All Forum Posts by: Sung Park

Hi BiggerPockets Forum, 

You guys have been an incredible help in the process of buying a property. However, since I do not have a pre-approval, I cannot move forward. Here is the issue. 

I am currently in college finishing up my master's degree. I have a full time job next year August and my girlfriend too who will also be paying down my mortgage. I do not have any debt, have 758(Even though my FICO says its 778) credit score and have about 70+k in savings. I did my internship this year and doing side gigs here and there. However, all the lenders I have been talking to says without a 2 year work history pre approval is hard. I want to get a place before August when I start work and it seems like renting is inevitable since I need my paystubs. Does anyone know who got around this or any lender that has lend out in a similar circumstance? Is renting the only option?

Thank you!

Since I am going to use it as a primary residence and living with my girlfriend, I would love to find a place in the loop since we both have jobs in the loop. I would love to venture out but the commute will be longer and I am trying to make the commute as short as possible. It boils down to just renting a condo and paying rent for 5 years or buying a sfh in the suburbs and commuting 40+ minutes every day. Decent condos seem to be around 250K and with 15 year mortgage, it does not seem so bad. What is your take?

Hey Michael, I will be living with my girlfriend and I considered looking for a two bedroom condo but the prices seems to be over 300k and including the extra expenses, it would be hard to afford it. Right now it really comes down to is getting a condo better than getting a sfh or renting. I am planning to live in Chicago for at least 5 years so I thought purchasing a property with 15 year mortgage wouldn't be that bad of an idea. 

Hi David, I am planning on using it as a primary residence for couple of years and decide to rent or sell when the time comes. I don't expect the price to go up that much. The issue is if it is worth it to buy it than pay rent. 1 bedroom condos in Chicago seems to be around 2000 dollars give or take but the expenses every month adds up to 2800 dollars so This is a tough choice to make. I will be in Chicago for at least 5 years so I don't really want to waste money on rent. 

Hello everyone, this is my second post. I learned a lot from my first post thanks to this wonderful forum. After some thoughtful consideration, I am leaning towards getting a condo for primary residence/investment. Since me and my gf are both working in the loop 10min< commute is just too hard to pass by. I have been looking a lot of condos and it seems like 250k is an average price for a 1 bedroom condo. However, looking at the costs, it seems like it will be around 2500 to 3000 dollars in mortgage interest, HOA etc. Whereas rent is around 1800 dollars. I really want to get my first property and it seems like prices are going to rise soon so getting into the market seems like a reasonable idea. 212 w washington st condo seemed very good but too many units and a lot of them in the market seemed like something was wrong. I could use any advice or suggestions. Thanks again in advance.

I go to school in illinois so I visited couple of times. Im new so I am kind if scared to venturing into other states.

Thanks, @Stephen Garmon I heard the Garfield area was a bit dangerous but saw couple of decent duplexes. The thing is it seems like all the houses are around 250k to 300k and the rent is about 1000$ for a 1 bedroom and rent gap is not that significant from the loop despite the property being couple times more expensive. Correct me if I am wrong. Also, aren't duplexes usually very low on cash flows? I assume it would be deadly if the vacancy is longer than expected. 

@Stephen Garmon Hi, go to school in Illinois and been to Chicago couple of times. I have yet to visit the places that I am currently looking. There is no way I will be able to afford a housing in the loop so I am looking more towards the outskirts(west and north) of the loop and hopefully find a good duplex. What is your take?

Hi John, I was looking into a bit west from the west loop( around garfield park). From my understanding, if I do a househack, despite cash flow being very low, it should cover the expenses since I will be residing in one of the duplex. I heard the prices on zillow were not always accurate so what I thought was to get a hold of real estate agent and start from there. I have time until next year August so I have time. Thank you for your detailed response!

Hi, I am currently a college student working in Chicago next year. I want to start my RE journey from where I work, so I have been studying how to enter the market. I have been mainly looking into Zillow for a duplex(for myself and to rent) and was not sure of the average price. How would I start tackling the market? Any tips for a newbie? My budget is looking to be around 40k to 100k(If I squeeze a lot)