All Forum Posts by: Andy V.

@Justin Gonzalez  I don't have personal experience here and I'm not a lawyer, but I suspect that you will have to get the lease drawn up in Spanish.  If you have either the tenant sign a lease that she can't legally be expected to understand or have the daughter sign the lease for her mother without power of attorney, I don't believe that the lease will hold up in court should they ever decide to be less-than-ideal tenants.

@Account Closed  When I got in my car this morning, the temperatures were reading at -11F and I don't even live in the coldest suburb of Chicago.  Even with the cold snap we're in right now, this winter has been a lot warmer overall than it was last year.

@Ruthvik B.  Welcome to BP!  I currently live a little south of you by Plainfield and Joliet, but have family right around you in Hanover Park & South Elgin.  There are a ton of people from the Chicagoland area on this site to help with advice whenever you need it.

Welcome @Sam Sav!  It sounds like you have already overcome one of the greatest hurdles new investors face...you've already gotten off the sidelines and bought your first cash-flowing rental property.  Just a thought, but unless you & your fiance are absolutely in love with the property you already own, maybe you should keep that property as a rental and buy another property to move into.  If you opt for a MFH, you could live in part of it and rent out the rest.

Either way, welcome to the site and congratulations on the upcoming wedding.

I read that book (or rather listened to the audiobook) not too long ago and I believe that @Jeff Greenberg is correct.  If I'm remembering correctly, he purchased a property using none of his own money.  In exchange for using 100% investor money, he gave each of his investors part ownership in the property.  That way, when he refinanced the property, he was able to return all of their invested capital with interest, but they still retained their % ownership...and thus their % of the monthly cash flow.

I agree with @Matthew Paul.  There are several ways to do a minimum temperature setting, but none of that matters if the tenants have access to the code mandated disconnects.  Unless both the circuit breaker for the heater and the local disconnect are locked inside an "Authorized Personnel Only" area, the tenant(s) can always shut the heat off.

Welcome @Kathy Austin!  If there's information to be found, I'm sure you can find it on BP!  Good luck to you!

Chris Harrison That's a great question. I'm in pretty much the same situation as you in the Chicago market and have been wondering the same thing. I keep hearing and reading that it's easy to get started with little or no money down. All you have to do is buy a multi-family home with an FHA loan and live in one unit while renting the rest. Sadly, that doesn't work when you're already a home-owner and aren't in a position to uproot your family. I look forward to seeing the responses you get to this post.

@Christopher Davis  Welcome to BP.  There is a wealth of information in the forums & blogs here. 

@Sean English  Welcome to BP and to the Chicago area.