Chicago House Hack - Fix, Rent, Sell

[Nicholas Landiak]

Investment Info:

Single-family residence fix & flip investment in Chicago.

Purchase price: $270,000
Cash invested: $10,000
Sale price: $320,000

3 bedroom, 1 bathroom ~900sq.ft. condo
Top floor or 3 floor, 4 unit building

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

I needed a place to live and could not justify paying rent when opportunities were available.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

Found through MLS with agent.

How did you finance this deal?

Loan and Private money

How did you add value to the deal?

The market did much of the work for me on this deal. I put in a bit of sweet equity; refurbished an exposed brick wall, replaced out-dated AC unit and furnace. Most expensive projects were tuck-pointing work to repair a face of building and chimney.

What was the outcome?

The property served as my home for three years. During that time I rented out the other two rooms.
In 2016 I moved out and rented the unit for a year. I self managed the property. It was relatively smooth with several stressful moments. During this time I moved out of state and sold the property

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Clear expectations and Delegation are key to being a landlord.
I did everything myself and did not create a team to support me in case of problems. When something did come up I had to drop everything and investigate rather than call one of the people on my team.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Vince Incopero of Real Law Group was tremendous help and resource during the sale and closing process