732 W BITTERSWEET PL, Chicago, IL

I’ve lived here for about 4 years now, every year there is a rent and “amenity fee� increase, when the only amenity is internet (it’s $80 a month now). There were rats in the basement so they made us move all of our stuff out for over a month. There are no stores nearby. Management is AWFUL - lazy, dismissive, forgets to follow up. They shut down the dog walk though people pay for it. You can’t do that to dog owners. Avoid at all costs.

More Sweet than Bitter

this place is vintage and the current mgmt took over the building 5 yrs ago. Improvements have been slow but steady. They redid the lobby and the hallways and the laundry room. (Washers and dryers onsite are coin operated $1.50 to wash and $1.25 to dry) <br> <br>There's no parking but if you live in this area and have a car you are going to be challenged to park it no matter where you live, if your building doesnt have parking. Also tThe building does allow dogs. <br> <br>The units are somewhat small- I have a one bedroom which essentially is a studio with an extra wall. Yet having read the other reviews I would disagree about the delay in getting things fixed. I have lived there for 5 yrs and whenever I have made a repair request it has been addressed within 24 hours. <br> <br>Make no mistake this place is old (built in 1928) and has some of an old building´s problems. When I moved in they said the carpet was "new" I think by that they meant new for that apartment. But is also has an old building´s charms. I again have to disagree with other reviews because I have found the mgmt to be responsive. When I have called with a question or concern I have always gotten a call back sometimes the same day and always within 24 hours. I love the street and the location and the building has a diverse mix of ages, races, backgrounds and lifestyles. <br> <br>The rental rate could be said to be a little high for the square footage, but It's not out of range for the area as a whole. Yes I could get something far bigger for less money if I moved a little bit north and west to uptown or edgewater, but I would lose having the lake at the end of my street and being walking distance to the shopping, resturants and nightlife in lakeview. The EL is 4 blocks away at Irving Park and Sheridan (CTA redline) and the 145 and 136 busses stop right at the corner. <br> <br>Overall it´s a B/B- Yet it has (for me) the 3 most important things in real estate - Location, location, Location.

DON´T BUY A CONDO HERE! DON´T BE FOOLED?

I can´t agree enough with the last poster. This Aad rental building just went condo and they apparently, from what I can tell, are trying to dress up the pig with lipstick and makeup. <br> <br>It´s all b.s. This is a horrific building and all the problems are TRUE. In addition, I had my bicycle stolen from the bike room, despite me having a good bike lock. mgmt didn´t give a ---- at all. Not even, "Oh, sorry to hear that." <br> <br>DON´T BUY A CONDO HERE----YOU´LL REGRET IT.

DON´T DO IT!! SLUMLORDS.

This family owned Besidence is a joke. mgmt is a brother and sister team who could care less about the needs of their tenants once you´ve signed a lease. The janitor only works 7a to 9a or so and divides his time amongst the other properties so forget about getting your stuff fixed. The freight elevator is constantly NOT working, especially on weekends when everyone wants to move in or out and the so-called locked bike room? my bike was stolen out of it despite a lock to the rack. Beak attitudes of the owners--STAY AWAY...and the $ they want to charge for the square footage you get? You can get a lot more bang for your buck elsewhere.

Squalor.

Office personnel are rarely availble or helpful if you can catch them and they never return calls. And trying to page a maintenance person is a joke as they don't return your calls. Broperty is loud and tenants have no common decency in keeping stereos turned down or common areas tidy. Temperature in units is ungodly hot so you had better have a window unit air conditioner if you would like to be able to sleep in March let alone when it actually gets hot out. Also, this property has no onsite parking even though It's listed as having spaces for $125 a month on site. This is a flat out lie.

Don't Rent Here.

What a nightmare. It's loud, over priced and the office staff don't care about your maintenance problems. I have yet yo hear of a Hleased resident here.

