All Forum Posts by: Ray Harrell

i wouldnt pay one time. That's part owning a pet. That's why landlords don't allow pets.

Neighborhood, vacancy (due to neighborhood violence), and delinquency (due to unstable tenant base), along with Chicago Residential Landlord Tenant Ordinance!!!!

I have a multi-family in a D area, and I'm barely staying afloat. That's why I can't invest in anything else right now.

Why Chicago? Landlord/Tenant laws are terribly skewed in favor of the tenant. Property taxes are high, real estate is priced above average, and the better property you purchase, the less your margins will be. Again, why Chicago?

You will be responsible for any code violations that are discovered after the licensing or certification board comes to inspect the property, unless they are planning on running an illegal, unlicensed or uncertified day care. If that's the case, I'm not sure you want to be involved with that either.

If they were running a consulting business or something not requiring people to come to the property, I'd be totally OK with that (that's like working from home), but you will have children coming, the health department for food, and a lot of other people you may not want monitoring your property.

It's all based on location either can be a windfall, or either can be bad. Section 8 is somewhat guaranteed income, but in some places attract the worst of the tenants. But in that same area renting rooms will yield people running from the law, or running from gangs or an ex, and turnover may be high. You have to beware of bed bugs and pests. 

If ur in an A or B area you may both have problems with either choice.

in most places a bedroom has to have a window and a closet, so also consider that in your plans along with minimum size. Also your hallway will have to be a certain width. U will also have to run HVAC and the required number and placement of electrical outlets.

You only have to make sure the rooms you designate and advertise as bedrooms are legal. Where people choose to sleep is their business. 

@James M. hit it right on the head. If you are buying a property with tenants, you can INTEND to live there all you want, but other legal issues, tenants rights, damage construction, tenant induced code violations, etc. can prevent that from actually happening.

While you are trying to follow through with your intentions, your current lease may be expiring, leaving you with no other choice but to find another place to live, and that other place may be the purchase of an empty dwelling that you can move into right away. If FHA wants people to honor their "1 year residency" requirement, then they need to lobby to have a lot of these tenant friendly laws changed.

@Kiera Underwood, get an owner policy and make your tenants get a tenant policy.