We typically rent 5-10 apartments and houses each year by correspondence. Of course not everyone feels comfortable doing this. We can provde references of current tenants who have done such and have been most satisfied.


For those you wanting to make a lease via correspondence:

  • We will email you the filled in lease for your review.
  • Email or phone calls will resolve any questions you have or errors you find, with a revised lease emailed to you if necessary.
  • Once satisfied with the lease, print out and sign two copies if renting an apartment and 3 copies if renting a house , double sided preferred. Most printers cannot print double sided, but you can first print out copies of the first page of the lease, and then place these back in the paper tray so that the second sides will print on the back sides of the first.
  • If renting a single family house, there will be an additional form to print out (ONLY ONE COPY NEEDED) and sign but not date (Under  Illinois law, someone who rents out a house to others can get a discount on property taxes if the lease states that the tenants, through their rental payments, pay the property taxes, as noted in paragraph 16.  The second sentence of paragraph 17  makes clear that your rental payments completely covers that obligation, and that you do not pay anything other than the amounts specified in paragraph 3.)
  • Send by certifed mail (~$4) or, if we ask, overnight (~$20) the lease copies, and, for a house, the additional form. **US Postal Service is preferred because the other services have difficulty finding our address.** Do not request a return receipt. Today's onine tracking makes return receipts obsolete, and if we are not home to sign, we must drive 3 miles to the post office to get the package.

    To make payment, either
    • If you have a bank account, see if your bank supports direct transfers to other banks (most banks with online banking should) through one of several services, the most popular of which is called Zelle.  (Do not use the service Popmoney, if that is what your bank uses.)   To do this you may need one or more of the following:
          our other email address: mjerryfuerst@yahoo.com
          our bank:  Chase
          our bank's  routing number:     071000013
      Many banks limit how much money via Zelle you can pay out in a day or month. If you encounter this limit, you can submit payments over 2 or more days.
    • Include in the mailing a check (preferred) or money order for the deposit and first month's rent (or what other total amount we agreed to), making the check out to the agent named on the lease!! Do not make the check out to SJapartments!!
  • Once the parcel has been sent, advise us by email of the parcel's carrier (post office, UPS, Fed EX, etc.) and tracking number. The tracking number allows tracing the parcel on the internet, making a signed return receipt unnecessary. (If you request such a receipt, and we are not present when the parcel arrives, we will have to drive several miles the next day to retrieve the package.)
  • We will acknowledge by email receipt of the parcel, sign all copies of the lease, and, unless we agree otherwise, will send one of the lease copies back to you by regular mail. (For houses, the third copy of the lease will go to the county.)