All Forum Posts by: Jessica H.

@Henry Lazerow I'll look into that, thanks!

Hi, I'm planning to purchase my first house hack within the next year and was wondering what are some good monthly estimates to use for water, water/sewer tax, garbage/recycling, heat, etc during analysis. 

I know for garbage/recycling, for properties with 4 units or under, it would be $9.50 per dwelling unit per month but I’m not sure what are some good numbers to use for water and heat as these were included in all the apartments I’ve lived in.

Could you please share the following: 1) how many units & number of beds/bathrooms in your property 2) water costs + water/sewer tax per month 3) heating costs per month & type of heating 4) are there any other utility expenses that I haven't listed that should be kept in mind as a landlord? 

Thanks so much in advance!

How do you avoid possible vandalisms because you are increasing rent to market value and the tenant now has to find a new place to live? Would you recommend offering some money to help them find a new place?

Thank you everyone! Going to explore the financing options mentioned here

I'm looking to purchase a 3-4 multi-family property with my brother. I would be the only one living in the property since he lives out of state. We were originally planning on going with a FHA loan expecting a 3.5% down payment but it seems that the criteria has changed. Since I would be the only co-borrower living in the property, the down payment would instead be 25%. And so the best financing option for our scenario now is a conventional loan with a 20% down payment. This is really surprising to us and was wondering if this accurate? Are there any other low down payment options for our scenario?

Hi Henry, thanks for sharing! Are you able to share the credit union your client used?

Hi everyone, I'm looking to buy a condo in Chicago and use it as my primary residence but also rent out the additional rooms to roommates. I was looking into the Residential Landlord and Tenant ordinance but it was unclear to me if my situation applies to it since it states "The ordinance covers most rental properties located in Chicago except units in owner-occupied buildings with six units or less; most units in hotels, motels and rooming houses, dormitories, shelters, employees' quarters, and non-residential rental properties, and owner-occupied co-ops". 

Does anyone have any experience they could share or resources they used to manage tenants in this situation? Also, where/how do people draft up leases?

Thanks in advance!