All Forum Posts by: Jeff Burdick

Hi, my name is Rob.

I currently live in a Suburb of Chicago and I am looking to connect with experience investors. I am interesting in learning the different avenues of real estate to decide what avenue is best for me.

Hi everyone!

I'm located in Chicago and am looking at investing in a multi-family this year. In my market, and I assume many others, if you want to list a place for rent through a realtor on the MLS, it costs 1 month's rent. Of course there are other ways to go about advertising for new tenants, but this gives the widest exposure.

How do you factor the cost of advertising when running their numbers on potential investments? Do you simply take the cost of one month's rent and divide it by 12 months? Or do you consider the lifespan of an average tenant (example, 1.25 years) and factor that in? The cost of advertising and losing a full month in pretty steep, so curious to hear how people think about it and keep it in mind for their calculations.

Thanks! 

@Dorothy Wulf Your absolutely right It's a must. Are there any areas in the city you would suggest looking in since your in my neck of the woods?

Hello I'm a military veteran in Chicago very interested in purchasing a multifamily property and being a owner occupant. I am a first time home buyer and I'm also VA Home Loan qualified.

With the VA Loan its 0% down up to the loan limit in my area. My question is I was thinking about saving this benefit for my second property and using either a conventional or fha loan for my first property once I learn the business is this a good idea or should I just use the VA loan to get the best property I can?

And FYI my annual income is $84,000, dti is 17%, and credit score 735.

Hello to everyone who views and replies to this post. I've recently been very active in my newly real estate investing journey, and I've came across a bump... I drove around neighborhoods (driving for dollars) and collected a good amount of addresses. the problem i am having is finding the owner of these properties. What source/site is best used for finding owners of properties ? I have heard of skip tracing and some good sites for that but when going to those sites, they need you to upload list with the owners name and information already on it, i need to find a good source to find who is ever has ownership of a certain property.. any suggestions would be great, thank you. Chicago

Am I crazy for thinking I can find a deal in Chicago on the MLS? I've been preparing for my first purchase for about 6 months now, and the one thing I haven't considered is finding the right deal. I've been reading into it, and it seems the general consensus is that you can't find a deal on the MLS; especially in Chicago. Does this seem like a fair assessment? Should I be looking into other methods of finding a deal?

@Jen W. - Like Kevin said, check your insurance policy.  I think State Farm is the only one that will cover "attack breeds" (pits, husky, ect)

No tenant is ever worth voiding my insurance, so I don't accept them

Hi BP,

I've set out a goal to purchase my first property before my current lease ends in April. I'm currently renting in Chicago and I'm looking buy a multifamily property in certain up and coming areas in inner city Chicago including  East Humboldt Park, Bronzeville, Pilsen, North Lawndale, etc.

What I'd like in feedback if you're reading this is, what's your opinion on buying in the near-term (e.g. Spring 2019 - 2020) with all the given expectations for a looming recession? Nobody can realistically accurately time recessions (although I personally believe we're certainly due for one very soon) and part of me feels as though an 'informed' investment is still an investment and a wise choice to move forward with. 

On the other hand, I also wonder if purchasing a property nearly before a recession is unwise given depreciation could potentially outweigh equity put in the property in addition to the opportunity cost of waiting longer until housing prices depress over time through a recession. I'm just looking for perspectives here... Any thoughts?

Hello everyone! Been reading these forums for a while, first time posting. 

So let's get right to the point: I have a half acre lot Chicago (Rogers Park). Building was crumbling, so had it demo'd and fenced in. 

I purchased this property a few years back attempting to rezone for commercial use, but to no avail. It's currently zoned at RT-4 so I'm thinking it may be best to use for construction of a midrise apartment complex. I have pretty much all liquid tied up in here, so would be looking for institutional/private funding. 

I've never done a project of this size. Would it be wise for me to pursue this? I'm looking to get a feasibility study done. I've contacted 2 national firms, and their quotes came back in the 20-30k range, which I honestly feel is way too much. Any guidance on this topic would be appreciated. 

Thanks!