All Forum Posts by: Carmen Graves

Hi BP,

We are installing new ceramic kitchen flooring in an older home (100+ years). It currently has 2 layers of what it seems like adhesive vinyl or linoleum, on top of original pine wood floors. Should these layers of adhesive vinyl be removed before installing the new cement board and ceramic tiles?

Our contractor first said, they would be removed, but later changed his mind and wants to install the new ceramic floor on top of everything, and he said it will be fine, if they do it this way. Is this customary? I am not an expert on flooring, but common sense tells me it should probably be removed. We could use some help from BP on this topic. Thanks in advance. 

My husband @Peter Graves and I are so grateful we found BP to help us achieve our REI journey! Our journey has gone like this:

October 2018: listened to my first episode of the BP podcast (It was episode #300, super recommended for newbies)

November 2018: market research, and narrowed down our area while visiting properties as much as possible

December 2018: put our first offer on Xmas day. Offer accepted next day!

January 2019: closed on our first REI property! (a 3-flat in Chicago, for house-hacking and buy-hold)

February 2019: Rehab, rehab, and more rehab

March 2019: Listed for rent

April 2019: First tenants moved (yes! Rental income finally coming our way!)

May 2019: move into our unit

Future: Refinance, repeat. Continue paying debt and continue saving for our next property

Thanks to BP, where we were able to connect with important team members to achieve this. On our first BP meeting, we met our agent. Via BP messaging other BP members recommended KEY people for our success. Thanks to @Brie Schmidt for recommending our awesome mortgage broker, to @Henry Lazerow for being our agent, special thanks to @Account Closed for sharing their insight about the north-side Chicago market, and providing advice. Please excuse me if I forgot anyone on this list, but I am truly blessed to have met so many great people along the way.

Why am I doing this?

Time and financial freedom. Both my husband family and my family are from out of state. My husband’s family is based in Texas, and mine is in Peru. I can’t wait for the time that we could travel to Peru and Texas back and forth with no money or time restrictions. I would love to spend more time with my loved ones while still receiving passive income.

With more passive income I would like to increase the time I spend educating and teaching. By profession, I am a dentist specialized in Periodontics. I would like to increase the time I spend teaching the future generations of dentists in the USA and Peru. As I gain more experience in REI, I would also like to share the knowledge I would have gained to future investors, especially I would like to help empower people that might be struggling financially or people that come from a disadvantaged situation in life such single parents, orphans, etc.

To have the financial resources and time to advocate for our planet, and help to make it a better place for the future generations to come. After all our life (and REI) depends on our planet to be safe and clean and continue being a beautiful place.

How can I help?

Connect with me if you are interested in talking about REI. I am happy to share whatever knowledge and experience I have.

Thanks again BP!

In Chicago, it is very common to have a move-in fee, as high as $500 which is not refundable. New tenants are used to be charge for it everywhere so I implemented it for my rentals.

In the other hand, in Dallas (where I used to live/rent), low deposit of $100-$150 was common practice. As a tenant if I would had anything higher than i would have walked away.

I think move-in fees are market dependent. Also investigate your state laws to find out maximum move-in fees allow. I believe if it is higher than 50% rent, it would become a deposit, at least in IL

Awesome thread. The articles are super enlighting. Thank you guys!

@Account Closed Would you recommend going directly to the alderman's office or starting with an attorney? If so, any attorney recommendation? 

Thank you all for the responses! To clarify, this is already more of a 3rd-floor full unit than your typical "attic" unit, the only thing missing is a kitchen. It has good ceiling heights, separate front and rear entry, decent size, etc.

Do we necessarily need to go through a rezoning process to get the unit legalized, thus having a "legal 3-flat"? 

Hi BP! My husband @Peter Graves and I are new RE investors. Yesterday we closed on our first property, a 2-flat with illegal attic unit in Irving Park … yayyy!!! We plan to househack.

We are wondering whether it would possible to legalize the attic unit. Some info about the house: It was built in1902. We found a map from before 1950 that shows the property as a 2.5 multi-family. Each unit has its own electric and gas, and there are 2 exits in each level, although there is no kitchen in the attic unit. Recent water bills show it as a 3-flat. Zone: RS-3

We would really appreciate it if you can share your experiences on this. We've reached out to a zoning attorney but we are also looking for more recommendations for zoning attorneys. Thanks in advance!