Sell Your Commercial Property In Illinois

The Illinois rental market at a glance

Illinois had 1,657,539 renter households in the Census Bureau's 2020-2024 American Community Survey, or 32.9% of 5,036,449 occupied homes. Buildings of five or more units hold 1,189,562 Illinois housing units, 21.8% of the total, per table B25024.

Illinois rental vacancy was 5.0% in the 2020-2024 DP04 housing profile, tighter than most large states. The median gross rent of $1,274 equals about 18.3% of the $83,390 median household income. Even so, 47.9% of Illinois renter households paid 30% or more of income on rent, per table B25070.

Five-year trends in Illinois

Illinois median gross rent rose 26.1% between the 2015-2019 and 2020-2024 ACS periods, from $1,010 to $1,274 a month. Median household income grew 26.6%, from $65,886 to $83,390. Incomes kept pace with rents, finishing 0.5 percentage points ahead.

Illinois added 14,120 renter households over the two periods, a 0.9% gain, while total population slipped 0.6%. Units in five-plus buildings grew 6.1%, adding 68,395 units. Employment edged up 0.2%.

Renter growth was uneven across Illinois. Kendall County added 8.4% more renter households, and Cook County added 4.5%. McHenry County lost 12.3% and St. Clair County 12.2%.

Illinois county comparison

Median gross rent in the 11 Illinois counties profiled here runs from $889 in Rock Island County to $1,781 in Kendall County. Rental vacancy runs from 2.8% in Kendall County to 9.0% in Champaign County, per each county's 2020-2024 ACS figures.

Champaign County, home to a large university, has the highest renter share at 46.0% and the highest vacancy at 9.0%. Cook County follows at 42.3% renters, with 34.8% of units in larger buildings.

Illinois landlord, tax and transfer rules

Illinois bars local rent control outright. Under 50 ILCS 825/5, no unit of local government may enact, maintain or enforce an ordinance controlling the rent charged for private residential or commercial property.

Under 765 ILCS 710/1, an Illinois landlord must send an itemized damage statement within 30 days of move-out or return the deposit within 45 days. A bad-faith landlord owes twice the deposit. Complexes of 25 or more units must also pay interest on deposits held over six months, per 765 ILCS 715/1.

For unpaid rent, 735 ILCS 5/9-209 requires a written demand giving the tenant at least 5 days to pay before the lease is terminated and eviction can be filed.

Illinois property tax assessment starts at 33 1/3% of fair cash value under 35 ILCS 200/9-145. That section carves out counties above 200,000 residents that classify property, and Cook County is one of them. The state transfer tax is 50 cents per $500 of value under 35 ILCS 200/31-15, or $2,000 on a $2,000,000 sale.

What this means if you sell in Illinois

Owners who sell commercial property in Illinois are priced on rents, vacancy and the next tax bill. A building in Kendall County, at 2.8% vacancy, reads differently to a buyer than one in Champaign County at 9.0%.

With rent control barred statewide, buyers underwrite Illinois rent growth without a local cap. They still check the deposit ledger, since 765 ILCS 710/1 sets the 30-day and 45-day clocks. We also confirm how the county assesses the building, because Cook County and the collar counties apply different rules.

We review Illinois buildings of five or more units in the 11 counties above and across the rest of Illinois. Send the rent roll and the latest Illinois tax bill, and we will set the property against these county figures.