All Forum Posts by: Brad Huseman

I am currently searching for my first property. I plan to live in the property and do most of the rehab myself. My goal is to rent the property, refinance and use that to purchase my second property. My question is if there are advantages of first time home buyers that I should be leveraging on this purchase? I am looking at 3 bedroom 2 bath single family homes.

I am working to become a real estate investor with a focus on buying and holding rental properties. I'm positioning myself to purchase my first rental property and educating myself in as many relevant areas as possible. A friend is taking an online course to become a real estate agent in hopes to gain knowledge around investing. At $500 and 90 hours of curriculum, will I have an adequate ROI in the way of knowledge gained, access to MLS and ability to sell my own properties by taking this course? Or is my time better served by continuing to read as many books as I can get my hands on and educating myself in other ways.

How do you decide which area to buy in? I live in the Chicago area and have access to dozens of Chicago suburbs, the downtown area neighborhoods, even Wisconsin and Indiana. I'm aware of School district quality tools and looking at quality of area but I am having a hard time deciding which area to focus on for pursuing leads with so many options near me. I plan to manage my first property and would like something somewhat local so I am able to spend time at the property on my first deal. Any advice on where to find information on which areas are growing, have high rent, low vacancy or any other indicators that it will be a great long term investment? Thanks!