Greetings from Chicago

[Frank S.]

Hello everyone,

I'm new to this great forum, this is my first post. I thank to my Bogglehead buds for the reference.

I enjoy reading about diversification and investments, and I hope to learn a little more through this forum. Over the last month, I enjoyed two great books:

Every Landlord's Tax Deduction Guide by Fishman, Stephen

What Every Real Estate Investor Needs to Know about Cash Flow... And 36 Other Key Financial Measures by Frank Gallinelli

If you can recommend one or two more, please send them my way.

I had been a happy tenant for a long time, but I need to move on with my life as our family grows. My wife's dream is a 250K/300K SFH in the south burbs. Unfortunately, I work in the northern suburbs. So, a final compromise may be the northwest burbs.

Until then, we are considering buying a duplex - or triplex- in the north area of Chicago,  Our original idea was to buy a place, live there for a few years, and then pull equity to buy our house and have some additional passive income later on. It was a good idea until we crunched numbers, however.

The $400K market in Chicago is tough. I see many cap 4s without any CFBT. Some of these properties are just money pits. Other properties are grossly overpriced. I can't find any good options through the MLS. Is the Chicago market a futile option? We are not interested in moving into a "war zone" to make a buck or two.

I will keep reading, crunching numbers, and researching. Wish me luck!

Thanks,