Novice/Beginner Investor living in DuPage County IL but investing in Southwest Michigan (Niles)

[William R Johnson]

Hello BP,

   My name is Will Johnson.  I live in DuPage County IL (just outside Chicago).  I joined BP because I am just getting into the real estate investing game and I want to learn as much as I can.  I have some very basic knowledge and minimal experience, but I am looking to change that soon.

   My wife and I bought a foreclosure ( read… huge dump that needed tons of work) for our first house.  Even though the house had no heat, no plumbing and big holes in the roof… we persevered and made it work.  We got it for a steal and spent 3 years renovating it.  We eventually sold that house for a healthy profit last year and bought a place that we really love with a huge down payment.  That experience has really got me excited about the possibility of future success. 

   We own another house in SW Michigan that we bought a few years back for cash.  At the time, I had planned on renting that house out but I got sidetracked with my primary residence and having babies.  Now I really begun to rehab that place and hope to be done next month and get some renters generating some cash flow for us.  We are also hoping to buy an additional 3 unit building in the next month or two.   We are looking in the SW Michigan region for this next purchase as well because Dupage County, where we actually live, is so expensive. We need immediate positive cash flow, so we need to look elsewhere.  We chose this area in Michigan because it's about a 2 hour drive and our parents own property there.      

   Our goal is simple.  We'd like to build a portfolio of rentals that includes both single family and multifamily buildings that will cash-flow enough to double our income.  We both work right now and enjoy our jobs… but we'd like to build our wealth and the extra income (not to mention ownership of assets) will help us out.  

   I would be very in connecting with BP users that are in Dupage County IL or out in Southwest Michigan (Niles, Berrien Springs, Buchanan, Cassopolis, Edwardsburg, etc…)  Thanks and hope to hear from and network with as many as we can.  We've got lots to learn.