How do you manage out of state deals? Chicagoland

[Jennifer Griffin]

I am fairly new to the world of investing. I am currently in Hawaii for a short term assignment, however, want to invest long term in Chicagoland for several reasons. I am in the infant stages of putting together my business plan and want to make sure I have a solid plan of action in place on how to manage out of state deals. I am currently interesting in flipping properties and eventually buy and hold to rent out. Since I will be doing this remotely initiially, I'd greatly appreciate feedback on how others have managed these things. I seriously need a reliable boots on the ground partner or services that will aid in making acquisition, rehab, selling, property management of sorts smoother. Are there any comprehensive investment programs or companies that offer umbrella services for investors that others would recommend? I am looking exclusively in the Chicagoland area right now.

[Crystal Smith]

Originally posted by @Jennifer Griffin:

Are there any comprehensive investment programs or companies that offer umbrella services for investors that others would recommend? I am looking exclusively in the Chicagoland area right now.

 Here's how we managed & currently manage out of state deals.  A little background 1st.   We've invested in multiple markets outside of our own for multiple reasons, including Chicago.  When we started investing in Chicago I lived in Atlanta & commuted between Atlanta & Chicago.  Full disclosure- I'm a licensed realtor in Illinois & Georgia.  I was born & raised in Chicago but living in Atlanta.    My partner & I use the following formula

• Hired a realtor- We went thru about a dozen before finding a few we could work w/.  
• Inspectors/General Contractors- One of the realtor's we hired had a fairly good network of independent inspectors & GCs; primarily because the realtor was also an investor.   We leveraged their network.  Regarding inspectors- We ended up leveraging the same network of inspectors as used by many of the local Hard Money lenders.  Many of them use Granite Inspection.  We were flipping single families & holding multi's.
• Attorney- Illinois is a state that unfortunately involves attorney's in almost every deal.  It's unfortunate because honestly there are times they can really screw up simple deals.  We went thru quite a few until we found one whose business was 100% w/ investors (He's retired now so don't ask who he is)
• Wholesalers/Off Market Sellers- Got on everyone's list
• Lenders- If you're flipping w/ cash then you can ignore this.  If you're going to leverage hard money then get approved 1st.  Use a lender that knows the market.  There are some good local lenders & a few national lenders that work well here. 

It took a little while to get our systems in place but once in place we had enough projects going that we relocated & set up shop in Chicagoland.  We used the same approach in some other markets in the southwest & southeast & continue to use the approach as we invest in other markets outside of Chitown right now.