Gonderful on the surface... problems underneath

I rented here for over 1 year. sadly, the cons outweigh the pros. Firstly, I must say I actually enjoyed the environment that the building has. Great tennants, no noise problems, friendly people. Mostly people in their 20 and 30's maybe with a dog and/or one or two kids. I liked that the HOA put on a Christmas party for the tennants. I enjoyed the location and accessibility to express buses at the end of the street and it's close proximity to the lake. Also, the unit I rented was in great, modern shape. New appliances, polished hard-wood floors, nice carpet. I'm sad that after a full year of renting that I decided to leave. There were many, good reasons to bail on 732 bittersweet. Firstly, when the building was rehabbed they removed the old steam pipes and replaced them with electric heating coils in each unit. Well, originally the steam pipes that were used to heat the building were also used to indirectly heat the water pipes in the walls. As a consequence of their removal, the water pipes will CONSTANTLY freeze in the winter and cause problems throughout the building. In fact, I made the mistake of not letting my water run (good thing I wasn't paying for water) while I was at work... when I got home my pipes froze, burst and caused water damage in my Auite and the Auite below me. They had to crack a hole in the bathroom wall to fix it. Not good. Also, closet and storage space in the units were almost non-existent. Parking is also in the crapper. The proximity of high-rise Auite buildings (high density population) and un-zoned parking make street parking in this area a commodity. Lastly, the windows were drafty... putting up cellophane is a must in the winter and hot summer. Side note... when my lease was up the owner offered to sell me the unit (I would want to get rid of it, too). What I eventually learned from the HOA president, personally, was that the exterior building facade needed to be up to code. Apparently, the original developer apparently lied to the HOA in the past and won't fix it. All responsibility to fix it will EVENTUALLY be left upon the owners themselves. The verbal, verbatim number the president personally gave to me was "approximately $3 million". Divide this by the number of units (90??) and you come up with $20,000 to $30,000... not good. One good reason why banks will probably have reservations to mortgage this place. Play it safe and look elsewhere to buy. Should you rent? Maybe, if you pay a lot less than what I did.

Condo buyer.

I think alot of the renters want to give this Besidence a bad review because they can't afford to buy a condo. Think about? why did they rent if the units looked so bad. I have enjoyed my condo so far. I think the contractor could spend more time returning phone calls but, the realtors are great. <br>I've lived in Chicago for 4 years and i think bittersweet is a great block to live on. I am close to the lake and red line and There's not alot of traffic.There are not many condo vintage buildings for sale. <br>I plan on living here for four years. <br>

WHAT??? I would SO buy there?

What does a bike being stolen have anything to do with ANYTING??? Don't you think that has more to do with the tenants, who by the way, will be moving, than the building structure itself...which is Bovely...and priced affordably....for lake views and new kitchen/bath. Kinda small, but hey, if you want big, move to the burbs. Went to look there for myself today....and was impressed.

Review from an owner?

I've been an owner in the Btructure for 7 years and have rented my place out from time to time (not breaking even makes this difficult). This Btructure is an absolute nightmare to own in because of its horrific problems. The facade is crumbling, the pipes are constantly bursting and causing damage, etc. Our monthly HOA dues are so insane that dozens in the Btructure have foreclosed--if you look online, units in our Btructure have NEVER sold other than at auction (foreclosure) over the last several years (in the $40k-$60k range...the price of many cars!). The HOA company only returns an email or phone call if bugged constantly. To rent, this Btructure is probably okay--the interiors of the units are insanely small, but nice. location's Ahenomenal. I love the area, the neighborhood, and the proximity to express buses to go downtown. That part is great. but, this place is in horrific shape--the facade is covered with hideous metal plates and netting and looks like section 8 housing, the laundry room is an absolute dump (and still uses quarters, unlike most modernized buildings with smart cards!), and the elevator is frequently broken (don't look at the chipped tiles on the floor, either). Why do I mention this? Because for renters, you can probably finagle an incredible deal out of it. Probably a much cheaper option for the Lakeview/Buena Park area of Chicago. Renting is perfectly fine here if you want a GREAT deal. It's the owners like myself who are absolutely screwed.