All Forum Posts by: Ben Walhood

Hey Joseph, 

Welcome to the neighborhood!  I relocated to the western Chicago suburbs from the St Louis area as well (lived in St Charles, MO for awhile).  I've been investing in Dupage and surrounding areas for about a decade, lots of great people and real estate opportunities!

I'd recommend you connect with @Christopher Leon.  He's a real estate broker and investor, should be able to cover all your needs.

Best of luck!

Elvia, the last time this came up for us in Bolingbrook, the village reported that they

have adopted the 2006 International Property Maintenance Code guidelines on this, it boils down to 70 sq. ft. of bedroom space per occupant. So to have a double occupied room it should be 140 sq. ft.

The 2012 code switched to 70 sq ft for the first occupant and only 50 sq ft for each additional, but I haven't heard that they updated to this yet in Bolingbrook.

The speaker lineup for this event is simply diabolical!  I'm really looking forward to speaking at the summit and provide value to the audience, but I'm even more excited to learn from this amazing collection of 'real deal' investors. 

@Brie Schmidt, @John Casmon, @Joe Fairless, Andrew Holmes, Rosario Terracciano, Zach Shepard, Linda Liberatore, the list goes on and on of truly legit people either investing in real estate or providing services to those who do (and often both).  

If you're serious about becoming a real estate investor, you need to surround yourself with people that are already successful doing it.  And this summit is a collection of those very people.  See you there!

Thanks for the heads up, Kimberly!

If looking online for the info, try using 'Sheriff Sale' as your keyword. This is how many jurisdictions have them listed. You might also search/browse your official county website for phrases like auction, house auction, property auction, foreclosure auction etc.

Congrats on your first investment property! I can't speak specifically about Chicago, as I invest in the burbs, but I'm not aware of any IL law that restricts rent increases. 

If I were you, I would bring your rental comps to the tenant and explain the situation. Congratulate them on finding a great deal the past few years but you now need to charge fair market rent. 

I've had success with offering options to the tenant. Maybe 1200/mth for a 12-month lease, 1100/mth for a 2-year, or 1250/mth and an improvement budget to upgrade/replacement a few items that are outdated. 

Just some ideas for you, but bottom line you have no reason to stay at current rent. It's a hot rental market and a hot rental season right now. 

Austin, the critical first question that every investor needs to answer is WHY am I investing in real estate?  The answer to this hugely important question should be the guiding light for all your remaining questions.  

Ex: Should I buy a few houses or a small apartment building? The answer, as always, is 'It depends'. Typically the house(s) will have better appreciation but the apartment building will have better cashflow. There are numerous other pros/cons you can read through by searching BP for 'SFR vs Apartments' (or some variation). But without knowing WHY you're investing, the pros/cons of each option will be irrelevent to you. If you decide that your WHY is to generate cashflow in the short term so that you can supplement other income immediately, then the apartment might be the better choice. If you're investing so that you can retire with a nice nest egg in 30 years, the single family home might be the way to go. See the difference?

Work on answers to your WHY first, then you can hunt BP for product-specific investment advice that fits with your goals.

Good luck!

@Sharlynda Glover

I'm a buy-and-hold and fix-and-flip investor in Dupage, Will and Kane counties.  Please feel free to connect and put me on your buyers list.

I'd also be curious to hear about your experience with the REI education programs.

Best of luck!

-Ben

Welcome Kyle! In addition to regularly learning from the BP podcasts and forums, I recommend visiting some of the local REIA's. You'll probably hear more than one product pitch, but they're a great place for networking.

Best of luck with your biz! 

I completely agree with @Nick Baldor that you should let the tenant know your intentions asap. However, you may not need a new lease agreement for the month-to-month. Many leases, including the Board of Realtors lease, have language that says the agreement automatically reverts to a month-to-month agreement one the initial time period is concluded. 

Then again, having a new agreement between you and the tenant would keep the situation very clear, but it may might be redundant...