All Forum Posts by: Matt Lyons

I have lived in Chicago area my entire life and have been investing in RE for last 5 years with about 80 doors...My advise is FOR GODS SAKE DONT GO TO CHICAGO it sucks in so many ways!  Appreciation is not near as high as other areas (I bought a Bonita Springs Florida 2 bedroom home in December of 2020 and sold in April of 2021 and made $95k, I did no work simply appreciation), ( I also bought a lakefront Lake of Ozarks home that I airbnb and make about $1000 a month true profit and it has appreciated over $100k in less than 2 years)

The city of Chicago also has laws and restrictions and building code issues that frankly suck for home owners and investors, you will be in for a lot or red tape if you buy IN the city or the wrong suburb. A good contractor to do the work is EXTREMELY hard to come by in this area.

Finally PROPERTY taxes here are the second worst in the country and NOT getting any better.  While you are fixing to flip a property you will pay a fortune in real estate taxes and not have quick appreciation...in somewhere like South Carolina you will pay about 1/3 the taxes while you fix the property and see double the appreciation as well during that same time frame

I invest mostly for cash flow and buy in the FAR west IL area in small towns...no crime, good tenants, far less city oversight in how I run my business and much easier to evict a tenant... in short NEVER BUY ANYTHING IN COOK COUNTY, it takes MONTHS to get a court date to evict a tenant. You can also go to www.heyjackass.com and see the DAILY shooting reports for Chicago, we are really shooting a ton, breaking records every week... although we tend to not kill many people because we are bad shots, we still shoot a ton of people... the city is almost considered a war zone

I am also moving to South Carolina this summer while my new home is being built... this state is bad enough that my family and I had to move!  We have watched a ton of people leave mostly due to crime and taxes and a horrible political and union labor structure that cannot be fixed.

If you want to be in the Midwest look toward central IN (places like Carmel IN and surrounding areas) and also Iowa (areas like the quad cities can be good)...but, as another member mentioned, people are heading to the sunshine states...if I was FLIPPING then I would buy in those markets.  The younger generations want turnkey on trend homes, most dont know that things can be fixed, so you can likely find beat up properties that the younger buyer wont even consider, fix them on trend with what they want in a home, and then sell them at a nice profit...in the HOT areas the properties that dont sell quick need work, if you can do that work you can make a great profit

You have 12 locations already spread out really far... It seems to make sense that going further into any of those areas makes the most sense (you went there once already for whatever reason brought you there and made sense for what you are looking for)...I assume at this time you have some boots on the ground in all 12 areas (realtor you worked with, contractor who did work, etc)....so leverage where you already are and look for deals that fit your criteria in those areas.

I cant imagine why you would need to find a 13th and 14th and 15th area to go into when you are already in 12 areas that stretch this far apart

If that reply does not help then here is another thought: People live EVERYWHERE...literally EVERYWHERE so anywhere can work if the deal is right, and anywhere can suck if the deal is bad.  Unless your goal is HUGE AND QUICK appreciation searching for the perfect market should not be the focus but searching for the BEST deal in the areas you are in or in any area through motivated sellers

Finally, if that second thought does not help then go to those companies that sell investors turnkey properties (like renttoretirement) and see what markets they are in, those likely would work well since they work for their model

I use Rent Redi... it is pretty cheap (for the landlord) and allows for LITERALLY ALL OPTIONS of payment by the tenant.  Basically you email the tenant a link/invite and they download the app or connect on line

They can pay direct from bank (ACH) and that costs the tenant like $1 I think

They can pay via debit or credit card...that route costs them normal credit card fee so a bit more than a $1 but it is the same as using a credit card pretty much anywhere

They can also pay CASH through 80,000 retailers ..they can go to a Dollar General for example, give them cash and Dollar General will deposit that cash into a Chime account and then the tenant pays you through the free Chime account

Its an easy portal for landlords to use and set up (I am an idiot and I was able to do it), it is scalable (I have 75 doors in there today without issue), you can use it for other things (like maintenance requests), you can set it up to automatically charge late fees (that feature is awesome)

