All Forum Posts by: Jimmy M.

Thanks all for your guidance here.  It looks like the landlord is going to let her out of her lease for a fee.  The other option he laid out was to get a subletter in there, but she just doesn't feel comfortable showing it or saying it is an okay spot to live after what she went through. 

And to all the trolls on here with smart *** comments... I thought BP was better than that. 

Hi, Looking for advice for my sister to get out of her lease before we contact the landlord again.  Here's the situation:  For the past few weeks, around midnight once or twice a week she thought she heard porn being played by a neighbor very loud and very clear.  She took videos, contacted the landlord, let him know how unsafe and uncomfortable she felt with this going on.  Landlord responded but did not do much or offer much guidance.  Fast forward to last night.  A neighbor next door sees a guy outside her window masturbating and playing porn on his phone.  This is clearly the situation, someone had followed her and was doing this deliberately outside her window.  A police report was filed, they took down all the information, and they think it actually is the same person who had been doing this all over Chicago.  

The unit is a 1st floor studio in a 10-20 unit building in Chicago near Wrigley Field.  

Our goal is to now contact the landlord with a clear and concise request to terminate this lease, as she no longer feels safe there..  She is going to be staying with us until we find her another apartment that is not on the 1st floor or Ground floor.  My brother is a lawyer and has offered to step in, citing clear negligence of safety after multiple requests.  What we are really looking for is guidance on how to best approach the landlord to just have the lease terminated so she can move on past this horrible experience.  Any guidance or thoughts?  

My initial idea is to try to handle it nicely, if he has another building that feels safer and not a ground floor, she would entertain looking at units there to not cause him financial harm.  I don't think in good conscious she would sublease this unit now.  

Thoughts welcome.  
 

Hi, my wife and I recently got married and we are looking to combine checking accounts and create a relationship with a real bank.  Any recommendations or success with anyone local to the Chicagoland area?  We currently have two investment properties, and would be looking to do some of the following overtime:

- Refinance a student loan

- Move our checking and savings here

- Line of Credits

- Hard Money at some point 

Thanks!

Hey @Greg Larson what do you mean by role playing?  Going through the deal analysis on a few deals together?  If so, I'd be interested in talking more.  thanks. 

This was a great thread.  Thanks for sharing.  Doing a similar project in Roscoe Village.  Hoping to cashout refi in a few months. 

Investment Info:

Small multi-family (2-4 units) buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $525,000

Upgraded from our Condo (which we are renting in Lincoln Park) to our first two-flat in Roscoe Village. Our goal is to add 10+ units over the next 10 years. We did cosmetic rehabs here and plan to live here the next year or two then repeat the process again!

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

We want to reduce our monthly costs and start to grow our multifamily portfolio in Chicago.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

MLS. Multiple Offers and came in with a strong offer and a letter.

How did you finance this deal?

Conventional 30 year.

How did you add value to the deal?

We did paint, hardwood floors, updated landscaping, along with various other improvements. We will continue to upgrade bathrooms, etc.

What was the outcome?

We are happy house-hackers now!

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Learning every day. Good tenants are key for owner occupied!

@Ibn Abney, maybe I should use a different term other than house hack then.  We are really excited about the deal because we are living where we want to for less money than we currently are spending monthly, and this place will cash flow when we leave. 

Hi Bigger Pockets Community!  I'm a long time listener and the podcast, site, and books has been my inspiration for real estate investing, building passive income, and working towards FI.  I wanted to drop in and share the details of our first house hack (Closes in April, so fingers crossed nothing crazy happens, inspection and attorney review are completed).  

City, Neighborhood:  Chicago, Roscoe Village

Property Type:  Two Flat;  Unit 1:  2 bed, 1 bath.   Unit 2:  2 Bed, 2 Bath, Duplex with den (will be our unit)

Purchase Price:  $525,000

Monthly PITI: $2967 (estimated)

Monthly Rent from Unit 1:  $1,450.  Market Rent $1,800 to $2,000.  Inheriting tenant until 10/31.  Will most likely renew for 6 months until spring and then discuss market rates for rent.  

Monthly Rent from Unit 2:  $0, will be owner occupied.  Estimated Rent for the Duplex when we move out:  $2,500-$2,800

Why we loved this deal:  Our monthly cost to live in a unit that is bigger and in a neighborhood we LOVE will be about $1600-1700 after utilities, etc.  This is going to be $1,000 less than we are currently paying for our 2bed/2bath condo and we will have more space.  The neighborhood (Roscoe Village) has shown to be very strong and we should have no problem renting this unit out once we are ready for our next live in house hack in 2 or so years.  

What we need to do right away:  

- We are listing our 2 bed/2bath Condo in Lincoln Park tonight. We originally wanted to rent this out but we put more cash into this deal to get it going right away. The multifamily was a competitive situation so the dream of FHA low money was not going to work.

- Flooring and subflooring, possibly trusses in our unit.  We are going to take the carpet out of the dining room right away when we take possession.  Any recommendations on contractors is appreciated.  We are going to do this right away before we move in.  

Thanks BiggerPockets!