All Forum Posts by: Kevin Scanlan Jr.

I'm in the process of trying to acquire my first multi-family property in Chicago. I wanted to receive a few opinions or suggestions on how I should be sourcing potential properties. I feel that I'm competing amongst many others for the same properties and there's a ton of competition currently in the market. Most of the multi-families on the MLS don't seem to work for the financial side and are not close to the 1% rule. Within three months of searching, only one property has worked out for my criteria to put an offer in, but ended up going above asking price. I know real estate is a numbers game, but I want to make sure I'm not missing out on any good methods for finding good deals (a good deal for me would be a mulit-family that breaks even with me living in one of the units or bedrooms). I'm currently using a couple MLS searches setup for me, Zillow and Redfin searches with daily updates, looking on craigslist, and Loopnet.

Are there any other resources I should be using? Are there any unconventional methods for a first time home buyer or other ideas that I should look into, such as driving for dollars, reaching out to multi-family properties for rent on craigslist, direct mail marketing, or reaching out to be placed on any wholesaler email list I can find? What has your experience been? What would you recommend?

Basically should I look into every possible way to find a property or should I remain patient and wait till something pops up on the MLS and jump over it?

I'm mostly looking for a 3-4 unit multi-family property for $500k or less in Old Iriving Park, Kimble, Alabany Park, Ravenswood, Avondale or Hermosa. I'm interested in buying a property that needs cosmetics updates and that I can add value to. The property would be owner occupied and I'm looking to do a conventional loan with a 5% down payment. I'd also consider the south and southwest side of the city, such as Pislen, Heart of Chicago, Little Village, Bridgeport, or Illinois Medical district if it was a good deal.

I'm in the process of trying to acquire my first multi-family property in Chicago. I wanted to receive a few opinions or suggestions on how I should be sourcing potential properties. I feel that I'm competing amongst many others for the same properties and there's a ton of competition currently in the market. Most of the multi-families on the MLS don't seem to work for the financial side and are not close to the 1% rule. Within three months of searching, only one property has worked out for my criteria to put an offer in, but ended up going above asking price. I know real estate is a numbers game, but I want to make sure I'm not missing out on any good methods for finding good deals (a good deal for me would be a mulit-family that breaks even with me living in one of the units or bedrooms). I'm currently using a couple MLS searches setup for me, Zillow and Redfin searches with daily updates, looking on craigslist, and Loopnet.

Are there any other resources I should be using? Are there any unconventional methods for a first time home buyer or other ideas that I should look into, such as driving for dollars, reaching out to multi-family properties for rent on craigslist, direct mail marketing, or reaching out to be placed on any wholesaler email list I can find? What has your experience been? What would you recommend?

Basically should I look into every possible way to find a property or should I remain patient and wait till something pops up on the MLS and jump over it?

I'm mostly looking for a 3-4 unit multi-family property for $500k or less in Old Iriving Park, Kimble, Alabany Park, Ravenswood, Avondale or Hermosa. I'm interested in buying a property that needs cosmetics updates and that I can add value to. The property would be owner occupied and I'm looking to do a conventional loan with a 5% down payment. I'd also consider the south and southwest side of the city, such as Pislen, Heart of Chicago, Little Village, Bridgeport, or Illinois Medical district if it was a good deal.

@Anthony Mai I haven't purchased a property yet. I was under contract with a legal 2 unit + 2 illegal property in Old Iriving Park two weeks ago through a wholesaler. The wholesale deal fell through and the sellers listed it on the market with a selling agent for $40k more than my original offer that was accepted. I ended up offering full asking price... but unfortunately I was out bidded and the property went for above asking price. 

I'm going back to the drawling board and hopefully something pops up soon in the next month or so. I'm learned a lot throughout the process so far and narrowed down my criteria for the type and location of the property I'm looking for. So fingers crossed for the near future. 

@Michael K. It's going well so far. I reached out to a few lenders and now just starting to begin the process of analyzing deals. Do you have any tips for someone that is just starting this process? Was there anything you wish you would have done differently? 

@Karin Matsuyama - How has the process been going so far? What kind of search criteria are you using to find the property? What neighborhoods are you looking in, if you don't mind me asking. Thank you! 

