All Forum Posts by: Joe Mende

Hello everyone, just looking to get some referrals for homeowners insurance on a 2-flat on Chicago's North Side.  Any help is much appreciated!! Thanks!!

Looking to get a little advice here as I'm in the process of buying a 2-flat here in Chicago.  I recently filled out the loan application and there was a section that was titled "loan estimates" where it has Terms, Payments, Closing Costs, along with the closing cost details.  Much of it seems like costs I can't do much about but then there's a section that says "services you can shop for" and has a list of costs:

Services You Can Shop For $4,021

Survey $350

Title - 24 Month Chain of Title $250 

Title - Anti-Predatory Lending Database Fee $150

Title - Closing Indemnfication/Protection Letter Fee $75

Title - Email Fee $25 

Title - Endorsements $500

Title - Lender's Title Insurance $1,028 

Title - Settlement Fee $1,600 

Title - Title Insurance Services $3 

Title - Wire Fee $40 

Since this is my first mortgage, are the costs of these fees pretty similar everywhere?  Or can I save significant money by shopping around for 

 Again, thanks for the info.  I was just unsure about the whole cash out refi process and figured this was a good place to start but I will definitely ask my agent.

 I’m planning to do the kitchen and bath on 2nd floor because those are not updated, and then possibly the basement.  I would assume that should make a difference in the later appraisal, right?

Thanks for the quick replies!  The bathrooms are updated kinda (not very nicely).  The kitchen on the 2nd floor could definitely use some updating.  The basement is partially finished but needs to be redone because there is mold from a previous flood before the sellers installed a new overhead sump pump.  

So, there were a couple things that made this deal tough. I, alone only qualified for 350k FHA and I'm moving into the space with my fiancé, who prefers to live on the north side to be close to her family. In order to qualify for more, I brought my dad in on the mortgage. I don't know if this place would even qualify for FHA, which was the problem I was running into before. We would see 2-flats for 350 but they needed a ton of work and almost always never qualified for FHA. I have not closed on the deal yet, the Sellers just agreed yesterday to bring 10k to closing because of some of the repair it will need.

Do you think 5% down is still an option? I was told with FHA, my dad would have to live there as well, which is definitely not an option and we don't want to falsify information to make it happen. If not, how do I go about pulling cash out after 6 months? Thanks for all your help, i truly appreciate it!

Good evening, everyone. I've recently had an offer accepted and am going through the process now, closing date in early March on a 2-flat located on the Northside of Chicago (Irving Park). I'll be living in one floor and renting out the other floor. Currently, we are putting 20% down on the 2-flat at a price of 435k. This will be my first 2-flat and I spent a little more money than originally planning to since I was going to be living in it and wanted to be in a decent neighborhood.

The mortgage is looking like it'll be around $2500 and the tenant that is there is paying $1500 already, meaning I'm only on the hook for $1000/month, which isn't bad at all. My next obstacle will be to find a way to acquire another rental property and I've been reading about the BRRR Strategy. From what I understand, this requires that you purchase the property in cash. Since I did not do that, are there any other suggestions to be able to do something similar vs. trying to save up 20% down payment on another property?

KC,

I'm new to BP but on the same journey as you.  Let me know if you want to PM or meet, would definitely like to talk to as many people as possible and get moving!