All Forum Posts by: Byron W.

Thanks John, appreciate the advice! Several of your comments on other people's posts have helped me in the past! Do you have any recommendations on roofing material? And would you recommend the roofer you went with? 

I had a roofer come by in December to fix a leak and it appears the leak is back. They gave me a 1 year warranty but when I spoke with the guy on the phone, he was making it seems like he did all he can do and my only options are a replacement. I'm going to see if I can still get him to fix it since it's supposedly covered under a one year warranty and it's leaking in the same exact spot as before.

My question is, what's a reasonable cost for replacing a flat roof of this size? It's a 3 unit building, about 1350sqft. I was told somewhere in the realm of $10k. Any help is appreciated, thanks!

I purchased a 3 unit building in bronzeville about 2 years ago now and all of the houses and apartments on the block are in great shape with owners who care, except the one next door to my property. The property is a 3 unit building and has been all but abandoned since long before I bought my place. I've noticed on occasion, 1 guy comes and works on the interior of the property every few months for a few hours. He's honestly done nothing compared to the amount of work this place needs before someone could possibly move in.

How should I report this distressed property to the city? Is there a way to force the owner to sell it? Should I attempt to contact the owner myself and try to buy it? The ARV would be very much worth while but I definitely don't have the cash on hand to flip it or BRRR it. Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated!

 I'd appreciate the referral! The building is in the bronzeville neighborhood.

I'm looking to get an idea of other peoples insurance premiums in the Chicago area. My premium was about $2800 the past couple of years with State Farm but recently jumped to almost $3200. That seems a bit high and I'm wondering if I should call around for a lower rate.

I'm living in a tri-plex house hack. Renting out 2 units and living in one. This is currently the only property I own. I've had work done on the building itself (roof repairs) and remodeling work in one of my previously vacant units last year. My biggest expenses were for contractor work (totaled around $8000 last year). And supplies from Home Depot.

In the event that I'm audited, would my credit card statements and copies of the checks I wrote to the contractors be enough to support my expense claims? Some of the contractors wrote me receipts, so I have those on hand. But some others did not but I did write them a check, so I have the records of those on hand. And the same goes for Home Depot purchases for supplies. I have the credit card statements but not the receipts. In a pinch, I could go to Home Depot and have them print up all of the receipts I need since all of the purchases were made on 1 credit card.

In the future, I plan to keep record of all receipts and require receipts from all contractors. And file them using some tax software.

 It's a 5 bedroom apartment, 3rd floor unit. 

Makes sense. My issue is one of the applicants will have 4 roommates. While they all may meet criteria. I definitely don't want to rent to 5 roommates. Thoughts? 

I'm wondering how long I should leave my ad open and accepting applications before I make a final decision? If the first applicant for example, meets all of the criteria but I want to continue collecting applications and weigh the best ones after say... A few weeks of accepting applications, is this ok/legal?

I have a someone interested in applying for one of my units. They have a 2 month old rescue dog, Boxer "mix". I'm wondering if I should allow a dog so young into the property and if Boxers are an ok breed to have for insurance purposes. The unit is on the top floor of the building, so people will be living under them if that matters.