All Forum Posts by: Mario Morales

I've increased rents this year to 6 of my units, and leases were signed almost immediately. There are social economic factors to consider. People will pay more to not live in certain areas and that usually involves sacrifices in their budget. If you are responsive and a decent human being as a landlord, your tenants will stay and raising rents allows you to be as responsive as they'd like you to be. 

In one of my properties I had exposed ductwork, it was a bright red,  i was worried that I wouldn't be able to paint it to match the walls, but it did and I saved a lot of money by not trying to hide them. In my other building, I had the same issue with keeping steamed heat, I decided to go with central air and new furnaces, I got creative for the furnaces, as I had room in the hallways, AC went on roof. I had ductwork installed, all in it was 10K per unit, ductwork, furnace, condenser or, electrical, plumbing. Didn't include the soffits, drywall etc,. I get more money per rental and attracts higher quality tenants

Rookie thought here based on limited experience. I got a HELOC at a great rate and then all this happened. I am going through a cashout refi now to pay it back. I'm no expert here but I wonder, should I just have done a traditional cashout refi in the first place? Yes, it depends but I still question it, if you see yourself paying back, might as well go with a refi. Unless your not going to use all of it right away then you may be saving a bit. I'll take any feedback as well.

There is a new currency exchange being built from the ground up on Roosevelt, 2416 W roosevelt or so, 1/2 block west of Western and a Uhaul Center on the same block?  Does help increase the value of property? Would you be excited if this happened on your block?

@John Warren is one account per building best practice or does it make sense after X amount of properties? I have my personal account and I have another checking account for my 3 properties?

Thanks

 I am no expert but I like the central air units, especially when its a in an "A" or "C+" neighborhood as it attracts higher quality tenants. It allows me to charge a premium rent. It is highly recommended , I've been told that it's a really good idea, I heard it on the Straight Up Chicago Investor podcast, that a basement in chicago, should have central air. I can't recall the BTU, but depending on the sq. footage I think it's measured by tonnage. There are a lot of Youtube videos that help explain. 

Good question!!! I have a few, one mounted on a roof, one on a wall, as the cage was just too expensive for me, looking to see what others think

I can't figure this out or know enough of the real estate ecosystem in cook county but why hasn't the long eviction process been shortened, especially when it really hits the pockets of landlords? I heard somewhere that it is to prevent homelessness if that is the case then why aren' landlords assisted in someway? Do the politics make it that hard to change?

 Thank you!

 Hi would you mind sharing the model and/or link?