East Humboldt Park Rental Flop?

Question

Hello Everyone!

The title might be a bit dramatic, but I’m still trying to figure out the East Humboldt park rental market.

We finished renovations on a 2 bedroom garden unit and have had a it listed for several weeks with only 4 showings!

This is a pretty nice unit in a solid B area and location. I know it’s winter time and stuff moves slower. However I just rented my significantly less nice 1 bedroom apartment in Cicero in like a week.

This is an owner occupied building and admittedly renting it out was not my primary objective when we bought it, so I didn’t pay as close of attention to the rental market.

However I would still appreciate some insights from people familiar with rentals in the area. Does this area really slow down that much in the winter? Do I want to much(I listed some information at the bottom)? Or is there a larger vacancy issue in East Humboldt park?

-2 bedroom, 1 bath garden unit

- 1525 rent. Tenant pays gas and electric

- Forced air and central ac

- stainless steel appliances.

-dishwasher/microwave

- on site laundry

- Finishings are pretty updated

Thanks!

Paul De Luca · Answer

Your rent is in-line with the market based on the comps I reviewed, but most of those comps were rented in August. So seasonality is definitely a factor. Do you have high quality photos?

You may have to discount the rent a bit more if you want to fill it fast.

Martin M. · Answer

@Sean McKee

Seasonality I'm sure is coming into play, but the fact that it's a Garden level apartment could be your biggest challenge. I'm sure you know but these can be much less desirable than the units in higher floors.

Have you comp'd it to other garden apartments in Humboldt Park?

Also as you've said you want good pics too. This is key

John Warren · Answer

@Sean McKee we do a lot of leasing, and I have leased in both markets. Cicero is really easy to fill units in as long as you have one beds or affordable two beds. We leased up over 50 units there in the past year, so I would know.

Humboldt Park will probably be a lot more seasonal. We leased a good deal in Chicago this year, and the leasing market was red, red hot during May, June and July. I could feel it slowing down as we filled our last unit at the end of the summer.

At this point, I would do a price drop to get the right number of showings. You need 7-10 showings normally to get the right applicant in my experience. Try to have your lease bump out a few months so you end on March 31 or April 30. Then the next cycle you will be in more in the groove for pushing rents.

Jonathan Klemm · Answer

The AirBnB has been fine, but I honestly wouldn't recommend it unless you are trying to be a business around it.  Chicago has so much red tape around it and if you aren't going to do it at scale it honestly isn't worth the time.

The market is giving you your answer on the pricing...it's too high with current conditions.  Consider cutting it $200 and doing a winter special 6-month lease.

I think you have to consider the size of the rental pool and price points of Humboldt Park vs. Cicero - there are simply just more renters in Cicero.

Sean McKee · Answer

Photos is a definite issue. The comments we got were the photos didn’t do it justice. It’s just been so dark lately, but I definitely need to update them.

Jonathan Klemm · Answer

@Sean McKee - What cross streets are you at?  I think I am near by but the nomenclator east humboldt park can be misleading depending on whether you are talking about the actual park or neighborhood.

I am at Armitage & Western and have a similar 2/1, I actually pivoted to airbnb during covid because I had to drop the rent so low ($1450) that I refused to do a LTR at that rent.  I think you are probably priced right if it were summer, but may need to drop another $100 given the Chicago winter.

Most important if you are confident in your price it is often just a timing thing...the right tenant will come, but I know it's tough when you only have a couple of doors...that lost rent hurts.

Sean McKee · Answer

Thanks everyone for the tips. We ended up reducing rent to 1395 and rented it. I will definitely bring it back closer to market in 2025.

Jennie Berger · Answer

@Sean McKee Do you have a link to your listing you can share? You might not be able to post it here as BP will remove it, but you can DM me. I'd like to take a look. As for Airbnb - there is also a mid-term option (as opposed to short term) that you might consider. This layout makes it very attractive to traveling medical professionals, digital nomads, and other types of travelers who need temporary furnished housing for 32+ day stays.

Sean McKee · Answer

I agree. We have cut the price to adjust for the winter slow down. Fingers crossed.

East Humboldt Park Rental Flop?

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