Learn how to leverage seasonality to during the winter season in Chicago. Peak season, May to September, is when all real estate brokers and agents work round the clock trying to fit in as many showings as possible into a day to get leases signed or deals closed ASAP, before the snow begins to fall and everyone pulls on their winter coats.

  • You must have a backup plan during the off season in case a tenant breaks their lease or you need to fill a unit for another reason
  • You can offer short-term leases or long-term leases to get your property on the market during peak rental months
  • In the city of Chicago, finding a renter is often not challenging, but you need to find the right one

Within Chicago’s real estate market it’s important to understand how to leverage seasonality in your favor.

In Chicago’s real estate market, it doesn’t matter whether your goal is leasing or sales, May through September is the peak season. This is when all real estate brokers and agents work round the clock trying to fit in as many showings as possible into a day to get leases signed or deals closed ASAP, before the snow begins to fall and everyone pulls on their winter coats.

Enter: the off-season. 

When real estate is an investment, it must be a profit generator for its investor(s). During the off months, property managers must learn to leverage seasonality but understanding the local market in and out. Sounds simple right? Like so many things in life this is always easier said than done.

What if your investment property is in a college town—what are you going to do in the summer months when most students migrate back to their hometowns? What if a tenant breaks their lease early? What if your investment property has just completed renovations and you are interested in leasing it out during the slower season rather than let it sit over the winter?

[Tweet “Opting for a shorter lease term can get you out of the seasonality rut”]

These are a few of the obstacles that require a backup action plan as well as the knowledge of how to restructure a lease to ensure proper leveraging of seasonality.

Take the example of a lease ending in the middle of the off-season, like December in Chicago. Let’s explore some options, here, shall we?

First, you could create a shorter lease that will end at the beginning of peak season, for Chicago May or June. This will allow your property to benefit from the peak season rather than having the lease end within off-peak season if you were to do a 12-month lease. By creating a shorter lease for five months or so, will allow you to leverage seasonality in your favor.

From here, there are two possible outcomes:

  1. Your tenant can sign a 12-month lease in peak season and choose to stay in your property for another full year.
  2. You can start showing the property during peak season and find a new tenant to sign a 12-month lease, which ends the following year in peak season and the whole process starts over again.

The point is to leverage seasonality in your favor to have your apartment on the market during the peak of the real estate market season.

Ideally, however, it may be in the best interests of your client to create an extended lease—say, 16 to 18 months—that will not only secure a tenant for a longer period of time but allow for a much more desirable situation when it is time to re-sign or locate a new renter.

Now all you need to do is find a tenant to move in during off-season. In a market like Chicago this isn’t a great hurdle, as there is no shortage of new potential tenants moving in and out of the city or kids turning into adults, but it’s important to find the right one for your space. There are plenty of creative ways to help your property gain more exposure as the market slows down.

Andrew Nast is the founder and president of Lofty Real Estate Co. 

Show Comments Hide Comments
Sign up for Inman’s Morning Headlines
What you need to know to start your day with all the latest industry developments
By submitting your email address, you agree to receive marketing emails from Inman.
Success!
Thank you for subscribing to Morning Headlines.
Back to top
×
Log in
If you created your account with Google or Facebook
Don't have an account?
Forgot your password?
No Problem

Simply enter the email address you used to create your account and click "Reset Password". You will receive additional instructions via email.

Forgot your username? If so please contact customer support at (510) 658-9252

Password Reset Confirmation

Password Reset Instructions have been sent to

Subscribe to The Weekender
Get the week's leading headlines delivered straight to your inbox.
Top headlines from around the real estate industry. Breaking news as it happens.
15 stories covering tech, special reports, video and opinion.
Unique features from hacker profiles to portal watch and video interviews.
Unique features from hacker profiles to portal watch and video interviews.
It looks like you’re already a Select Member!
To subscribe to exclusive newsletters, visit your email preferences in the account settings.
Up-to-the-minute news and interviews in your inbox, ticket discounts for Inman events and more
1-Step CheckoutPay with a credit card
By continuing, you agree to Inman’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

You will be charged . Your subscription will automatically renew for on . For more details on our payment terms and how to cancel, click here.

Interested in a group subscription?
Finish setting up your subscription
×