All Forum Posts by: Emily M.

Oh, also: @Deisy P.: when it comes to rental property, I am very strict with tenant vetting. Because I am the one who manages the property, I will often rent for a little under market value so I can have more applications to choose from and pick the most qualified tenant (that I then run through credit check and also do my own deep google + background check before renting). As a very small operation, I have to afford to be picky. I know there are not a lot of women in this biz (mostly I see women who do brokerage/sales rather than REI or prop mgmt), so we gotta help each other when we can! :)

Wow, the comments from men here are generally despicable. Hi. I have a husband but I work with all my subs directly. They know he does not know this business so they don't talk to him. You need a crew of people you trust. Unfortunately, that means you have some people who will try to screw with you because you're a woman or they think you're an easy mark. I have been messed with before. I learned some things. I didn't work with them again. I think part of vetting people is about making sure they meet with you in person to bid the job. I ask a lot of questions that indicate that I know the specifics of the work they are going to do. Even if I don't know the work, I'll post in the electricians reddit or something along these lines so I can talk the talk. I now have a great plumber, electrician, carpentry/general GC type, demo guys, concrete, etc, and some other folks to do what I need. That said, I still have to manage them. My GC type is always like, "well, this costs x" or something. I'm always saying, "Bring me the receipt for your materials and I'll pay those directly." When I review the receipt, if I see a discrepancy, or if I'm paying for a tool that I don't get to keep at the end of the job, I deduct it from the next check. I usually split checks into multiple payments. If they balk, I tell them that this is due to my loan, or my relationship with my lender, or my accountant says, or whatnot. These guys require active management. That means calling their bluff if they try to pull something with you. And then you need to get signed waivers every time. That signed waiver corresponds to them getting their last check and only after a walkthrough of the work is done, including sign off on punch list. If something's not done, no check. Keep trying. It sounds to me that you just need some better subs, and to do more research on how much time/money stuff might cost. Get multiple estimates and if someone works out, hire them again and again and refer them to others too. You can DM me if you want to talk more about this or if you want some sub recommendations.

@Zach Click, PITI (principal, interest, taxes, and insurance) should be covered and you should have cash left over. Ideally you are also reserving $ for capital expenditure, maintenance, common utilities, etc. After everything, we make about $300/mo cash on our building and have a free place to stay. This means you will probably be analyzing 50-100 deals for every one you find that is a good one for you, but then you get to laugh all the way to the bank. Downsides: we don't have parking so we park on the street. We share laundry with our tenants in the basement (though we will probably put a washer-dryer in our unit when we get ready to rent it and move somewhere else). Other than that, no complaints here.

@Zach Click, I too did a 203k FHA loan and it closed and went through on a multifamily property a few years ago. So def would recommend that as a program, though not our lender. Regarding housing, you will be hard-pressed to find good deals in any of those areas. Inventory is low so you are best prospecting expired listings or similar if you want to be in those neighborhoods. Don't buy something to "house hack" thinking that the other half of your duplex is paying half your mortgage. It should *cash flow*. There are deals out there, still, even now, but I wouldn't pay market rate for any of them. You might consider other areas--West Humboldt, Hermosa, Pilsen. Or else try the 'burbs. But be forewarned--by the time a lot of deals hit the market, they've already been pocket deals or flips for someone else right now. Probably the best way to go is to find something that would not be attractive for an investor but would be attractive as an owner-occupant, so you're not competing with other investors.

At that price point, Chicago-area real estate would require a lot of day-to-day management. Plus property taxes are huge here. If you're not already here, it doesn't make sense to invest here, honestly.

Wife is 100% correct here. Doesn't make sense to go that far if they don't have to. 

@Zach Click, if you're reaching loan limits for FHA in the Chicago area, you are not looking for the right buildings.

Also: will need to look at cheap places to hang my license once I get it again :) Any suggestions welcomed.

Any suggestions for cheap places to get my license? I let it lapse many years ago and think I need it back for what I'm doing lately.

Looking at buying another property; we have 58k a year in W-2 income but the rest is either 1099 (mine--probably about 50k this year minimum if I do nothing for the rest of the year) or else property income (currently 36k a year). Running into DTI issues b/c they are counting our 3-flat against us. We currently live in our 3-flat and would plan to do a live in flip on a single family or inexpensive duplex or buy/hold and then rent it out and move, would definitely plan to BRRRR. Here are our numbers:

PITI on current building: 2701/mo

Income from 2 units, currently rented at 1500/ea, so 3000/mo income now; would increase to 4650/mo income (our unit is nicer than the others). 

Expenses are very low on this building b/c everything's new. $60 a month for water/sewer/trash. Everything else is paid by tenants. Rental market is tight. Rentals are probably a little below market but I got my pick of 30 applications each time, which mattered to us because we are also living here.

We'd put 30k down on a new property but could probably put down up to 50k if needed; acquisition cost would vary and that's where we're having trouble figuring this out. I used to have a W-2 job so it wasn't a big deal; now it seems it is. Any advice on how to move forward? We bought our last building (the one we're in now) for 225k just using my husband's income and it wasn't a big deal; now they are concerned. Thoughts? Will I have to find a commercial bank? Our credit union seems wary. We don't have any other debt and have 780 or 800+ credit scores (haven't checked lately).