Investing in Low-Income Areas (Chicago Suburbs)

[Mark Cios]

I have been looking at the market almost daily for the past half year as my wife and I are currently selling our house as part of a contingency on another property we are planning on buying. After remodeling, we should have a substantial amount of money in the bank with which I planned on starting to invest with. We live in the southwest suburbs of Chicago and I have been looking at possibly condos to rent out but more recently I began to look into cheap houses. I am not entirely familiar with the areas that I am looking at, although a $30,000 home is very affordable. How do you determine what areas you want to stay away from and where you are good with working in. I am particularly looking into the Park Forrest/Chicago Heights areas which I do not believe is very violent. Does section 8 housing play a role in your decision making? What am I looking for in these areas to know it can make money? I am fairly confident in my ability to inspect a house and know how much money I would need to put into it, just not sure how to determine how much is too much in a low-income area.