All Forum Posts by: Connor O'Brien

You seem to know more about this than I do. I was also missing final inspection tho and violations were active when I bought it. I never got the inspection but violations disappeared

I bought a building 2 years ago in a similar state. All the violations were addressed during the rehab and now when I look it up- only active violation is not posting my management sign. 

How bad are the violations? You think you can address them in the rehab?

Nice post! I will definitely read the section on move in fee. Is move in fee limited?

Are there cracks in drywall or plaster? I’m not a structural engineer but that could also be an indication or structural issues. 

I also have tenants in Indiana not paying! I’m curious if anyone has heard of any bills to help landlords

Great comments on this thread- I’ve been house hacking for cash flow for the last 2 years. While the cash has been nice I have friends who  have made more money than I have through appreciation in higher price point neighborhoods (Ukrainian village/wicker park) they bought 2 flats for $600-700k and have made $100k plus in appreciation. Meanwhile my two flat in back of the yards has almost doubled  in value but My equity gain doesn’t compare to theirs.

If you like your day job and have a pile of cash I wouldn’t be afraid to increase your price range and dump it into a quality asset up north. You’re gonna make a bunch of money in appreciation over the long haul plus you get to live in a nice place which won’t be hard to sell for top dollar. 

I like looking at the “profit if sold” portion of the bigger pockets calculator- you’ll see high price point properties generally have better returns but less cash flow (as John Warren mentioned)

If you have your heart set on value add and have more time on your hands I recommend the HUD 203k loan. That's what I did with mine and I love the product. Hit me up if you ever want to talk about that type of loan. The strategy is only better if you are looking to minimize your cash investment though

Congrats! I did a hud203k and have been house hacking there for the past 2 years. I love the loan product and getting clear to close is the hardest part so you’re done with the hard part!

I agree with Marilyn- I went through an agent with mine. And I got the builders risk for the renovation portion like she said. Remember you won’t be in the renovation phase for too long so if you already got quotes for home owners I’d go with your best offer there and work with the agent to get the right coverage. Have them walk you through the types of covered loss and what your deductible would be. Your escrow payment might be weird for the first year or so but you will get reimbursed if you pay in too much

I’ve partnered with my dad 50/50 in a similar situation (much smaller deal). The only down side is that he has to sign all the documents as well and personally guarantee the loan. In retrospect I wish I would have structured it as debt so he didn’t have to carry any risk

@John Warren has many posts about B multi family in Chicago 

I know 60609 can meet the 3X+ criteria. I personally haven’t seen any deals in the city with only $10k rehab and $65k profit. I’m sure they’re out there tho! 

My co worker has done a couple deals like that in Gary Indiana ($25k purchase $10k rehab and $100k sale) but he gets everything off market and knows the area better than I ever could plus he does seller financing with tenants to avoid appraisal