All Forum Posts by: Elliott Kim

Hey Chris this sounds great! Very creative. If I may ask, how do you determine whether a SFR has hidden units from a birds eye view online on MLS/Redfin? Or do you ultimately find these when touring?

Thank you all for the input. It sounds like my concerns have been affirmed. FHA financing is a less favorable choice compared to conventional/cash. In order to stay competitive, I'll try to maintain the highest offer (capped at what would keep me qualifying for FHA) and set a higher earnest money deposit. We'll see how much the price bids up.

 Thanks for the leveling advice, Jim.  It's very tempting for me to disregard certain risks in order to rush into my first deal. I will not cut corners though! From your transaction experiences, are there any  effective incentives/agreements that you've found to be very receptive to the seller?

Hello Bigger Pockets!

I'm in pursuit to becoming a first-time house owner/hacker in the extremely competitive market of Chicago. Upon the property's listing a day ago, I quickly consulted my agent and decided it best to throw an offer at listing price to get some conversation going. Surprisingly, the agent said she received more than 20 blind offers on the property. I am going to go visit the property tomorrow at a group showing and was wondering if there was any way to engineer my offer to stand out amongst the others.

A quick facts breakdown:

- Property: Triplex, looking to owner occupy and rent other units

- Market: downtown Chicago

- Financing: Pre-approval for 3.5% down FHA available and given

I really want this deal to work out but feel as if I'm at a disadvantage using FHA financing. I've heard waiving contingencies or inspections could improve my offer but I'm hesitant to blindly buying a property without due diligence at my limited level of experience.

Any comments and suggestions are appreciated.

Thank you!

@Account Closed My girlfriend and I just got an FHA pre-approval for a 3 unit multi-family. We're excited to have taken this step in the process as we've been patiently waiting to get a favorable credit profile in order to get approved. Now we're in the process of finding the best deal possible in the saturated market of downtown Chicago. I see that you're based in another saturated market of New York. Have you invested in any multi-family properties in that area and if so, can you share details about your experience? We are looking at two different scenarios: 1) invest in a higher-market proven hot-spot in the area that will be easier to find tenants and 2) invest in a potential up-and-coming neighborhood that is near one of the hot-spots. However, this area is going through gentrification and we are unsure about the volatility of occupancy as well as the types of tenants we might be renting to. Based on your experience, what do you think is a better choice for first time investors?