Chicago Rentals

[Jessica A. Smith]

Morning BP!

I have a general question for those of you that have rentals in the Chicago area. How would you suggest going about selecting a good area? Do you aways look at school ratings or crime rate? Any websites you can suggest to narrow down searches?

[Larry Fried]

@Jessica A. Smith Hi, I see you are in Texas?  Are you looking to do multis, 2-4 flats, single family?  Are you looking to work with a turnkey company or build your own on the ground team?

I use Trulia.com a lot for an initial view on the crime and it breaks it down block by block. Just put in an address. But talking to people who know the area, such as other investors, property managers, real estate agents can help you refine what you see on Trulia, which is very imperfect. Chicago is tricky, because crime is quite high in the areas that are most affordable for investors now for solid properties, such as in the south of Chicago. Get out into the surrounding Illinois suburbs for single family and the taxes are really high. That is why I found the Indiana side of the border to be a much more conducive place for investing. Still in the metro Chicago area, and with much lower taxes and much more landlord friendly. Plus there is an excellent turnkey company I work with there for very affordable B neighborhood SFR properties.