All Forum Posts by: Meryl McElwain

@Matthew Paul

Thank you for saying this.

We have been limping through jobs because of covid. Battling unemployment benefits. For 3 months in Chicago you couldn't get tile from anywhere but a store like home depot.

We have more work than we could possibly handle. The cost is 50% more than it was before covid.

The stress of dealing with people is extreme right now. It's not worth dealing with anyone trying to get a deal.

@Sean Julian

Pay for the estimate. Works everytime. Say I'll give you $200 bucks for a line by line and a schedule. He'll do it that night. A lot of people will balk at this but I'm just being honest about where the market is. I've havent done an unpaid line by line in 3 years. I'll give a ballpark instantly. But a full line by line is $500. If you want a commitment to budget and I need subcontractors numbers to do it you need a deposit down. Time is money.

@Dennis Cosgrave

I've never heard a better description of Illinois than that.

@Clint Shelley

Pallet shack. Lol.

@Michele Fischer

What kind of situation would you be in if 50% of tenants werent paying?

@John Kwak

50% is how many units? And how are you dealing exactly?

I've been doing this a long time but let me clarify a few things:

Under 1500. Under 1500 in Chicago is a 1 bedroom or a studio. This means you generally not dealing with roommates or families. These are single people with no roommate or family to lean on.

Add to that we have an eviction moratorium through July 31st. That's to file. Not to actually go through the process which is already arduous in Chicago. Court is closed here except for emergency matters. My attorneys, good attorneys, agree that you wont be able to get an eviction court date until next year. Evictions are also stayed here in the winter time. Between Nov and march. I'm a lawyer as well and my regular matters that have been pushed a year out from the original date. Not a typo. There will be no civil jury trials in Chicago in 2020.

Next we have a serious problem with the unemployment system here. People who filed 3 months ago still havent gotten unemployment.

So you combine all this you have a serious issue for people who dont have significant savings. 

Frankly, I'm wondering where the hell everyone else is getting their rent from because we do screen and with the amount of people out of work from Uber to restaurants and bars I dont know how any of them are paying.

Average rent is 1250

So I'm in Chicago. Two six flats. 8/12 tenants now not paying rent. I've been talking to other landlords and it's the same story. I have two buddies with 60 units between them. They're are mostly 1 bedrooms. Rent is under 1500 a unit which I think is contributing to it. 38/60 didn't pay July rent. Are we alone here or has everyone just stopped paying rent?

@Terrell Garren

Lol. Changes their Harley oil in the living room.

@Ray Reed

Don't be that guy. The world and business is a better place when people conduct themselves with a little empathy.

That being said business is also business. Linden and Union county New Jersey (in assuming this is where your building is) have closed waitlisting for public housing assistance for the foreseeable future. It's like this everywhere around the country.

Catholic Charities out of Newark New Jersey has some housing assistance available.

Lastly, there are some 501C3 schemes that an accountant could possibly help you on. I've had clients with multiple long term tenants use 501C3's to offset losses by donating housing to charity.