Short version: 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 ra
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