All Forum Posts by: Glenn Hoffman

Thanks everyone for chiming in here.  I'm piloting Stessa and it does seem to work very well for my purposes, however, I'm having a personal struggle with their stance on data ownership and will likely move off the platform.  Stessa was acquired by "JLL Spark", which is a subsidiary of the investment behemoth, JLL.  JLL is leveraging all the investor's data from Stessa, not in a nefarious sense, but definitely for their own profitable purposes.  There's no way they are just making money from "rental market reports" at $20 a pop.  

Hi all, I'm currently managing under 10 units and am using Cozy for rent collection.  While Cozy does a great job for collection, the expense management piece is lacking.  It's possible this may get improved as Cozy is undergoing some changes under the Apartments.com parent company.  In the meantime, I've been looking at Stessa.  I am concerned a bit as Stessa is free and if you dig into their privacy statements, they are collecting and using "non-identifiable" data for marketing and revenue generation (or at least that's my interpretation).  I'm a bit leery of this.  Has anyone been using Stessa out there and have an opinion to share?

Although I'm late to the game for this question, I thought I would chime in.  I currently use Cozy.co for collection on 7 units and it has performed well.  @John Warren is absolutely correct about the time it takes for clearance.  You can pay $3/Door to expedite, but I have not had the need yet.  It is notable that Cozy was acquired by Apartments.com some time ago, but they have just recently announced that the "transition" will happen soon.  This could bring better screening, advertising and overall features if they continue to invest in the platform.  For the small investor, the rent collection is great.  I give it a C- on managing expenses, but that's not their sweet spot.  

@Account Closed thanks for the information.  Much appreciated.

@Account Closed I'm a Chicago area investor looking to move my assets to Wisconsin. I saw your post about 20% down for a duplex in WI as an investment property. I would rather put 20% down than 25%. Do you have any preferred lenders that you would be willing to share? You can PM me if you would like.

Hi Daniel, a couple of months ago you were going to trial Cozy.  I am looking to do the same, but was wondering if you have had a positive experience thus far.  Thanks

Brian, thanks for your note.  Yes, we do have some appreciation in the building as it was a "value add" scenario.  That's one of the reasons we are considering moving our equity we have built into something larger.  I just increased the rents $500/month collectively for the three units, so the rental market seems to be keeping pace with the egregious expense schedule.  I did appeal my taxes through the usual firm that I have used, but the results were not great.  I am probably going to switch as I have some other recommendations.  I appreciate your insight.  

@Diana Muresan I agree with you there. I think that investors really need to venture out and find new MSAs that work with the numbers. Of course there's multiple bids on this gem that I found and I really have no chance as my property would be a contingency, and on top of that, a 1031. Thanks for your reply. I'm not alone....

All,

I'm looking for a couple of opinions here on moving some equity out of Chicago and utilizing the 1031 exchange to secure a property in a surrounding county that is more tax favorable. Then building that we own is currently cash flowing, but we struggle with the fact that rents are skyrocketing so that we can cover the tax increases and other city expenses. Our taxes have gone up 85% since 2010. In my opinion, it's going to become unsustainable given the current economic situation in Chicago. We have the opportunity to unload some equity in this building and move it into a property in the south suburbs that is around an 8 Cap rate and producing much more cash than our current situation (newer construction). It would be a cash-flow proposition vs. the "appreciation" proposition we are currently in. The Chicago building is a beautiful one that we have invested heavily in, but it may be time. I'm just interested to hear from other Cook County investors on their opinion.

Many thanks,

Glenn

Fantastic 3-unit brick building on an over-sized lot in Northcenter, one of Chicago's hottest neighborhoods at present.  The building is currently grossing $5700/month in rents, not including 3 covered parking spots that could be rented.  Unit 1 was set up as an owner's unit with 2 high-end bathrooms, custom cabinetry and closets.  Unit's 2 and 3 both have updated kitchens and baths.  New roof in 2015.  New electric and plumbing in 2010.  Only serious inquiries please.