All Forum Posts by: Mark F.

@Kyle Barazowski I've only been in REI for just over 6 years and have don 40 properties and I can say without a doubt finding good, honest contractors that do work the right way is by far the hardest part.

I've been fortunate to not have any bad experiences with being ripped off but know others that have. I currently have 2 crews working full-time for me, it gives me greater control over the work that is being done, how its being done and when its being done but I also recognize that it takes a lot of effort and time to build a business to that level. With that being said if there is anything I can do or help with just let me know. I do occasionally take on work for other as the GC if the numbers are right and it fits into the timeline of what I have going on. We do everything from light renovations to full gut jobs and have done several. 

HI @Kyle Barazowski welcome to BP and REI. Read all you can and soak up the plethora of information that is on here, some great stuff to learn. We are practically neighbors, I worked for Schaumburg PD for 11 years before coming out to Elgin PD and just retired within the last year after 30 years of Police/Fire Dispatching. I now focus full time on my real estate investing. Let meet up and talk sometime soon.

Hey @Paul Flynn - I was there and know they feeling my friend, I worked more and more an more overtime at my W2 to provide for my children and be able to afford to live and provide them with a home and things when they were with me, the more I worked the more I paid year after year after year. It's a vicious cycle for the guys that work hard and do what they are supposed to but no way around it, the more you make the more you have to pay I'm sorry to say. 

As mentioned above, rental income does and will count toward your gross earnings and therefore will most likely subject to child support withholdings. You could/should file a petition for a reduction if what you are paying is a hardship, doesn't mean the judge will award it but take a look at the Illinois CS calculator and see what it says. 

https://www2.illinois.gov/hfs/ChildSupport/parents/Pages/ChildSupportEstimator.aspx

https://www.illinoislegalaid.o...

What you are paying could be appropriate, based on Illinois law, depending on how many children you have, how much time they are with you and how much the mother earns. The State of Illinois changed the law several years ago, hell when I had to pay it was a straight % based calculation didn't matter the mother made more then me and that we had the kids the same amount of time, truth be told it is a much "fairer" system now - not perfect but definitely better than the old way. 

Lastly, this is a PUBLIC forum, if she and/or her attorney search your name in Google and see this (assuming it is your real name) and they bring this to the Judge that you are trying to hide paying child support - believe me it WILL NOT go over well.   Just my $.02 sir

Mark

Guess there are no responses because YOU are the best of the best my friend!

@Daniel Botvynko I also recommend Renovo Financial that @Jonathan Klemm mentioned, I have had 28 loans with them in the last 4 years and IMO they are top notch. I can put you in contact with someone there if you need, just DM me.

Mark 

Hey @Gerald Nurczyk Jr I am going to tag in @Zack Karp he and his team are rockstar lenders in Illinois and he will have the answer to your questions.

Mark 

The best I've come up with is to run all nearly all of my renovation purchases thru Menards or Home Depot and put the address as the job/po name. I then go online once a week or whenever needed and print to PDF/save the receipts and manually enter them into a Google Sheet Doc (excel form) that I track materials, labor, holding costs, etc on for each project.  I know HD allows you to export the transaction on commercial/contractor accounts to BuilderTrend, Quickbooks or to even print all transactions in a CSV summary or even to filter them by job name but I haven't used that, I'm sure - or hoping there is a better way as well as it is time consuming especially when working on several projects at a time. 

@John Wicker Welcome sir and you've definitely come to the right place to learn, connect and accomplish an REI goals that you have.

@Jonathan Klemm I'm lucky to get the low hanging fruit, @Chris Davis definitely has his thumb on the pulse of the market and multi units. Thankfully I focus on SFR and he prefers Multi's so it works out good for both of us.

 Get a tear down/demolition permit and yes, all the other things will be non issues as they no longer exist.