All Forum Posts by: Svetlana Foley

Sounds like your  options are full conventional. partial seller financed dp or lease as suggested above.  Find out exactly how much the penalty would cost them in dollars, and agree to a bit higher percentage on the seller finance amount.  Lets just say it will cost them 10k to get paid now/penalty for early payment, if they make 11k by loaning money to you at 10% (or whatever makes sense to both parties), show the wife that they will actually be making money by going that route.

@Jim Peret, nearby Cook County in Illinois is one of the best paying tax lien counties in the country, as far as I know.  There is a lot of competition, and you do need to do your due diligence on the properties.  Most of the time the homeowners do find a way to pay back the taxes, the percentage of the time you end up with the house is not very high.  You can always sell the house if that is the outcome and the owner defaults; however, just like the city of Milwaukee, Cook county can be a dangerous place to invest in.  Back to due diligence!

Go with your first thought!  You already know the local market, assume developed at least some local connections, and in the lower price range Milwaukee is still good for cash flow if you are not adverse to potential problems.  Good luck!

Outside of the war zones the inventory in Milwaukee metro is incredibly low.  Just keep looking and when you see a good deal, better snap it before someone else does!

Yep, the low priced housing is in abandon around Milwaukee, but there is definitely a reason for it.  As I said before, you can get an amazing cash flow in the low range housing, but once the house is destroyed by the tenant, you are looking at heavy fines by the city and a good possibility of putting in more money than the house is worth or having a foreclosure go on your record - a cheaper option many times, but ruins your credit.  The local inventory for 80k+ is incredibly low, especially this time of the year, and good deals exist but hard to find.  Well worth it if you spot one, as appreciation factor should be a really good factor for the next few years.

It is an awesome book, and shows a true picture as well.  Should be a required read for all investors in Milwaukee area!

Awesome job, @Chris E.! Way to do things right.  Did you pull permits for some of the jobs you did?  Just FYI, you should disclose it if you are selling the house, as it will inevitably come up on the inspection report.  Your realtor can help you with all the implications and best way of dealing with it.  Very smart way of getting into RE investing, congrats!

@Rito Altamirano, I have to second @Marcus Auerbach - that logic applies anywhere in the country.  May of investors buy 30k homes here in Milwaukee and get an amazing cash flow.  I have friends living in those neighbourhoods as well  - many choose to do it not because they cant afford to move out, but because they feel strongly that they are part of the community and thats where they run their businesses.  Well, this time of year thieves are out in full force, and not one but two of my friends were robbed at gun point right in their homes - and that was just yesterday. That price point typically buys you a great cash flow and potentially really big losses in the future (not always) - at least in the urban environments like Milwaukee and Vegas.  If you fully understand what you are getting into and willing to take a chance of potentially losing 100% of your investment (one bad tenant will do it quite easy!), then look up @Shawn Ackerman as he specializes in that market.

@Yaniv Kehat - in addition to Milwaukee proper, which is pretty much pocket by pocket and street by street, take a look at other nearby working class communities that are popular with investors - West Allis, Cudahy, Wauwatosa and city of Waukesha.

Svetlana

If the driveway/sidewalk were completed, I would definitely say list very beginning of January  - Christmas is not the best time.  Yes, the prices will go up in the spring, but you will also be competing with a lot more properties on the market.  People that are looking to buy in January are typically more solid and must buy, cant afford to wait until spring.  That coupled with low inventory usually results in higher purchase price; however, since driveway is kind of a major thing, you would need to determine if the property is sellable right now.  If not, complete the work and list it when its done.