Chicago Apartment Finders - Edgewater

I really like this company. When I first moved Chicago I went to their location on Belmont and was paired with Larisa. She was great- really perceptive when it came to my tastes, likes and dislikes. A year later, I've returned to Larisa again and sure enough, we struck gold! She helped me find a great, big, inexpensive place in an awesome neighborhood. No forced conversation or pressure to make a decision on the spot- these people really work with you and your needs. Highly recommended! more

Went to them in June to find an apartment ASAP and was assigned to Jeff. He is amazing, as others have written. Totally funny (he's an actor), understanding, and sympathetic. He worked with every curve ball I threw at him. more

I'm not kidding. We found the *perfect* apartment in less than a week!!! Tuesday: First appointment with CAF (our agent/ new best friend is Corey). Saw 3 apartments the same day, including one that seemed *way* too good to be true. Wednesday: Walked around some other neighborhoods we were interested in on our own, made a few phone calls, saw 1 apartment we had arranged ourselves. Nothing special.Thursday: Saw 2 more apartments with Corey. Got a good 2nd and 3rd choice, but nothing as perfect as the one from Tuesday. Thought about it for a few hours alone while comparing neighborhoods. Called Corey back to fill out the application. Friday: Got a call from Geoffrey (it was Corey's day off but we were still taken care of) saying that we were approved for the apartment! The office is open until 7pm, so we had time to open a bank account, get a certified check and sign the lease the same day!! Director's Cut: My girlfriend and I had been apartment searching on our own for months before we even moved to Chicago (which is a bad idea since each of the 70 or so neighborhoods have *very* different feels to them). Our first "work day" in the city (Tuesday, 6/9), I found the Chicago Apartment Finders website, called them, and set up an appointment for 2 hours later. The person on the phone gave us great L directions and made us a makeshift profile over the phone to save time. EVERYONE at the Edgewater office was great, and the fact that we were working with the same agent all week made us feel at home in a big, brand-new city. Everything about the process was explained to us up front, and there really is NO EXTRA CHARGE FOR THIS SERVICE. Plus, we had someone who had lived in the neighborhoods we were searching for 6 years as a personal tour guide! Corey was very sweet and personable, and he gave us his open advice without pressuring us into any one apartment or neighborhood. This was one of the most efficient experiences of my life. I still can't believe that we found the perfect apartment, within our price range, in less th more

When moving to Chicago, I checked with the Apartment Finders as I liked some of the places they had posted on Craigslist. they were the last company that I went with, it was just a fluke of scheduling. They are the only place I visited that offered an array of free (non-alcoholic) drinks to their clients. Caffeinated soda was a wonderful thing to have when looking for an apartment. The agent we met with was really nice, listed to what we wanted, and tried hard to find apartments that fit our needs. Unlike the other places, he actually had notes from himself and other agents on the places he was going to show us! Wonderful! This means he could actually answer our questions and avoid showing us places we were sure to turn down! This saved an awful lot of time. We liked the one placed he showed us, but alas, we submitted an application the day before for another apartment (we wanted to keep looking in case we were rejected). While we checked out the place, he took his own photographs to help future clients.Based on my experience, I'd recommend going with them early in your search. Just make sure that you know what you want and that you're upfront about it. more

I had a great experience with Chicago Apartment Finders, but more specifically with one of the leasing agents, Neal Gallagher. It all started with my inquiry about an apartment listed on Craig's List on a Thursday. On Friday morn, Neal called me back to schedule a viewing. He offered to change around his schedule to take me to a viewing 1.5 hours from the time we spoke. He definitely understood putting the client first and he the urgency of the situation. We visited five apartments during one "viewing sesh." At each apartment, he gave me all the facts without leaving anything out: whether or not heating was included; security deposit or move-in/admin fee; rental incentives; proximity to public transport; abundance or lack of street parking, etc. As you can see, he was incredibly thorough and repeated the process like second nature at every single apartment, never leaving anything out. Neal's very good about making the apartment hunt as pleasant as possible. He is great with people, knows how to engage in interesting conversation, and is genuinely interested in helping people either with the apartment search or just offering general advice about things in general. He is incredibly genuine and dedicated and a great communicator. He's a good communicator in the normal sense of the word, but also, what I mean is that he kept me apprised of everything that went on with the rental and approval process. I never really had to wonder what the underwriting and closing departments were doing because he told me how the whole process would work! If I had a question and had to call him, he'd answer the phone just as if we were old friends by saying, "Hi J'nai." Those personal touches did wonders for the apartment search experience. Although I think I liked an apartment in Hyde Park better than one of the ones I saw with Neal, I decided to go with Neal because of all the aforementioned attributes he possesses and professionalism he has. After the closing on my apartment, he even took me out to a celebratory dinner (his dime) t more

I found a great apartment this week through Chicago Apartment Finders! The whole process was fast, efficient, and friendly. Ask for Jeff Dumas as your Leasing Agent. He is awesome !!! Jeff is very professional, courteous, proactive, and most importantly, willing to listen to you and ask you about your needs/wants in finding an apartment. I set up an appointment with him and when I met with him to drive around, he had already printed out 6 locations that were almost exactly on target for what I was looking for in my new place. I do have to admit, I was a "not-perfect" candidate with some credit issues and less-than-perfect credentials, but Jeff treated me very well and worked overtime to work around my issues. Also, he was available via a cell phone whenever I needed to touch base with him, even when he was not in the office! I would also like to mention the manager, Brian, who was very welcoming and helped me with a small issue I had. So compliments to both the agents and managers at Chicago Apartment Finders. Again, ask to work with Jeff Dumas. And just a disclaimer, I know readers sometimes are suspicious of 5 star glowing reviews, but this one is 100% accurate and heartfelt. Contact me via Yelp with any questions about my experience and I will be happy to help (or Yelp...get it !!!!). more