Chicago South side.. good investment area?!

[Lindsay Rudolph]

Has anyone invested in chicago area? Is south side by the lake a good area to invest? Has anyone heard about the new development around 87th street by the lake along the new lake shore drive? I'm contemplating on investing in chicago area where it is still affordable. Thanks!!

[Edward Mccracken]

I would not buy in the City of Chicago because Chicago has too many rights for losers.  I buy in the suburbs of Chicago because it has a different set of rules than the city of Chicago.  Mike is right it can take up to 5 or 6 months for an eviction but in the suburbs where the prices are great and the neighborhoods are bad, that's where your experience and education come into play.  I have had evictions go bad before, but I paid the price and learned from it.  Screen, screen and do some more screening.  Go to court, see how the judges are.  Find out the tough judges and see how they treat the certain lawyers and then get the lawyers business card that they like.  I'm far from perfect but as my screening process gotten better, so did my tenant pool, and so did my life.  I don't know where else you can buy a house for 20-30 and maybe put another 10 to 15 in it and make an AMAZING return on it.  If those areas are around me, someone please let me know.  As of now, I'm still buying as much as I can in the suburbs.  Its sounds like a lot of work and it is but the skills I developed of sorting out low quality tenants now makes everything else somewhat easy.