All Forum Posts by: Christopher Boyle

These meet ups are the best!

Hi BP Chicago,

I searched back a few years worth of forum posts, and couldn't find much on this.  Does anyone have a demo crew/company they've used in the Chicago suburbs, and would recommend?  We're working on a property in the NW suburbs, just outside of Schaumburg.  Thanks for any help you all can provide.

@Anthony Pinto - Congrats!  It looks like a beautiful property.  My first investment property was also a 4-plex.  It's a great learning experience.  Best of luck to you!

@Elijah O. - Typically when someone requests proof of funds, they are looking for some validation that you have the money you claim to have for the deal.  Usually, a screen shot of your bank accounts (with account numbers blocked out) is sufficient. 

In your case, since you intend to wholesale, you'll be best served being up-front about your intentions to organize an end buyer.

@Justin Harding - I did some groundwork on the tax delinquency list for Cook County earlier this year.  They only release the tax delinquency list to the public (for a fee) after all properties have been finalized to proceed to tax sale for that year.  Here's the link for the 2019 sale. I tried to work around this by contacting the local villages I'm interested in directly, and came up short. 

I don't know if there is an opportunity to purchase these properties after the list is released, and before the sale, so would be curious if you find that to be a viable strategy.

@Benjamin E. I haven't seen 90% yet, but perhaps it's out there. The figure I was quoted was 80% LTV. Perhaps you can negotiate more than one building into the collateral equity?

It sounds like you have a great deal on your hands, with your friend needing to get out of the property.  Have you considered other financing options to take it down, or maybe combining several strategies?

@Benjamin E. I actually just spoke with two Chicagoland commercial lenders about this, and @Tom S. is correct.  The commercial lenders are much different than residential, and don't seem to put much stock into the "market" price of the property.  They mostly care about the stability of the loan they are issuing.  In fact, if you're getting a property cheap because it was mismanaged or vacant, the commercial banks see that as less stable, and will often require a larger down payment and more cash reserves.

However, along similar lines to your question, some commercial banks will allow you to use equity in another building, as collateral down payment for the new commercial property.  There are some restrictions to this, including that the bank issuing needs to be 1st position on both loans.  Not sure if that might be an option for you as an alternative.

All the suggestions in this thread are fantastic.  I think we've all experienced this issue you're running into.  In my experience, even with a pre-confirmation, you will have people text you back and change their minds, or just ignore the appointment altogether.  The good news is, you wouldn't want those tenants anyway!  This isn't a huge issue when you live in, or close to your property, but I can't imagine the frustration driving 20+ minutes to be stood up.

Have you considered an open house scenario, where you can schedule everyone at the same time for one showing?  This is what I'll be doing for my future showings.  Saves my time, and creates a competition incentive for prospectives.  It also is WAY less bothersome to your existing tenant, who isn't having strangers walk through their home over and over again. 

Has anyone else used an open house strategy with success?

@Jeff Schechter I appreciate that advice, thanks Jeff!

@Kerry Noble Jr Haha, no, I wish!  I went to a small school in St. Louis.  Same deal with my school though, a LOT of Chicagoland students.