All Forum Posts by: Forrest Williams

Hi Albert! I also live in Bolingbrook, and invest in the Berwyn area. It's a great place for small multis. Haven't had problems with evictions. The tenant pool in that area does have more people on income assistance. I do have some tenants with income assistance, so I have to fill out more paperwork than usual, but their rent gets payed quarterly, so it's nice to have the money up front sometimes. Let me know if you feel like chatting!

Hi Joseph, in the past I've used 1-800-Got-Junk and they were easy to work with.

Hi Vaidehi! I personally like to invest in the Berwyn, Oak Park, Cicero area. There are lots of 2-4 units, as well as some larger 6+ buildings. Rents are good, I get lots of applicants, and there is a lot of appreciation. I've looked in Aurora as well, the price of entry out there is lower but I'm not so sure about the appreciation. When I have looked at multis out there, it's usually a haphazard single family home conversion. The closer suburbs have more purpose built buildings.

Hi @Kristi Wolfe, wholesaling is not easy money. And in Illinois, it's a loophole that's quickly closing. If you don't have an RE license, you can wholesale one property per year. You aren't going to make a lot of money that way. Better to get your RE license, build up a client base/network, and sell homes legitimately. Some agents do it part time if you don't want to commit to a full time career.

I love Chicago for a lot of the reasons mentioned in here already. Yes, taxes can be a little high, but so are the rents and there are a lot of multifamily properties that make great cash cows. 

Lots of people like to bash Chicago and say it's super violent. Then they'll go on to talk about how much money they're making in Indianapolis, a more violent city. Don't believe the haters, Chicagoland rocks and it's a great place to invest. As @Jonathan Klemm suggested, check out our local BP forum too. And feel free to reach out with questions!

Welcome to the forums! The best path is the one that works for you. For me, it was house hacking. I bought a foreclosed house, lived in it while I flipped it, and then sold it for a profit. Later I did it with a two flat which I kept to rent out. Now, it brings me income every month. Not enough to live off of, but with more it will be. You won't get rich enough to quit your day job with one deal. 

If I were you, I'd try to buy a multifamily that's closer to your job that you can fix up. Let your tenant pay the mortgage. You can learn some home repair tricks on youtube, hire pros for other things you can't fix. Painting, drywall, some flooring, plumbing, and electrical will take you a long way. 

Also, now is a great time to look for a new job. Lots of places are hiring. Even if it means taking a small pay cut, if you don't like your job, it may be worth it to find something you'll enjoy more or won't actively dislike. If you can get something salaried with a W-2, the banks will be much easier to deal with for getting loans.

Several things you can look at: 

School scores. Better schools usually indicate a better area. Use a website that grades schools, and try to stay in those districts.

Crime: Low crime is better than high crime, and not all crime is equal. If there are shootings and violence in the area, I would avoid them. 

Rent: Using rentometer or another site, find out which areas will give you the best bang for your buck. Make sure to cross reference with crime and school scores, some areas have a great ROI on paper, but will not appreciate because the neighborhood is dangerous.

Appreciation: Are property values in the neighborhood going up? By what percentage? A neighborhood appreciating rapidly now may be too expensive, but one that is consistently climbing could still be a great investment in 5, 10, 20 years.

Talk to a realtor that knows the areas. We're pretty friendly and can help you out too!

If it's going well, you aren't going to do better by changing up. Best case scenario, you end up with new tenants that are equally fine but lose out on turnover costs and vacancy. Don't look for reasons to lose income frivolously. Besides, you'll be putting a lot of hardship on your tenants for no reason other than you want to . . . get new tenants that could be worse?

I needed an inspector last week! Barely missed you. Welcome to the forums! It may pay off for you to write some bios on your website in the "about you" section so people can learn your experience level, any certificates you have, etc.

I ended up going with White Glove, which is pretty average. I did get a basement guy to come out and take a look too. But since things are going well, we're moving forward with the deal!