BRRRRing Chicago and its suburbs

[Ian Dikhtiar]

Greetings, folks

On my path towards my first purchase that I hope to make one day in a near future, I wanted to ask experienced investors in Chicago area an suburbs a couple of questions and I would love to hear your opinion and maybe share your experience with a complete rookie in a business.

1. What do you folks think about the current Chicago market (the city itself) for BRRRR strategy?

I've been running numbers, even on the properties I can not afford in any near future (unless I find a partner), and I haven't seen too many good houses that can be BRRRR'ed. The math just doesn't add up that well. I've been as pessimistic about my ARV and rehab estimate costs as I could be and it just doesn't add up unless you drop the safety margin (then everything becomes great and super cash-flowing, LOL). Now, I'm not talking about high-crime areas. I understand that there are a TON of possibilities, especially with Section 8 program, but I do not really want to start with it. I might be misunderstanding something and missing out on great deals. Would love to hear stories of successful brrrr in a city in anyone has one.

2. What about suburbs and further areas (like North Chicago, Aurora, Elgin, etc.)

Any luck there? It also looks like a great market, especially with a limited budget. But it is still very hard to me to get even an approximate ARV on those areas simply because of the lack of experience and that's why my calculator breaks my hopes every time with loses instead of a profit.

3. (Not really BRRRR-related, but I would love your opinions on it) Am I looking at the wrong place?

Should I be going all-in knocking on peoples doors with my offers without knowing what I'm really doing? Or should I play safe and stick to my real estate agent (who's awesome, by the way, would highly recommend him to anyone interested) and just go full MLS trying to catch up with a people who have the instant cash right away to grab all the good deals?

I've been extremely passionate about investing, so I can break out of the endless job cycle and start making difference and helping other players in this wonderful game and I would ABSOLUTELY appreciate any opinion and advice from the community. I know that really successful investors don't share their secrets with strangers, especially in a local market, however, there's still a chance, isn't it?

Also, you must pardon my messed up English, not my first language)

Thank yall!