Articles by
Amalia Otet
Amalia Otet is an online content developer and creative writer for RENTCafé. She loves all things real estate and strives to live beautifully, one green step at a time.
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Trends in Apartment Renting
The American dream is getting an apartment-centric makeover. RentCafe experts analyzed a mountain of data pertaining to apartment renting, and it confirmed a trend already…
Home design trend: Wall decals
Fickle, indecisive, live in a rental, or have that constant need to keep up with the latest design ideas? Maybe all of the above describe…
Renting basics: what you want to know before taking the plunge
Renting in Chicago is relatively easy as opposed to other major hubs like New York or San Francisco. Most management companies or landlords don’t require…
Fitler Square – Neighborhood Profile
Not too crowded, not too exposed, in an excellent location, and with a very well defined character, this is Fitler Square. South of Rittenhouse, this…
San Francisco’s rental market tops the nation
Luck – often defined as the perfect moment when opportunity meets preparation – can be one of the reasons for San Francisco’s position on top…
Pay classic or pay online, the choice is yours
Los Angeles rental market has developed quite a reputation of being slanted towards landlords. Blame it on the current economic situation, the growing number of…
Forbes named Silver Lake hippest neighborhood for hipsters
It probably won’t come as a surprise but we’re currently home to America’s best hipster neighborhood, according to Forbes (huh?!) magazine. Care to guess which…
Demand driving LA’s residential rental market
Let’s face it, people like to live in LA. Mostly owed to a constant flow of people choosing to put down roots in Los Angeles,…
Keeping off that winter apartment weight gain
It’s that time of year again – the days are getting shorter and we have less time to be active and outside after a long…
Chicago and pet-owners get along just fine
Looks like man’s best friend is also a dependable ally in the fight for a healthy living. A recent study conducted by researchers from Kuopio…
Teeny tiny SF apartments? Not just yet.
The idea of reducing the minimum apartment unit size in San Francisco to 150 square feet had the brakes applied this week, and now a…
Moving in LA: What the experts say
Recently a bonafide moving expert, Russell Rabichev, offered some good tips on the complexities that can be encountered when moving into or out of an LA…
How to greet fall with a bang at your Chicago apartment
It may stand for the start of school season, with shorter days and cooler nights, yet fall is also a time of grand changes, bountiful…
Best housing options for college students in Chicago
Finding suitable housing is one of the most essential decisions that students have to make when kicking off a new academic adventure. Housing has a…
It’s easy to enjoy renting in Chicago’s West Loop
If you’re a young professional working in the Loop looking for a convenient commute, or you just want a place close to it all, just…
Suffering in San Francisco
We’ve been hearing the horror stories for months. The jam-packed, 15 minute open houses. The offers to pay a full year of rent up front,…
Rent vs. own: Phoenix analysis
Every real estate market is different. Living in Chicago is much different than living in Phoenix. We have different housing needs, costs of living, and…
High rents push some toward home purchases
Despite the recent consensus that it’s still smarter to rent than buy in San Francisco, escalating rents and low value for the price are pushing…
7 questions to ask before renting an apartment in Chicago
Life in Chicago is as exciting as a roller coaster ride. The city is so charming and unique that you fall in love with it…
The timing Is perfect to move downtown
The Downtown Phoenix Partnership is calling for more residents to move into the downtown area. There is no question that the downtown area has improved…
How to Fairly Share Rent in a Multiple-Bedroom Apartment
So your San Francisco apartment has three bedrooms, all sized differently, and one bathroom. You have two roommates, one who is never home but has…
L.A. apartment rents keep going up
We’re no San Francisco, and that’s a good thing. The space-crunched Northern California city has a lack of housing units, lots of renters looking for…
What’s up with the Philadelphia rental market?
If you’re looking to move in the City of Brotherly Love, have a look at the current status of the Philadelphia apartment rental market. Numbers…
Storage solutions for a stylish Chicago home
What’s more important than the space we live in? The home environment clearly has a major impact on our perception of the outside world, on…
Renting with a furry friend in L.A.
I’d sure love to live in a pet-friendly utopia where dogs and landlords get along perfectly. Since this is real life, we do have to…
Wicker Park sets an example of eco-conscious living
Nowadays most renters look for lifestyle and convenience in their apartment choices, with an increased care for sustainable features and green living. Sustainable living environments,…
Renting might not be such a bad investment
If you’ve ever made a prediction about how the future would shake out, and later had to face up to the fact that you were…
Planning your Philadelphia apartment budget?
We all know that rents on Philadelphia apartments are going up and demand for units is the lowest it has been in some time. But…
5 steps to create your perfect home office
To all the working ladies out there: mothers, writers, students, designers and everybody in between, how do you keep your workspace at home welcoming and…
Before you sign your first lease, read this
Why does signing your first least seem so terrifying? Maybe it’s the tiny print, the complete overuse of legal mumbo-jumbo, or an awareness to the…