Important Things to Know Before Investing In Chicago

[Tony Freeman]

I have the pleasure of working with all investors at different levels but first time investors and out of state investors have seemed to pop up more and more. That being said, one tip I can give new investors and out of state investors is to have at least some sort of grasp on the neighborhoods to invest in before just diving into making offers and such.

With Chicago being such a large city filled with a ton of vibrant neighborhoods, I don't believe that it should be up to you as a first time investor or out of state investor to learn about these neighborhoods through your own research. As much as you probably want to do a ton of research, with the amount of neighborhoods that would be good for investment opportunities, there's only so much research you can do before your brain just hits a wall. So first things first, you want to work with someone that really knows what's going on in the booming neighborhoods and they should be able to paint a clear enough picture for you as to why that area is good to invest in. Having an agent that specializes in one area is great if you are really set on being in that area and nowhere else but if you are open to multiple areas, you definitely want someone that can explain to you what goes on in those areas, what the rents are like, what kind of entertainment there is out there, what's the public transportation like, etc. Every neighborhood is different no matter how close together they may be.

Spiraling off of knowing the neighborhoods, you should understand that Chicago is very big on public transportation. So much so that a good amount of people that move out here will get rid of their car. So finding investments that are near public transportation, especially near specific train lines(i.e. Blue Line, Pink Line, Brown Line), are the investments that you would really want to go after when they pop up.