Tenants can also set up their rent to be paid automatically on a certain day every month AND they can have Rent Redi report the payment to the credit bureaus so they start to build credit

It is not the ONLY system but for me it has been a really good system

I am also an IL investor and went through an eviction with a tenant recently... this tenant was LITERALLY CRAZY, like truly CRAZY...I tried to evict her for being a nightmare to the city, the other tenants, the property and me...I had video and proof of her craziness and I LOST in court... Then she was late one time on rent (first time really) and I gave her a certified 5 day notice to pay full rent or I would proceed with eviction.  She then paid on the 6th day after notice and I did not accept payment... we went to court and I WON.  Judge was VERY clear: I gave proper legal notice to pay or they needed to be out, she did not pay in time so she was out, regardless of her excuses or my reasoning, we kept it fully on the facts of the eviction (she got notice to pay on time and she did not pay...period NOTHING else mattered)

So if you gave him proper notice of lease termination then he HAS TO BE OUT.  I would text back:  I gave you proper legal notice of lease termination on __________ you have acknowledged receipt of this notice (whether he signed certified letter or replied to text as long as there has been talks about this notice and him getting) and you need him to be out by April 1st. Ask him to please let you know where to send any deposit to once he has a new address (does not mean you have to send him anything, you dont know the condition yet and you may not return him anything but asking for his address gives the appearance he may get money back)... then remind him in text: if you are not out by April 1 then you will need to proceed with legal forcible eviction

In short, text him with:

I gave you legal notice as required by IL law

I need your new address to send any deposit back to within 30 days as per IL law

If you are still there on ________ I will be forced to proceed with a forcible eviction and, as per the lease, you will be responsible for my court costs

Please feel free to use me as a reference for your new landlord if needed

Keep it simple, keep it legal, keep it clean... you gave notice as required, he needs to be out, if he is not you have legal rights to get him out and recover damages he has caused...DONT engage him or have discussions or anything...the more you engage the more he has to use against YOU, right now you did the right legal thing, focus on that (dont talk about damage or tree or anything until after he is OUT and you have possession)

First and foremost... College is a bit of a JOKE, especially if your goal is RE investing as a career. True that I want my Dr to have a degree, or my nurse, but if your degree is going to be in any field that ends in ..OLOGY then its a waste (I have a degree in SOCIOLOGY that I have never used for anything)

If your degree is going to be in BUSINESS then I would suggest WORKING in a business or even owning a business.. do the math: Average college degree takes 5 years and is a $400k swing the wrong way (cost of college plus lost revenue while you attend college)...if you buy a business it will cost less, you will learn more and be more valuable... I hire people for a living and if I have the choice to hire a 23 year old with an MBA who has never held down a real job but learned a ton, or a 23 year old former franchise owner of a Little Caesars  I would choose the franchise owner in a heartbeat... plus the franchise costs FAR less than the degree, provided income and had equity for him to sell when he was done

If your hope in life is to get a corporate job, work 60 hours a week and have ZERO control over anything EVER then for sure go get a degree in something fairly useless...if your goal is to have 100% control of your life and future and want to work when you WANT to work and wake up daily and do what you WANT to do not what you HAVE to do then I would suggest seriously considering a PIVOT in your life.

Real Estate is a DOERS game... you learn by researching, listening, asking and most importantly DOING Real Estate.  At 19 there are people who already own properties, work in real estate and a few that are extremely wealthy...all got to where they are by DOING not by dreaming.

If you insist on wasting the next 2-3 years of your life then have a blast...if you want a clear answer to your question then here it is: Read one book per week, alternate between Real Estate, General business, and investing; listen to a podcast a day about real estate and financial freedom and investing... then when you have very specific questions ask them on BP posts and connect with people that way...dont just start by trying to "get a coach" in Real Estate

Good luck, hope you start DOING because that is what will set you apart

Quote from @Account Closed:

Quote from @Jagnoor Gill:

I am 19 years old and very passionate about real estate. I am going to canada (toronto) for my further education in business. So i am unable to purchase any property for next 2-3 years . So, what should i do till next 3 years to keep me engaged with real estate . Should i read books, meet with local investor to gain my knowledge …? 

