All Forum Posts by: Robert Richardson

Usually I try not to get ahead of myself because until it is in your hands, you don't actually have it, but I'm just too damned excited.  My wife and I just got the email from our real estate broker that "our offer is accepted!"  Woo Hoo!  My wife and I work full time jobs, but have been exploring and learning about real estate investing.  We came up with a plan to try it out and buy an inexpensive house, not too far away because the sales prices were low enough and the rent was high enough.  Looking at houses with a broker that we didn't really like, we met an local investor.  We became friends with him and his wife and we have been trying to soak up their knowledge and experience.  A tip from them about a upcoming neighborhood and we decided to make an offer on a house that has been separated into a 3 unit building.  Our (new) broker just sent us an email that the seller is accepting our offer.  The building has been neglected and needs a lot of work, but all three units are occupied.  My mind is racing with possibilities of how to proceed from here.  Do I kick everyone out, rehab the whole building then find new renters, or do I try to keep one or two of the tenants and work on the units one at a time?  We won't close for a few weeks, so I am going to be spending a lot of time on biggerpockets studying up.  Anyone have any suggestions?

I like the area, and think the economy is strong enough and the prices are affordable enough.

Hi, I am an aspiring investor, looking to buy my first property.  I have been looking in the peoria area for about two months and I'm getting closer to being ready to make a purchase.  I really don't have anything useful to say, but Hi.

So, my wife and I are trying to buy our first investment property.  We have been scouting the area and looking at houses. We went through a lot of houses, making repair estimates, figuring out our price using the brrrr calculator here on bp and have made a few offers, all too low to be accepted, but these have been good practice.  This week we found a small, cheap house in need of a face lift, in an ok area.  All of the numbers work on this house if we can get it at about a third of their asking price, which was already lowered from their original listing price.  There was no way they are going to accept this crazy low ball number, but we offered.  I got an email from my broker saying they accepted, and a phone call the same time to tell me they accepted.  Then, as I was very excited and talking to my wife I got a phone call back from the broker.  It is going to be a short sale so who knows if or when it could go through.  Ugh.  For about 3 minutes I thought we had one.  Still looking...

Hi, I am looking for an experienced general contractor in central Illinois, around Peoria.  I would like to find someone who can help me estimate repair costs and complete the work.  Thanks!

Looking for a great little deal in the area of Peoria Illinois, especially Peoria Heights.  Paying cash, but cannot spend more than $25,000.

2 hours each way, maybe 2:30? I'm gonna drive out and scope out the area this week.

Hi BP, I'm near Chicago and thinking about buying in Peoria.  Any thoughts on the market in Peoria?  Thanks

Thanks guys. Bradley I plan to use the brrrr calculator here on BP to analyze some deals, but I won't have any final results because I will never know how much money the buyer puts into it. I will talk to some contractors about real costs.

Hi all, I'm Bob and I am looking at single family homes for buy and hold real estate in the suburbs of Chicago, more specifically DuPage county. I've been watching a lot of videos and podcasts here on BP and I went to a local real estate club meeting. I have been looking at foreclosed properties and I want to try calculate a brrrr. I saw a couple of properties that I want to watch. I plan to see what they sell for and try to calculate it. I want to watch a few auctions and try to take in information. I don't see myself making any purchase until I get mor comfortable with the market. Does anybody have any general advice at this point? Is there some big part of the equation that I need to pay attention to that I haven't considered, obviously there is a lot more to learn. My wife and I have a little money to invest and I have some time to put into this, but we do both work full time jobs. I'm just looking for any directional advice. Thanks!