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Learn a New Term

Net Lease
A property lease in which the lessee agrees to pay all expenses which are normally associated with ownership, such as utilities, repairs, insurance and taxes. Also called closed-end lease.

See more R.E. Terms.

Multiplelisting.com lets you search the Multiple Listing Service by geography, or by the actual MLS identification code on any listed property.

Dreamtown.com is another Chicago search engine that lets you search by neighborhood. Good photos and video tours, too.

Zip-Codes.com is an online, FREE ZIP code database that allows you to view demographic information by ZIP or postal code. You can even download the data to your hard drive to work up a market study. And yes, some of these services you must pay for, while others are free.

Rentometer is a FREE online tool that lets you find comparable rents for your next real estate deal. No fees, no hassle—only a disclaimer that some may find disquieting. Personally, I'll use Rentometer to estimate rent in my analyses, but when appropriate, I'll canvass the neighborhood to gather market rents.

The VaultWare Market Index is a measures online leasing activity in multifamily housing.

Tools for Due Diligence

Chicago Real Estate Resources, Inc. provides listings for buyers, sellers, renters, including access to the multiple listing service (MLS).

The Chicago Police Department's CLEARpath (formerly known as ICAM) enables you to search and display maps, graphs, and tables of reported crime. It holds 90 days of data, which you can access in blocks of up to 14 days.

The Cook County Assessor allows you to look up addresses or parcel ID number and reveals the parcel ID and assessed value for purposes of property taxes.

The Cook County Treasurer lets you enter a parcel ID number (PIN) and displays the owner’s name and whether he/she’s up to date on his/her tax bill.

The Cook County Recorder of Deeds enables you to locate any document on file with the county (including real estate title) by grantor/grantee, document number, legal description, PIN, trust number, or subdivision.

Tools for Landlords

Complete Landlord.com helps landlords be more productive and profitable with free guides, newsletter articles, and other tools.

LandlordPortal.com offers screening tools, discussion forums, 10,000 forms and agreements, lowest priced ($3.95) credit reports—even landlord software to help you run a profitable, efficient properties. Membership fees start at FREE and go up to $199 annually.

Tools You Can Buy

Property management software like Buildium and iRealtyManager systematize property management operations on any platform, through any browser.

LandlordPortal.com offers screening tools, discussion forums, 10,000 forms and agreements, lowest priced ($3.95) credit reports—even landlord software to help you run a profitable, efficient properties. Membership fees start at FREE and go up to $199 annually.

Microsoft Streets & Trips for Windows is software that lets you import your property data from a database program and plot those properties on maps.

Calculators

Dolf de Roos provides calculators for principal and interest breakdown, principal amount, monthly payments, and compound interest.