 That's like saying "I'm going to the Emerald City of OZ to learn how to play the ukulele". It makes no sense. If you are passionate about real estate you DO real estate ( but not in Toronto, the market is too expensive) you do real estate in your home town or someplace where it makes sense. I think you are actually playing a very poor joke on us. Tell us this is actually a very bad joke, please! (at 19 saying someone is making you go to Toronto is absurd)

 BEST ADVICE EVER!!!!!! COULD NOT AGREE MORE!

My question is WHY?  Meaning WHY would you grow your career as a RE agent helping people find their dream home and likely making 6% on a transaction.  In 20 years what would you rather have: Complete financial freedom and a younger version of YOU doing all the hard work for you...or a great reputation as a really reliable RE agent who still needs to work every day?

You have ALL the connections and currently run a business with 80 doors...that is all you need to have and all you need to tell people.

My advice: Find properties for YOURSELF to own and rent out for long term cash flow... if you want the transaction profit then after you fix them and rent them up, SELL them and manage them for whomever you sell them to.  The world is full of people who WANT to invest in RE and frankly have no clue what they are doing and too scared to take the first step... FIND those folks and leverage what you are doing today to make that a business

In short, find great local properties to purchase under value, fix them and rent them up, get cash flow and manage them along with managing your Uncles properties...easier to fit another property into your current career then trying to do something different.  If you are short of the down payment or credit then simply market the deal for a partner to join you...like BP says "there are three things needed for all deals: Capital, Hustle and The Deal"... you are bringing two to the relationship (Hustle and Deal), it will be easy to market and find the capital you need when you already have the other two.  Market to find people who want to be hands off investors in YOUR next deal, offer them 50% of all profits for them putting up the 20% down and you doing ALL the work and finding the deal.  As you grow and this works out you will not NEED their capital and then simply do for yourself.

Focus on long term CASH FLOW, not on the transactional side of RE...Flips are GREAT, but keep in mind that is a JOB..every time you flip a property you need to make sure you have another one ready to start to do it all over again.

Work for YOURSELF by leveraging what you already know and have in place, invite others to INVEST with you IF YOU NEED THEM..DONT go to work FOR THEM, you dont need that

 Thanks for the feedback...I will join the FB group immediately.  I am open to basically anywhere in South Carolina that makes sense for cash flow and where I dont need to carry a gun to collect rent!

I live in IL and I work with a wholesale currently.  I have bought 3 deals from him in the past 24 months.  He figured out a work around for the IL current law that is completely legal:  Basically he gets paid at closing a commission above the sales price (and its not called a commission but something else, I honestly forget).. in the end the only negative was that the buyer (me) learned what he made on each deal...but he provided me with value and he provided seller with value as well

Also, I 100% agree, it is NEVER illegal to buy a property direct from seller and then to sell it...that is not wholesaling that is simply buying direct and then selling FSBO. I realize the classic model of wholesaling allows people to get in with less money, but I suggest you find investors or partners that would support you in buying for cash and then paying back when sold...you will give up profit but you will be more valuable to all sides of that scenario

Change your focus:  whatever the law or rule, there is always a solution...focus on finding that

Ideally you would already have a team in place (as per the advice of David Green for investing out of state) since you dont have that in place I would suggest you maybe reach out to a BP member from that area who might be willing and able to offer advice and use of their local team.  For example, if this location was in Fulton IL and you posted that you needed help there I would happily connect you with my property manager and the contractor I use there.  I would also offer to go out myself and give you my thoughts and opinion and I feel other BP members may as well.

You run the risk of that BP member "stealing your deal" but I like to trust people and hope they would not do that...its a risk, but buying without seeing and not having a trusted team in place is a risk as well, so I would take the risk of leaning on a local BP person, possibly consider a partnership as well with that same BP member