New from Chicago

[Lucas Hammer]

Hey everyone. I'm Lucas and I live in Albany Park, Chicago. For years, I thought I wanted to be a perennial renter, but especially with rent prices skyrocketing around me, I decided I'd look into buying my first condo. My biggest concern was not wanting to be stuck in a single place, so I started looking into the possibility of renting the condo out once we moved, and after talking it over with my wife, we decided to put an offer in and get a place before we get gentrified out of our neighborhood and then keep it when we move and start building our own wealth.

As it stands right now, I'm not an investor (yet) while we wait for the bank's reply on our SS offer, but one way or another we're doing this to eventually get out of our day jobs.

[Nnabuenyi Anigbogu]

Welcome @Lucas Hammer. I currently live in Albany Park at the moment and i like the area. It is prime for multifamily properties. Be sure you are buying the condo at a great price. Right now condos are not too hot in AP due to the gentrification and higher number of renters. As more homeowners find this area it might get better. I have seen many condos around here sit on the market for 4-6 months and sometimes more. Also renting out a condo can be frought with issues if you have an unwilling HOA. I sold my condo in Irving park partly because the HOA implemented a rule a year after i moved in that limited rentals and therefore i could not rent it out. Also assessments and special assessments can eat into profits.

2-4 flats on the other hand are selling like hotcakes.

Let me know if you have any questions.