Hammond Indiana Real Estate Startup

[Ray Jansma]

Hey all! Glad to be new to this site and glad I can connect with you guys/gals.  I'm new to the real estate game.  Grew up around construction sites due to my father owning his own business throughout my childhood.  Im currently a police officer in Illinois that wants to get into real estate with an end game in mind of getting out of law enforcement earlier than later.  I'm currently setting up my team and mentors and making good headway.  I've been analyzing properties right now and have focused on Hammond Indiana.  The house prices are reasonable and is in a B to C range neighborhood but the cash flow appears pretty good if I can find a deal.  Am looking into a 2 or 3 unit to start and get my feet wet.  Any investors have an experience with the area I can shoot ideas off of or anyone have advise for a first timer with a full time job but have the time even while on duty to study and research and make phone calls to make this business successful.  I'm excited and have always been into real estate and evaluating properties for years now.  Just havent had the capital until now to finally jump in!

[Sharad M.]

Hi @Ray Jansma

I invest very heavily in Hammond. In last couple of year, I have close over 100 deals and majority of them in Hammond so I know the Hammond market well.

I agree with @Jim C. that Hammond is tough with code enforcement but honestly I prefer it that way. I own several properties in Merrillville as well and they are not as tough as Hammond. We pull permits on everything we do. Interior or exterior so code enforcement has never been an issue.

At the end of the day it's about making the best rate of return on your time and money and in my experience in Lake County, IN market, Hammond offers the best value for money for investors. I have flipped properties in Hammond also to home owners so there are home owners living and moving to Hammond.

I have 10 jobs going on in Hammond right now so what Jim is saying about "All tradespeople doing work in Hammond need to have a license from the City.: is not accurate. You need to be licensed for stuff like roofing, plumbing, electric, etc. Anyone can do painting and flooring without being licensed or pulling permit.

And also this "A few years ago Hammond cracked down on "split" properties; where LLs took SFR's and converted them to duplexes/tris by making the basement or attic areas separate living spaces." This is probably something every city should do for fire safety. As long as you do things right, you will never have any issues to deal with. I am telling you this from experience.

@Adrien C. runs a very successful wholesaling company in NWI and I have purchased multiple properties from him. He is 100% accurate when he says that as long as you do things right, you will have nothing to worry about.

I don't understand when people complain about a city making them hire a licensed contractor to do a roof..What is so wrong with that?? The city is protecting the investors by making sure that the things are getting done right. Would you want to live next door to a house where some shady contractor did half-*** work? I know I wouldn't.

I have rehabs going on in Hammond, Merrillville and Hobart and Hammond by far is my fav city. I have had investors fly in from all different parts of the country to look at all these areas and they are all surprised by how nice the area is given the price point.

Follow and listen to people who are actually investing in a city like Adrien and not someone who hasn't or would never invest in a city based on some incorrect information. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. I will be more than happy to have my Project Manager show you some of my rehabs going on.