All Forum Posts by: Melissa Rios

I have some names.  Sending a PM.  

sending you a PM.

Sending a PM

Sending you a PM. 

In my case, I didn’t.  However if I were paying any utilities, I would certainly charge extra as you suggested.   

I had a similar situation last year and appreciated my tenant being honest.  I collected personal information of the guest (similar to an application)  and ran background check.  Clarified with my tenant if a temporary guest stays for more than a few months  he/she needs to be added to the lease.  

This is a great area.  3 flats in Jefferson Park rent easily and these buildings cash flow nicely.   Not sure how you feel about being a out-of-state landlord....  with a good property manager you might consider holding on.  Although as other said above, it's a sellers market now but may change some months down the line.

It’s early to tell what will happen in local real estate markets.   However I’d agree with @Scott S. that the current condition of the REIT market should create caution amongst investors.

I'm a finance professional by day and a real estate investor on the side. One of my trading accounts is exclusively a REIT share portfolio. I can't believe how badly it's down. Even the shares that typically perform well in poor conditions are also down quite badly. Knowing that it's atypical for regular investors to liquidate REIT holdings, mainly because they pay excellent dividends, this tells me that ‘smart money' (institutions) are likely part of the price decline of REIT shares. I don't know this for sure, it's an educated guess. If smart money corporate dollars are moving out of REIT shares, then its safe to say there is a reason they are doing so. It's a wait and see game.

as Scott mentions above, most of these REITS are invested in commercial properties, but behind these commercial holding enterprises are regular people, patrons, workers etc all trying to make ends meet during challenging times.    I’m going to scrape together what little funds I have leftover after this market crash and try to increase my REIT holdings while the prices are cheap.   But I do wonder what the REIT sector crash is forecasting here..... I am watching with a very heavy dose  of caution.   

Sending you a PM; I charge below market rate on two independent properties, for two completely different reasons.     

I would agree with all of the parties noted above and have similar experiences and observations.   People who are most affected by the tax increases in Chicago can usually afford to move to a new city and improve their overall lifestyle, not settle for a cheaper house and a longer commute.  With so many people working from home nowadays, home buyers are flocking to the cities noted by @Jason Albasha.  In fact, my cousin is a realtor in Nashville and she said 3 of her new buyers in the last 45 days are all from Chicago.   

 I have property in Chicago, Northwest Indiana, and Nashville.    My property in Nashville has appreciated significantly more, and much faster, than my Indiana properties.   Like @John Warren, I also became distracted by low housing prices and low taxes in Indiana.   I still like my NWI properties and will keep them, but there are certainly days where I wish I would've just coughed up more money to invest in nice Chicago neighborhoods, which would've yielded better tenants, better cash flow, better appreciation potential, even despite the higher taxes. My experience with tenants in NWI is staggeringly different than my experience with tenants in Chicago (disclosure, I invest in solid/safe/established neighborhoods). 

With all of that said, I'm still bullish on NWI.   It just won't appreciate as fast as Chicago or other up-and-coming mid sized cities.   You're right that some people will flock to NWI for lower housing prices.  These are usually people who can only afford a very nominal payment each month, which makes NWI a good move for some families.  And then you have people who simply will not leave the Chicagoland area, and wish to remain close to their extended families.  There is certainly very strong potential for growth in NWI, without a doubt.   However, as mentioned,if appreciation is what you're seeking, you would really need to focus on the high-end areas of NWI like Crown Point.  The other areas simply do not appreciate as much as you'd think, which I learned the hard way.  Nevertheless, I'm happy with my NWI investments and will keep them long term.  Hope that detail helps!