Seminary Properties and Management

A Hands-On Approach to Property Management

For more than four decades, Seminary Properties and Management, Ltd. has assisted residents on the north side of Chicago with finding safe and desirable apartments. A family-owned business, Seminary Properties and Management, Ltd. takes a hands-on approach to the way it manages properties.

The hands-on approach to property management means that maintenance staff completes regular and preventative maintenance on the apartments as well as common areas to keep them looking and functioning optimally. If the staff notices an issue, they take action right away, which results in a reduced number of emergencies and inconvenience to residents. Subsequently, residents should not have to reach out to management as often.

Residents get to know the staff because they see the staff working on and inspecting the property, resulting in higher satisfaction in the rental relationship and easier rent payment collections. The physical presence of the staff also allows them to monitor contractors to ensure that work has been completed correctly.

High Income Earners Driving Up Rents in Chicago

Hip and Historic – Chicago’s Bucktown Neighborhood

Focusing on Chicago’s North Side, Seminary Properties and Management, Ltd. provides accommodations to many residents. Seminary Properties and Management, Ltd manages sought-after places, such as the Bucktown neighborhood located west of the Kennedy Expressway along the Chicago River.

The area began as a settlement in the 1830’s as an area where early Polish immigrants raised goats (“bucks”). Residents moved to the area on the Northwestern Plank Road that led to nearby Fort Dearborn. Beginning in 1848, a succession of immigrants followed the Poles, such as the Germans and Russian Jews. Latinos arrived in the 1960s, precursors of later residents of no one nationality.

Bucktown is now a vibrant center of trendy restaurants, galleries, coffee shops, and boutiques. Sited at the junction of Milwaukee, North, and Damen Avenue, Six Corners is especially popular. Benefiting from relatively low crime rates, it includes well-attended swimming pools, basketball courts, and baseball fields. The elevated Bloomington Trail extends for 2.7 miles and connects to a fine park that caters to bicyclists.

LaSalle Language Academy Students Work to Decrease Chicago Food Waste

Seminary Properties and Management, Ltd. rents and maintains many apartments in the northern neighborhoods of Chicago. As part of its charitable giving, Seminary Properties and Management, Ltd. recently donated to the LaSalle Language Academy.

The magnet school promotes diversity and a global perspective through an intellectually challenging curriculum. Recently the school made news for its progress in achieving zero food waste in its dining facilities and classrooms.

One in seven Americans experiences food insecurity while the nation looses or throws away 40 percent of its food. Under the guidance of Seven Generations Ahead, an organization that promotes environmental consciousness, LaSalle students practice several methods of preserving the earth’s resources.

When students refuse certain breakfast and lunch foods, they now bypass the trashcan and place them on a share table for others to enjoy. Fruit and vegetable matter that is still uneaten goes into a new compost bin. Combined with yard waste, the food decomposes into fertile soil for the school’s garden. To sort leftovers from meals consumed in classrooms, LaSalle’s custodian repurposed a waste cart to hold liquids, foods, recyclables, and landfill items.

In the program’s initial week, students cut the lunchroom’s waste output from 40 to 18 bins, retrieved 12 trays of milk and fresh fruit, composted 35 gallons of scraps, and recycled hundreds of juice and milk cartons.

Key Benefits of Seminary Properties and Management’s Owners’ Portal

Hands-on Property Management in a Techno-literate Society

Seminary Properties and Management

With more than 40 years of experience, Seminary Properties and Management, Ltd. has built a successful business using a hands-on approach to property management. Seminary Properties and Management, Ltd. assists its clients with rentals, renovation, and the maintenance of their buildings.

In Illinois, this year, the property management industry is experiencing positive trends in the midst of transformation. The focus for many property managers in the state-run the gamut from improving client-manager relationships to sustainability and incorporating technology into managing properties. One issue relates to improving technologies in buildings, even when it might not directly translate into earnings. The purpose is to build the brand and get the customer (renter) to make the connection between improved technologies and the business.

Sustainability has also been brought to attention in terms of helping managers find ways to save money. Of course, even in the midst of these other trends, customer-manager communication is still important.

These improvements have translated into positive data regarding the overall industry. The current property management market size is $3.5 billion with an expected increase of 3.5 percent this year. In the past five years beginning in 2014, the industry has seen the market expand at 5.2 percent each year. In comparison to other industries (including real estate, rental, and leasing sectors), the property management industry has increased faster than both sectors.

How to Find a Good Property Manager

Seminary Properties and Management, Ltd., based in Chicago, Illinois, provides its team with the tools needed to effectively manage their properties. Seminary Properties and Management, Ltd., as a part of managing properties, provides routine maintenance and repairs to clients who secure their services. Good property managers can mean the difference between a great experience and a complete rental nightmare.

The overall purpose of using a property manager is to alleviate tasks associated with complying with building codes while providing renters quality living space. For this reason, securing a good manager is important and can be done in a few ways. The best way to determine whether a property manager is good is to look for referrals from others. Real estate agents, for one, can be a great source of information on a particular property management company.

Seminary Properties and Management, Ltd. requires all of its property managers to be licensed brokers so that they are familiar with real estate and accountable.

An Overview of the Chicago Rental Market Outlook 2019

In business for over 40 years, Seminary Properties and Management, Ltd. is a family-owned real estate company based in Chicago, Illinois. Focused on rental properties in the Northside of Chicago, Seminary Properties and Management, Ltd. recently published a 2019 Chicago rental market overview. Here are some of the highlights from it:

–Rents remain largely stagnant. Chicago went through a several-year period of experiencing healthy rises in rents, but over the last two years, rents have remained largely the same because of the numerous construction and condo deconversion projects underway. The area’s rental market now has a surplus of units which have caused stagnation in rates. So far in 2019, rates have increased only slightly.

–People seeking apartments are acting fast. Vacant units are being rented out quickly. In 2018, it was common to see apartments available from eight weeks weeks to their move-in date. In 2019, however, apartments are rented out six-to-eight weeks before their move-in date.

–People prefer large apartments. Demand for micro units is slowing down as renters now seek larger units. Some of the most common requests in 2019 are units with common rooms that can fit couches and large bedrooms capable of fitting queen-size beds.

About Seminary Properties and Management

Seminary Properties and Management maintains rental properties in such Chicago neighborhoods as Albany Park, Ravenswood, Lincoln Park, and Lakeview. Potential tenants can schedule a viewing for available apartments via phone, email, or the company’s website. They can subsequently apply for an available apartment by completing a Seminary Properties and Management application and turning in a check or making an online payment to cover the cost of a credit check and down payment for the apartment they choose..

To ensure its applicants are suitable tenants, the company does maintain a requirement that applicants’ rent-to-income ratio is 33 percent or lower without a cosigner. This ratio is calculated by dividing the rent by the applicant’s pre-tax income The credit report for each applicant must also be clean and free of defaults or collections. Rental history is usually examined, as well as the criminal history of each applicant, to ensure the safety of all tenants.

A family-owned-and-operated company, Seminary Properties and Management specializes in the rental, maintenance, and rehabilitation of properties, and treats each residence as its own home. To this end, Seminary maintains each apartment building meticulously and addresses any tenant issues quickly to minimize inconvenience. The company also has a full-time maintenance staff that continually improves buildings and performs repairs as needed.