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Condominium Rentals: Should Investors Go Cuckoo Over Chicago Condos?

Why a Condo In Chicago Makes For Good Rental Property

So you want to invest in a condo in Chicago and then rent it out huh?. Great. Condominium rentals may not be a bad move since your association dues should cover the normal maintenance you'd have with a single family home. Which is why some feel condos are the perfect real estate investment vehicle. Better than an apartment even.

If that sounds good here are 7 rules to keep in mind if you want to make money renting out any condo in Chicago.

First set the stage for making money before you even buy. By that I mean look for condominiums that appeal to the widest prospect base. If not close to the city center, then located within walking distance to train line or bus route. And also near to shopping, city parks and restaurants. You're probably going to rent to single childless professionals who are looking for convenient low maintenance living.

Just like an owner occupant, if you're buying into a new complex check out other projects the builder has done before. If there are none, you might was to rethink your purchase.

The third thing to find out is what percentage of the units are owner occupied. See what's the max percent the association will allow as rentals. Obviously the more owner occupants the better. And you don't want to buy if you can't lease it out.

When buying condos as rental properties you want to think small yet big. That means you want to buy the smaller one bedroom units, since they will cost you less. But these should be located in buildings where many units are two bedroom or more. This is for appealing units at affordable rents. The lower the rent the bigger the pool of prospective tenants.

Also do your homework when it comes to deciding on the rent. Use the newspaper and Internet to find out what condo rentals similar in size to yours are renting for.

For security reasons the higher up the condo is the higher the rent you can charge. It's even better if you can offer a room with a view.

Then there's the property management. In this case you might try to kill two birds with one stone. Use a realtor to manage the unit and to find tenants. Some feel the quality of tenants they bring in to be superior to those you might find.

Those are just some things to keep in mind if looking to a condo in Chicago as an investment as opposed to the more typical Chicago houses.