All Forum Posts by: David B.

Hello Diedra,

Welcome and good luck. Hope to see you around with some positive feedback.

Take that leap and great things are possible. Congrats! Keep making things happen regardless of this outcome. Keep us posted.

Nice investing

Nice Thread, let me jump in.

1. As with most things with time (experience) and due diligence it can get easier.
2. I have been a landlord for 18 years and I have seen both sides. I own over 10 properties and the cash flow that they through off every month keeps me motivated to keep my acquisitions team busy. Of course routine maintenance is key for a great portfolio and nice tenant retention.
3. There are almost always telltale signs within your local markets. Most have already been mentioned.
4. I agree with many here on BP when they speak of the snowball effect. Once I got to 7 properties everything kind of took course from there. But by no means was it any easier just seemed that way because I had more experience.

Nice Investing

Dave

@Scott Zalaznik Welcome, I am a Chicagoland buy/hold investor. Good to see you dived in. Keep making it happen.

Nice investing

@Brie Schmidt

Welcome, great job on your acquisitions. I invest in the Chicagoland area and currently looking for large Multis. BP is definitely a great start/addition to your RE networking.

Nice Investing

Dave

Hey Shem,

Welcome and hope to see you around the forums.

Nice Investing!

Dave

Hey Sarah,

I have been investing in Chicago real estate for 18 years and I'm very familiar with the south side ( I grew up there).

Some of the gentrification areas are around U of C in Hyde Park such as North Kenwood, Oakland, Woodlawn and Douglas. Bronzeville, just south of the Loop continues to have good deals. The Morgan Park/Beverly areas and Ashburn are nice for investors. South side Chicago have many neighborhoods that are block by block situations. Meaning one block may be well manicured and look like a sprawling suburb and a couple blocks over the houses are total eye sores. In this case the eye sores have brought down the price of some very nice properties which provides great opportunities for the buy/hold investor.

In regards to eviction, screening should be your first and most efficient line of defense. Cook county can be very lenient to tenants but if you are a proactive landlord you will be fine.

Nice Investing

Hey Jonathan,

I have been investing in Chicago and other Midwestern markets since the mid 90's. There are good deals to be had in the Chicagoland area as well as in Southeast Wisconsin. I have been a south side landlord for almost twenty years with only one eviction to date (maybe luck). I invest in 60643, 60637, 60653, 60628, 60619, 60615.

In regards to what Mr. Santarelli stated concerning neighborhoods east of I90. I'm not sure what neighborhoods he is referring to. One could also take issue with him stating that Blacks and some Hispanics possibly being one factor as to why not to invest in a particular neighborhood. Maybe just a misinterpretation.

Chicago is a vast area, especially on the south side. Some neighborhoods are more challenging than others but most neighborhoods are block by block situations. There are nice and decent areas in almost all of the before mentioned neighborhoods that are/would be great investments. Some additional south side areas are Morgan Park, Beverly, Oakland, Chatham, Mt. Greenwood, Kenwood, Ashburn and West Pullman. Chicago is no different than any other large metropolitan area as it has pockets of neighborhoods that are prone to more crime than others due to poverty and education. There are many working class, professional and section 8 voucher holders who grew up in and continue to support these areas by purchasing and renting homes in these areas. I own and have owned many SFH and MF's throughout Chicago for the past 18 years.

Hey Brian, actually last year I had to have a clean out installed. The basement continued to take on water during heavy rains. Roto Rooter rodded all the way to the street to no avail. We then put a camera in to see what the problem was. It was way to dark to see anything noticeably. So I resulted to installing a clean out. I ended up shoveling out $1100 for everything, rod included. That ultimately done the trick, I have not had any calls from that tenant about water as of yet.

Nice Investing