Chicago Property Management Blog

Managing a rental property in Chicago comes with a set of legal responsibilities that every landlord must understand. Staying updated on Chicago’s property management laws is essential to protecting your investment and maintaining positive tenant relationships, whether you're managing properties on your own or partnering with a professional.In this blog, we’ll explore the key legal pitfalls that property owners often enc...

Bed bug infestations remain one of the most frustrating and ongoing problems faced by rental property owners in Chicago. These pests not only frustrate tenants but can also threaten your investment, lead to costly extermination bills, and create legal complications if not handled immediately and properly.In this blog, we’ll explore how to identify, prevent, and manage bed bugs in your Chicago rental property while staying com...

Each year, GC Realty & Development LLC meets with well over 200 homeowners/investors in the Chicagoland area with respect to their investment property, or the need for professional property management services.  Because so many real estate owners know our thoughts and feelings (from this website) on all things “Property Management,” they often ask us about other local property managers (our competitors). As a c...

Hi, my name is Mark Ainley from GC Realty and Development. We're a local property manager out of Roselle, Illinois, just outside of Chicago. What to know in advanceThere's some things that you want to make sure that you know in advance, to make sure that you're not delayed in getting your property rented. So Hanover Park, like most other villages around here, do have an annual rental license fee. The number is now an op...

Where's a good place to invest in DuPage County?Hi, my name is Mark Ainley from GC Realty and Development. We are a property management company located Roselle, Illinois.  Now, Roselle is in Dupage County, which if you're familiar with the Chicagoland area, it's made up of six counties, DuPage County kind of falls in the middle consists of mostly the western suburbs, far west and near western suburbs. Now, a lot people ...

Mark Ainley, GC Realty and Development we are a Chicagoland property management company. One thing I want to bring up today in making sure that you are informed as a property owner that's either working with the property manager now or looking to work with the property manager in the future. MarketingMarketing, obviously when you put your property on the market to rent you want to get a qualified tenant as fast as possible. You...

For the past five years, I have been doing all I can to share valuable information to both seasoned and newbie investors to protect them from common mistakes. I also take pride in educating local and out-of- state- investors about how things work here in Chicago and in the Chicago suburbs. I share the differences  between county laws, local ordinances, and the ins and outs of being a profitable landlord.  All of this informati...

As a local property manager here in the midwest, and more specifically the Chicagoland area, we have been part of (or witnessed) thousands of investors buying in our local Chicago market while residing out of state.  Investors from around the United States, and the world, find the midwest attractive because one can still purchase an investment property and exceed the 1% rule.These 7 pitfalls can be avoided or negotiated before clos...

We have worked with Josh Elledge and his company, Up My Influence, for many years. The Thoughtful Entrepreneur Podcast is an informational source for business-minded people (some with very little experience and others with years of experience), so when I got the invite to appear with Josh, I was extremely excited.In this episode, we discuss who GC Realty & Development, LLC is and where we started from in the early 2000s. The show al...

As investors ourselves in many markets and class types, our primary goal is to attract and retain the best tenant possible for our properties.The “Best Tenant” can be defined by qualifications on their application, potential willingness to stay for a longer term, and/or ability to be a satisfied resident when we, as the landlord, successfully perform the duties as required by the lease agreement. (We try to avoid high mainte...