Newbie investor in Chicago, IL

[Jonathan Alvarez]

Hey everybody! I hope everyone is doing well during these crazy times. My name is Jonathan and I'm from Chicago. I currently work as a delivery driver for amazon, if you live in the Orland Park area chances are I've delivered your amazon packages! Currently I am investing in buy and hold rental properties, while working on getting myself in the position to purchase my first house hack. While I build capital to invest, I am trying to retain all the information that is on BiggerPockets that has to do with buy and hold rentals. If anyone has any recommendations for books or any educational material that could help, I would really appreciate any and all recommendations. One big question I have now; what should I look for when picking a market to invest in? I look forward to connecting and being apart of the BiggerPockets family!

[Eudith Vacio]

Hi @Jonathan Alvarez! 

You’re in the right spot! BP has amazing books you can read to learn more regarding the various real estate strategies. If your initial strategy is to house-hack in the Chicago market, you may want to consider finding a neighborhood that you are comfortable living in, and close to your job. Aside from that, for investing purposes, look at areas with generally lower property taxes as they can eat into your budget. Also, make sure you are conservative with calculating rent. Especially now with the pandemic, rent prices may go down.