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Updated over 12 years ago on . Most recent reply

New to RE Investing, starting out in Chicago
Hey everyone! I am new to this site and even newer in RE investing. Investing in real estate is something that has caught my eye for a long time, but I never had actually put any real thought into it until recently. I was invited to one of those "guru" seminars by one of my friends, and after I attended I decided to take a closer look myself into just how much I could learn on my own. Wow! What an endless realm of information there is available through books, blogs, websites, etc! Within a short time I am amazed at how much knowledge and information I have amassed on every aspect and facet of investing. I only wish I would have taken the plunge and started educating myself much sooner. I am 25 years old, recently divorced, recently broke through that divorce(marriage is a terrible investment :) ) and ready for something new and exciting. I live in Chicago, and being a city guy I am interested in starting out by investing in smaller multi family dwellings (2, 3, 4 flats) doing minor rehab/repair work, maximizing rent potential, minimizing maintenance costs by managing the buildings and tenants myself, and holding on to them for a while and see what I can make of it. Possibly selling in the future to start investing in some apartment buildings? I don't really have any interest in investing in single family homes and I know exactly what I want to gain from this experience. I just want to know if there is anyone out there in the Chicago area who specializes in this area and could possibly offer some mentoring advice for a guy just starting out? My main questions include how exactly to go about securing financing when you have poor credit/ no working capital. I plan on attending the ext available REIC meetings scheduled in my area to hopefully meet a few like minded individuals with more experience/knowledge. 2nd, for example, lets say I want to buy a 3 unit building and live in one of the units myself. I am a little confused on the difference in terms of how to go about financing/contracting as opposed to taking over the building and renting all three units? Like I said, I'm new to this and am trying to learn as much as I can but just am not sure how to actually jump into the first deal and take the big plunge. Any feedback is appreciated thank you!
Most Popular Reply

Welcome ,,
If you’re looking to getting into wholesaling
follow @Kevin Tunney threads
Looking for local lender / buy & hold
look over @Eric Michaels threads
Both our from the Windy city
Experts indicate you need 20% for multi-family
,, but if you go through HUD / Fannie Mae / Homepath
( smaller down payment for Owner Occupied - most likely)
Maybe check for city owned properties
Where you purchase low and build sweat equity
For example ( Owner Occupied )
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
City of Milwaukee here offers low purchase
price and rehab loans at extremely low rates
Do not shell out any money until you at
least visited your local REI club a few times
Reason
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
that would help point you in the best
real estate directions for your local market