@Charlie Clough Your game plan sounds exactly what I'm looking to do. Thank you for referring me to Brie. I just sent you a message about learning more about your experience. 

Hi everyone!

I've been listening and watching the BP podcasts and youtube videos for years now and recently graduated from college. I've always known I wanted to get into real estate and thought what better time than now to get started. For the past few years I've tried to read, listen and watch as much as I could on real estate. After my research, I concluded that I want to follow the BRRRR method and/or acquire the property through FHA. I'm looking to purchase my first property within the next 6 months. I'm looking for either a duplex or triplex in Chicago and wanted to get some different perspectives and guidance during this process or just some things I should watch out for.

Some background information about me. I'm currently working in a Big 4 accounting firm for the past year and half. I have no debt and 45k saved up so for the acquisition and/or capital to put into the property. I was pre-approved for $390k from Quicken Loans/ Rocket Mortgage, but after they reviewed all my finances they were only able to approve me for $290k (I have self-employment income that wasn't able to be counted as income, but it will be for CY18, which should means I should be approved for $350-380k).

I was wondering what my next steps should be? I've done some research and talked to other friends in real estate and they said I should talk to a local lender in Chicago, because I might be able to get a bigger approval amount and maybe a lower rate, compared to Quicken Loans/ Rocket Mortgage. I was also thinking about filing my taxes in January, so the self-employment income would be counted when I try to go through the approval process again. I'm also starting to look at properties in person too (I just checked out my first property last weekend!). I was previously set on doing an FHA loan, but it seems like it would less of a hassle to just do a conventional loan and put down 5-10%. My game plan is buy and hold the property. I'm shooting for $400+ cashflow per month. Please let me know your thoughts on any of the above!

For the people that live in Chicago or are familiar with the area. I currently live a mile north of the loop and looking to buy a property within a 20-40 minute commute ride, via public transportation into the loop. I'm mostly looking into Wicker Park, Buck Town, and Logan Square, but I don't believe I'll be able to find a triplex in those areas for less than $400k. Therefor, I'm also looking in Pilsen, University Village, Little Italy, and Little Village. Please let me know if there's any suggestions on other areas to look into for a triplex.

Thank you in advance for all the help! 

Hi everyone! 

I've been listening and watching the BP podcasts and youtube videos for years now and recently graduated from college. I've always known I wanted to get into real estate and thought what better time than now to get started. For the past few years I've tried to read, listen and watch as much as I could on real estate. After my research, I concluded that I want to follow the BRRRR method and/or acquire the property through FHA. I'm looking to purchase my first property within the next 6 months. I'm looking for either a duplex or triplex in Chicago and wanted to get some different perspectives and guidance during this process or just some things I should watch out for. 

Some background information about me. I'm currently working in a Big 4 accounting firm for the past year and half. I have no debt and 45k saved up so for the acquisition and/or capital to put into the property. I was pre-approved for $390k from Quicken Loans/ Rocket Mortgage, but after they reviewed all my finances they were only able to approve me for $290k (I have self-employment income that wasn't able to be counted as income, but it will be for CY18, which should means I should be approved for $350-380k). 

I was wondering what my next steps should be? I've done some research and talked to other friends in real estate and they said I should talk to a local lender in Chicago, because I might be able to get a bigger approval amount and maybe a lower rate, compared to Quicken Loans/ Rocket Mortgage. I was also thinking about filing my taxes in January, so the self-employment income would be counted when I try to go through the approval process again. I'm also starting to look at properties in person too (I just checked out my first property last weekend!). I was previously set on doing an FHA loan, but it seems like it would less of a hassle to just do a conventional loan and put down 5-10%. Please let me know your thoughts on any of the above!

For the people that live in Chicago or are familiar with the area. I currently live a mile north of the loop and looking to buy a property within a 20-40 minute commute ride, via public transportation into the loop. I'm mostly looking into Wicker Park, Buck Town, and Logan Square, but I don't believe I'll be able to find a triplex in those areas for less than $400k. Therefor, I'm also looking in Pilsen, University Village, Little Italy, and Little Village. Please let me know if there's any suggestions on other areas to look into for a triplex. 

Thank you in advance for all the help!