All Forum Posts by: Michael J Scanlon

I do have a truly self directed account so I’m good there.

I’ve had my money in my self directed 401k in a TD Ameritrade account for two years and done very well. I now want to buy a property that will be owned by my 401k. I know the ins and outs of this (cash flows will go back into the retirement account, if I ever sell then proceeds go into my retirement account, etc.) However, I can’t seem to find a lender who will do a mortgage for a retirement account owned property. Does anyone know any specific lenders or have a general idea of where they found a lender for theirs?

The beauty of BRRRR investing is that there is inherently no best area as it will depend deal to deal. I've personally bought places in areas I never thought I would invest just because that's where I happened to find the deal. I've also sold properties in areas got wouldn't expect. I've seen a $450k condo in the Gold Coast he bought and rehabbed to the point of being valued at around $1m (with a little over $300k of work). If you're dealing with a low budget (I know you aren't) then there are specific areas that can be good but with a higher budget, you'll find that there are places all over that can be good.

Personally though, if I’m dealing with $400-800k, I would consider buying a small multifamily place in the south Logan square area and converting it to a single family. I’ve seen those types of places (old two flats) be bought in the $400k range, get completely gutted and redone on the inside  and then get sold for around $1m as a beautifully renovated single family. 

But there are tons of possibilities in that price range. 

I was just off north and western. 3 bed 2 bath top floor nicer condo. Was able to get $1250 for my master and parking with its own bathroom and $1150 for the 2nd bedroom with a shared bathroom. 

Hey Peter, I house hacked a condo in Chicago and it went very well for me. Multifamily eventually becomes the play in order to scale but to start, it’s great especially if you want to buy and house hack in some of the more hip areas of Chicago. 

You’re having trouble finding investors in Aurora? If you have multifamily, please share/message me because I’m having trouble finding deals in Aurora. I have so many clients and there is so little inventory. 

Could be a lot of things. Chipping paint is often joked about but it’s a very real concern. General condition issues like holes in the walls/issues with windows, broken flooring. Mold would definitely cause issues as would cracks/foundation issues. Lack of gfci outlets where needed and other safety issues like missing smoke/carbon monoxide detectors. Other things like leaks in any of the plumbing, need for tuck pointing, and encroachments would be a definite no go. There are plenty of others (have a deal right now with @John Warren where porch steps needed to be rebuilt, for example) but the aforementioned are definitely likely to raise issues. 

There are some condos with higher HOA's but certain buildings have much lower. I would suggest finding a building where the HOA is useful and covers things like your utilities rather than a pool and gym. These are nice features but rarely have positive ROI. 235 Van Buren is a great example. All utilities except electricity are covered including basic cable I believe. So the HOA being in the 400's suddenly feels a lot better. I would aim also for a 2-3 bed condo and rent out an extra room or two while you live there. 1 bed condos are tough to cash flow on.

@Farris Gosea

I would just do a little more research on that. Best of luck.

@Farris Gosea

My opinion is not biased at all. I am licensed in both and live in the city of Chicago so it’s an hour to Aurora and an hour to all those northwest Indiana areas. But I think you may have been gone too long from Aurora.