Arriving in Chicago was one of the most exciting times of my life. I’d been planning it all year finally the time was here. Now all I had to do was find an apartment to live in for the summer, somewhere I could call home. I’d done a lot of research before coming to Chicago and knew that finding an apartment on such a short term lease could be a problem. So many people come to Chicago for the summer so finding an apartment can become problematic if you don’t plan ahead of time. After a few weeks of emailing and calling before flying over I felt quite confident I could find an apartment in my first week here (which I did). Here are a few great ways of finding a sublet apartment in Chicago.
Book a hostel for the first week
Now this might seem like a waste of money when everything can be arranged over the internet before you arrive, but you’re better off arranging somewhere to stay for the first week, before going to view the apartments you have been researching. You never know what people may be hiding over the internet, I’ve heard so many stories of people finding an apartment on craigslist and paying for everything in advance to just arrive and find out they have been scammed. Its advisable to not part with money until you have seen the apartment and really know what your getting yourself in for.
Craigslist is a great way of finding shorter term apartments in the US. There is two ways of going about this. You can either post a listing yourself telling people what you are looking for and how much you are willing to spend a month on rent and utilities etc. It’s always a good idea to give as much details as possible when doing this you the right people get in contact with you.
Alternatively you can go through the posts on the sublets page where you can get in contact with people renting out there apartments directly. This is the most proactive approach because you wont have to wait around on replies from your post your getting to talk directly with the landlords/subleaser. There are so many apartments up for sublet on this page so you’re best off figuring out where you would like to live and searching from there. It’s also a good idea to have a standard email written out that you can edit when you find an apartment you are interested in.
Craigslist is a great way of finding a temporary apartment in Chicago. It’s always important to go and see the place first and find out as much as possible about what you’re getting yourself in to before handing over any money.
Airbnb is a very reliable way of connecting a host, who has a space to rent, with a guest who is looking for somewhere to stay. All payments are made to Airbnb and not the host themselves. Airbnb will then pay the host 24 hours after your check in. While it could be a challenge to find something for a few months at a time on Airbnb it is doable. It’s well worth looking into it in advance of coming over and finding out how long the host would be willing to rent out the apartment and what kind of discount would be available. You can sign up for an Airbnb account and receive a $30 discount on your first booking here.
Walking around close to a college campus
I know of many travellers who have found an apartment doing this. Obviously come the end of the college year a lot of college students return home for the summer. They then decide to sublease their apartment for the time they will be gone. If you are close to a college campus you will see a lot of for rent signs, so its just a matter of calling.
While I did this for the first few days in Chicago, I ended up finding my apartment through a company that rents out student accommodation when apartments become vacant during the summer. J1 Ireland deal with Loyola University in Chicago and provide great apartments at a very cheap rate.
Whichever way you decide to go about getting your apartment always be sure to be safe and never send money over the internet to someone you’ve never met for an apartment you haven’t viewed yet. Better to be safe than sorry.