All Forum Posts by: John Casmon

To my fellow Chicago investors, wanted to share that the city is now posting a list of "problem" landlords online. The city's rationale and list is linked below.  Interested to hear thoughts on this from other people.

City's explanation: "The Problem Landlords List identifies residential building owners repeatedly cited for failing to provide tenants with basic services and protections, such as adequate heat, hot water, and working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. Those on the list have been found liable in two or more Administrative Hearing cases within a 24-month period and have three or more serious building code violations."

http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/bldgs/s...

@Stanley Okazaki Not sure what your screening process is, but there were a few good suggestions you should use moving forward from @Dan Perrott and @Alberto De jesus

You should also have screening criteria somewhere in case you're accused of discriminatory practices. If not, you may start to appear as the one who seems fishy...

@Josh B. Glad you're looking to "take the plunge." You don't have to buy in bad areas and $20K can go far if you're creative. One approach I'd recommend is getting an FHA loan and living in one of the units for at least a year. This allows you to put as little as 3% down on a property.

The city is tough, but it really requires diligence as a landlord and screening is key. There are a few different threads about the Chicago eviction process so do your homework and decide if you're willing to take all of the necessary steps to ensure you have followed the tenant-landlord ordinances.

One last note on being in an owner-occupied 2-4 flat is many of the tenant-landlord rules don't apply to you so you have more flexibility on many of the things that trip up the landlords who have a problem with the rules. 

Welcome to the site @C. Timothy Murphy III 

Are you still looking to fix and flip? What parts of Cleveland are you targeting?

Primary goal is to focus on operating and growing our business so I can transition to RE full-time. In order to do this, I need to add multiple streams of revenue through RE and increase passive income to rival current salary.

The biggest step I am taking to achieve this is optimizing existing relationships and building new ones. Along with dedicating time each day to grow our real estate business. 

@Justin Howe I'm not familiar with Phoenix, but if the owner is selling after 3 years and looking for a $34K increase, I'd have a few questions. How is he justifying the $$ increase?Why is he selling? How can you use this info to negotiate a better deal? 

In regards to the figures, they seem light to me, but you would need to compare this with the cap rate for that neighborhood. Lastly, you can get an FHA loan and refi after 1 year if you have 20% equity in the property to avoid the PMI over the long haul.

@Brie Schmidt Wasn't able to make it. Did you end up attending?

@Wendell De Guzman thanks for sharing the updates Wendell. I normally post twice a day on CL when attracting renters, but your tip on posting 3 different posts 3 times a day is brilliant.

On another note, I received one of your letters for the 6-flat in Avondale from a few weeks ago (I own a multi-unit in the area). I believe you said the seller changed her mind, but was curious if that property is still in play or if you heard anything new from the seller. 

Welcome to BP @James Allega