Illinois Newbie looking for 1st home/investment

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Illinois Newbie looking for 1st home/investment

Cesar Torres
New to Real Estate · Brookfield, IL · Member since 2014 · 20 posts · 8 votes

Hi Bigger Pockets,

I recently graduate university with a finance degree. Got a J.O.B. and saved a couple grand, so now I need to move out of the nest egg. I've always been interested in investing in real estate. I'm looking to buy a 'fixer upper' to live in and the sell or rent out in 2-3 years or sooner. I'm open minded about my strategy not ruling out townhomes or condos but would prefer a single family home. 

I'm would appreciate any referrals to  real estate agents who are friendly to first timers both in investing and buying a home particularly in the Downers Grove, Westmont, La Grange, Brookfield area. Those are the four towns I have been keeping a close eye on. Also would appreciate any wholesalers with deals. I would need to finance this with a mortgage though, since I only have enough for a down payment about 10k.  

 I'm trying to knock out 2 birds with one stone. 1. Move Out. 2. Start investing in real estate. Pretty much trying to flip a house as a retail buyer. I'm sure I'm not the first to have this desire so please share your wisdom. If you have any advice for me I would truly appreciate it.

Thank you,

Cesar Torres

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  • Reginald Pintang
    Investor · Morton Grove, IL · Member since 2016 · 30 posts · 3 votes
    10y

    Hi Cesar,

    You've picked a great place to start. BP is definately the place to learn and grow as a real estate investor. Also in the area and i know the areas you want to invest. Did a few rehabs in the area. Feel free to reach out and pick my brain.

    0Reply
  • Paul Timmins
    Specialist · Rockland, MA · Member since 2010 · 7k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    10y

    @Cesar Torres

    Locate and attend 3 different local REIA club meetings great place to meet people gather resources and info. Here you will meet wholesalers who provide deals and rehabbers (cash buyers). Find them through Google and meetup.com

    Two Great reads, I bought both J. Scott The Book on Flipping Houses, The Book on Estimating ReHab Costs http://www.biggerpockets.com/flippingbook

    Consider checking out HUD homes for small multi's owner occupied gets first crack.

    Download BP’s newest book here some good due diligence in Chapter 10. Real Estate Rewind Starting over

    http://www.biggerpockets.com/files/user/brandonatbp/file/real-estate-rewind-a-biggerpockets-community-book

    Good Luck

    Paul 

    0Reply
  • Chris Carollo
    Western Springs, IL · Member since 2012 · 81 posts · 38 votes
    10y

    Welcome to Investing! You've picked a couple great cities but I'd also consider Westchester, Darien and Woodridge. Have you met with Mortgage Broker to get a sense of what type of $$ you qualify for? With only 10k available be careful about finding a place that needs a ton of work as you'll quickly burn through it! Evaluate a ton of deals and when you find one that looks good don't be afraid to pull the trigger. Don't just jump on the first thing you find!!

    0Reply
  • Dan Cecchin
    Downers Grove, IL · Member since 2016 · 5 posts · 1 vote
    10y

    Welcome @Cesar Torres!

    There is a great real estate investor meet-up that was started a few months ago and meets in downtown Downers Grove once a month (DuPage County Real Estate Investor Group).  I wasn't able to make the last one, but met some great people at the first one.

    You may want to look in to look into a 203k loan with your budget, as it will allow you to find a place that needs some work and roll the rehab costs into your mortgage, keeping your down payment as low as possible.  I think you still may be able to put down as little as 3.5% - but do some research and I'm sure others can give much better advice on this (I've never used one, but a friend has...a bit of a hassle and some added hoops to jump through, but otherwise worked great).  I'm not sure how helpful it would be if you are trying to do most of the work yourself , but worth a look - there are many great financing options if you plan to live in the house for a few years.

    https://www.myprospectmortgage.com/fha-203k-loan/r...

    Good luck!

    0Reply
  • Jimmy Chou
    Investor · Schaumburg, IL · Member since 2015 · 44 posts · 16 votes
    10y

    Welcome @Cesar Torres

    @Cesar TorresGood luck with your live-in flip. The best part of that plan is that if you live in there for a couple of years you won't have to pay taxes on capital gain. Icing on the cake is that you'll probably get to ride the wave up while the market shifts. The down side is that you'll have to live through renovation which is not fun so you might not want to go with a full gut project. 

    @Dan Cecchin's meetup group is a great place to start networking locally. There's also a non-profit REIA meeting named CAREIA. There's never any pitching or upselling with these two groups.

    As far as realtor goes, I'll send you a PM for further discussion.

    0Reply
  • Shay Reynolds
    Professional · Austin, TX · Member since 2016 · 74 posts · 6 votes
    10y
    What are the property values?
    0Reply
  • Jerry B.
    Wholesaler · Atlanta, GA · Member since 2016 · 11 posts · 0 votes
    10y
    Hello I have a property you may be interested in you can check out it's a great deal for investor 3827 deal st East Chicago
    0Reply
  • Account Closed
    Investor · Chicago, IL · Member since 2015 · 189 posts · 47 votes
    10y

    Hi Cesar! Welcome to the BP community! Congrats on taking action and working towards your financial independence! Recently I've headed a group of newbie  Chicago BP   investors lije yourself that go out every Saturday to view properties and make offers using no money down lines of credit. I have documented our experiences in the investor deal Diaries forum under the name project BP. We have a lot of fun learning about properties and taking action!  Please check out the links below and leave a contact number if interested. 

    https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/664/topics/30... https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/664/topics/29... https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/522/topics/28... https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/522/topics/27... https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/522/topics/27... https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/522/topics/27...

    0Reply
  • Cesar Torres
    OP
    New to Real Estate · Brookfield, IL · Member since 2014 · 20 posts · 8 votes
    10y

    @Reginald Pintang @Paul Timmins @Jimmy Chou @Chris Carollo @Dan Cecchin @Account Closed Thank you all for your advice and comments. I'm working with a mortgage broker and realtor now. I'm constantly scouring the mls to find a deal and the good ones sell really quick. 

    0Reply
  • Virgilio Garcia
    Bronx, NY · Member since 2016 · 115 posts · 21 votes
    10y

    @Cesar Torres

    welcome to BP, i have only been on for a sort time but got so much info and meet some nice people. i recommend you read the ultimate beginners guide to real estate investing. also don't forget to listen to the podcast. if you have a IOS or android phone, you can download the app and listen to the all the podcast. 

    i hope to see you around the site. 

    0Reply
  • Ayodeji Kuponiyi
    Investor · King of Prussia, PA · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 339 votes
    10y

    @Cesar Torres welcome to BP! Best/first thing to do is get educated. Read read read! Read books on investing in real estate, listen to the podcasts, attend webinars and stay active on the forums while connecting with other investors in your area and pick a niche. Best of luck.

    0Reply
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