All Forum Posts by: Shawn Q.

I suffered from some similar issues when I started, but a mind-shift really helps. Don't think of this site as a group to compare yourself against. There's always someone that's doing everything and anything better than you. You have no hope of outperforming everyone. There will always be someone with more experience, knowledge, money, property, drive, skills, etc. 

So don't think of this group as a competition - think of it as a resource. All those people who do everything better than you are just sitting here waiting to help you. This is a safety net. All of your questions (especially when starting out) have been answered already - all you need to do is reach out and pluck the answers from the air. The sheer size and volume of the site is your greatest aid! It means that you are surrounded by mentors at all times! 

I would agree with the above, but wanted to add a thought for another option. If you're on campus, definitely go the frat/sorority house route. If you're not, though, that's going to be challenging to impossible. 

You might want to consider doing a Dutch model shared living home, perhaps leasing to an operator. If it's a ranch/accessible property in a richer area (University Ave, Champaign country club area, etc.) you could consider doing some rehabs for a residential nursing home/senior living model - this would be renovation/legal intensive through, likely. Possible to find an operator here as well. 

In any case, good luck - let us know how it goes!

I'm from Champaign, feel free to connect and I'll answer any questions I can. I recently filled a vacancy, and I found a few things helpful:

• Focus on Zillow Listing Manager, Craigslist you should list on, but you're going to be more active there than you really should be (most of the big properties list 4-6 times/day which buries everyone else). 
• If you can, work a CRM into your renting system so you can capture some/all of those contacts. I didn't do that, so now I'm looking at a lot of data entry if I want to harvest that data. 
• You may get interest from foreign students (though it's unlikely given your rental period in our local cycle). I found the documents listed in this thread very helpful: https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/52/topics/107...
• I wouldn't worry overmuch about copper theft/breakins - that's not much of a factor in our area, and being in a condo complex you'll have the added benefit of plenty of eyes. 
• GO MEET THE NEIGHBORS. Bring a business card with your name and address and introduce yourself.They're going to be your best source of referrals and your first line of defense against problem tenants. 
• I tried using Cozy.co for tenant screening, but didn't have many willing to go through the process (which may have been the area my property was in). If you find a successful tenant screening process please let me know - I'd love to know what works best in our market. 

Most importantly, good luck! 

We have a lot of older stock in my area as well, and I own 4 SFRs that fall in the 1920-1950 range. While older isn't necessarily a deal-killer, there are a few considerations I look for: 

• The short-term 'flip' nature of the previous owner is a red flag, for sure. But it just means an additional step in your due diligence. Ask for copies of any permits and invoices for the 'new' work mentioned. If they won't (or can't) provide them, just walk away. You want to be able to talk to their contractor (to see what they did), do reference checks on their contractor (to see if they have a reputation for quality), and assess the scope of work (did they put lipstick on a pig, or remedy some of the more critical issues an older dwelling would have). 
• Like @Nick Feyereisen said - walk through it with your contractor. If you have a good one (and you'll need a good one for an older home) they'll be able to tell the quality of the work, and what might need to be remedied soon. 
• I (possibly) disagree with Nick on the possible scope of the work. It depends on how much rehab you're planning on doing, as minor (non-permitted) repairs could be grandfathered in and you'd be unlikely to run into major systems replacement requirements unless you're planning to do a gut rehab. But that's all dependent on local laws. 

In any case, write the above requirements into your offer. If they balk at providing permits, I'd walk. Invoices they may see as proprietary, but I would hold firm on those - though you could offer to have them remove the amounts so you could see the scope at least. And remember - there's always another property! They're the seller, so they need to sell you on the value of their product. 

You can also always buy out the remainder of the lease, or transfer the lease of the tenant to another property you own. Depending on who you're buying from, however, you'll likely want to get rid of the tenants - inherited tenants can be awful. Another thought, building off what shawn said, is to make sure you're asking for the actual rent roll for the building. Then just identify the worst tenant (late payments, complaints, etc) and make their departure a contingency of the sale. If there's professional management working for the seller, they'll likely be able to place their own tenant in another location. Finally (I'm wordy, sorry) you're close enough to the customary August turnover in champaign that it might not be an issue. Work with the seller to identify a lease that hasn't renewed yet, and make non-renewal of that lease a contingency of the sale. FHA likely means a 60 or greater day close, so if you time it correctly you should be fine. You have plenty of options - good luck!!

I ran across this and wondered if there has been a resolution? Edit: Sorry! Didn't realize I was posting to the beginning of the thread! 

I'll do some reading now. :)

I live in champaign and the Assessor's default position is unhelpful, so no shock there. However, there are a few things you can do: 1. I would look at your current property and see what it's assessed at, and the past few years. Then you can see the jump. Also, make sure you're getting the homeowners exemption. 2. For any property you purchase under market (and you should be, right?) you can file an assessment complaint form and have the value reset down to your purchase price. Pm me if you need the form. There's a set time per year when you can submit the form, but I've never had one denied. 3. If you're planning on renting out an investment property you can add language to the lease to pass through the property taxes (basically the tenant acknowledges that their rent goes to pay the taxes) and get the homeowners exemption. The other poster was right in that the prior owners probably had the homeowners and seniors exemptions, but there may be mitigation methods. Good luck!

Welcome! I'm a newer investor, and longtime champaign resident. Feel free to add me and reach out if I can be of assistance.

Welcome to Chambana! Feel free to connect if there are any questions I can answer.

I use a local broker - message me and I'll give his info.