All Forum Posts by: Jimmy M.

@John Bradley great... We refi'd at one point and our PITI is a few hundred lower than the number in the original post. We have since moved out and it is a strong cash flowing unit. While there we updated bathrooms, HVAC, some insulation to prevent frozen pipes, and it should (knock on wood) be a fairly low maintenance rental for us for the forseeable future. Strong rents in the neighborhood with quality tenants.

Hey Michael, in my opinion your best bet is to house-hack in a neighborhood you like to get started in multifamily.   There are tons of benefits to doing this, and even if you buy a 2 flat in a nice neighborhood and the other unit doesn't full cover all your costs, I can bet you will be better off then just staying in the apartment downtown.  You can start to leapfrog your investing from there.  Chicago is set up really nicely for this, with a good amount of multi-family properties in places you would want to live.  I have done this, feel free to reach out if you'd like to network more! 

Pro's: If you consider Chicago, LA, San Francisco, and New York the major cities in the US, Chicago is still the most affordable out of all of those (Despite property taxes). The abundance of 2-4 units in every neighborhood also makes entry into REI easier here for those who are motivated.

Reach out to @Steven Hamilton II.  He's active on here and at local meetups.  Very knowledgable!  

Go for it!  Run the numbers on a lot of places, but here's the fact, you will get two schools of thought here:  1.  Go to a neighborhood on the south/west side/suburb and get close to cash flow or cash flow or 2.  Look at it the way you are, which is if you live in a neighborhood you want to live in thats right for someone your age and fun, be paying a lot less in rent then your peers (200-300 vs 1300-1500), and now you have an appreciating asset that will cash flow once you move on to your second deal.  I think your on the right path and I wish I would have started this at 22 instead of 28!   PM if you want to chat further.  We house hack in Roscoe Village.  

Is anyone in Chicago using the Deal Machine app with success?  I'm more intrigued about helping out as a driver on someone's team to start.  I am in the car a lot (I'm a Loan Signing Agent and mobile notary on nights and weekends) and then I often take my dog on long walks.  I'd love to talk with someone using it and see if I can start to bring them value by snapping photos and gathering info for them.  I'm an investor so I have good general knowledge.  Who knows, it could even lead into partnering on some of these deals.  

Open to any insight, specific to the Chicago market. 

I'll be interested to see feedback here.  What neighborhoods?

Quick Question for the BP Team:

- We purchased a two-flat in April, and we are owner-occupying one unit, renting the other.  The other unit was rented when we took possession.  His lease went until October 31st, 2019 (yesterday).  He has renewed on our lease starting from today until May 2021 (he's a great tenant).  

- I'm holding the same security deposit I got at closing in April.  Now that the new lease has started do I pay him interest on that from April to October (0.01% for Illinois)?

- Do I do this at the end of every year?

- Am I exempt from this because the law only calls out 25 units for this? 

I figured someone would know these things pretty quickly here.  The law is somewhat vague.  

I put ours on Craigslist with a picture and it was picked up really quickly.  Good luck!