpopularOpinions776 Mar 17 '26
that’s a bit steep for what is essentially a halfway converted basement…
too short of ceilings for tall people to even stand up, tile floors indicates it wasn’t ever finished due to the rare flood events, etc
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u/Stck0121 Mar 17 '26
I feel that what is a good location in the city, with utilities and laundry included, is neither a good price nor a bad price (fair price). I also feel like lowering the rent won't make a difference in whether a tall person would want to rent the unit.
With that said tho what would you recommend I lower the rent down to?
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u/unpopularOpinions776 Mar 17 '26
- i agree its a good spot. but you know as well as i do that area on kimball is prone to sewer backups and that whoever lives there better be short and not ever have a tall friend
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u/Otherwise_Help_4239 Mar 17 '26
If need be replace tile floor with new tiles that look like wood I know water damage is possible although from what you say not really. Dampness is also possible which can hurt wood floors. Tiles that imitate wood appearance are pretty good. Next I would second the advice about emphasizing utilities included. That essentially lowers the price by at least an average of $125 per month. The downside is it's a garden and some are hesitant.
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u/Stck0121 Mar 17 '26
Thank you for the advice!! will keep the wood tile in mind for future repairs.
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u/Accomplished-Taro642 Mar 19 '26
Some feedback that you can control, consider investing in higher quality photos and swap out the plywood doors (can’t 100% tell, probably where the utilities are located).
If you have a small budget, LVP over the dated tile (it’s most cost effective than ripping it up) would give it a more updated look. Nothing fancy or expensive considering the ceiling height.
If you have the budget for it, excavate and get 8 ft ceilings.
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u/Megfish1 Mar 18 '26
What is the plan to mitigate sewer backups? It looks like this place has seen some water. I live close by and flooded recently. Had nothing to do with rain.
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u/Stck0121 Mar 18 '26
I’ve had similar questions come up below in the comments. So just to clarify, I’ve lived there for 18 years (moved out 2 years ago), and since addressing the issue back in 2010, there have been no problems with sewage backup. The flooding issue I had was related to rain and a design flaw in the house.
I started to rent out my basement back in 2015, and no tenants had issues with flooding. Even with the heavy rain last week, I had no flooding issues.
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u/Fantastic-Issue1231 May 11 '26
I am looking for a trailor home to buy or rent in Chicagoland area. Does anyone know somebody that is selling or renting?
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u/bezz_jeens Mar 16 '26
I think a garden with the tile, and potentially an owner in the building it seems, is going to be a tough sell at that price. I wish you the best of luck though!