Property Management Blog

By Tim Harstead - Sunday, January 9, 2022

Tech is Great, But It’s Only a Tool

A few months back, Zillow.com officially admitted what we could have told you years ago: You cannot run a real estate investment from behind a computer, and you need boots on the ground.In November, Zillow officially shut down their home-flipping business, and it is estimated the...

By Tim Harstead - Tuesday, December 14, 2021

5 Things that will Impact Real Estate Investing in 2022

and what effects it will have on the marketAt this time last year, I figured the world would be closer to being back to normal than it was. However, 2021 just ended up being a really long extension of 2020. So... what can we look forward to in 2022? 1) Evictions to start ramping...

By Tim Harstead - Tuesday, December 7, 2021

Preparing for holiday travel

Keeping your property safe and secure during the winter holidaysFirst off, we at Chicago Style Management want to wish you all a wonderful holiday season! Many of us are getting back to a semblance of normalcy, and holiday travel is a part of that. Here are some quick tips to hel...

By Tim Harstead - Monday, August 30, 2021

How to Attract and Screen Subsidized Tenants

Tips for successfully renting your unit to applicants with housing vouchersJust like with prospective market tenants, it is important to screen your prospective voucher holder tenants, such as CHA, Section 8, or other programs. In this article, I will go over the steps we take, a...

By Tim Harstead - Tuesday, July 20, 2021

Working With Section 8 in Chicago

Some landlords love it, some landlords think they should try to avoid it. The CHA program is polarizing in the Chicagoland area among investors. Over the next six posts, I will be going over the ins and outs of working with CHA. In this post, we dive into an overview of the progr...

By Tim Harstead - Thursday, July 8, 2021

Why We Don’t Work with Home Warranties

I am going to let you in on a little secret when buying a home: Oftentimes, when there is a dispute on an inspection issue, the easiest fix is to have the seller pay for a home warranty to get the deal closed. This may have been sold to you as a great idea, and if you are buying ...

By Tim Harstead - Thursday, June 24, 2021

5 Maintenance Items Tenants are Responsible for when Renting

The wonderful part of renting is that you don’t have to worry about things like paying for expensive roof leaks or a pipe bursting inside your unit. With that being said, there are some things that you, as a tenant, are still responsible for.1) Changing the air filter in yo...

By Tim Harstead - Monday, April 19, 2021

IDHA Rental Assistance Program (2021 care act) update

IDHA has just released more info on the upcoming program for renter's assistance. This program stems from the newly-passed CARE Act in late December. The organization has $500 million dollars to hand out to renters who are behind due to COVID. When will applications come ou...

By Tim Harstead - Monday, February 8, 2021

Don't Let Your Pipes Freeze

We are in the thick of Chicago’s annual cold front with temperatures hitting well below 0 F this week. Here are some things we ask our tenants to do to try and prevent pipes from freezing, as well as some things you can do to better your chances of not having any froz...

By Tim Harstead - Monday, January 18, 2021

3 Predictions for Joe Biden's Impact on Landlords and Investors

No matter your thoughts on how it happened, or if it should have happened, and whether you celebrated the victory or not, as of January 20th 2021, Joe Biden will be the President of the United States of America. Here are our predictions of what we will see in 2021 from him ...