All Forum Posts by: Svetlana Foley

You would need permits for this type of construction.  Save yourself some time, money and headache and call the city's zoning department ahead of time.  You will be on the phone for hours, but the regs are very specific and the city engineers will give you exact numbers.  I know that 8 ft in the middle is really important, and you've got that covered, the rest should be pretty easy, but this way you will know exactly what you can and cannot do and plan accordingly.

Foundation issues are extremely common in Milwaukee and surrounding areas.  The local fix is quite different from what they do in Texas/Utah, since the soil conditions are not comparable and the weather is different as well.  Retail customers are typically scared by the foundation repairs as they are very costly, but I have a couple of big investors who salivate every time they see a foundation problem - it is fixable 99% of the time, and that also means a big discount, since the seller knows how it affects the sale and has no choice but to reduce the price.  Good luck in your RE adventures!

http://www.wilegalblank.com/Rental-Forms/

There is a bunch of places where you can get the forms, including WRA and free ones here on BP.  Legal blanks is 100% up to date on all the regs, and they used to have a physical store on Wisconsin Ave - not sure if its still there.

Hey - welcome to BP.  I am an agent in Milwaukee, feel free to PM.  There is a number of PMs here, as we have a lot of out of state investors buying, including many from California.

Fully agree with @JD Martin, I work with both Zillow and Trulia and people pretty much expect a call, preferably within 5 minutes of them contacting you, otherwise they are on to clicking on other properties.  Whoever TALKS to them first get the business.  It also is much easier to prescreen and weed out over the phone.  Once you have a larger operation, hire an assistant for this and other tasks.

@Shawn Ackerman,  @Ramon Jenkins, its a date!  Just let us know when you are in tow, and me and Ramon will figure and out

@Shawn Ackerman 10 min.  I do business all over Southeastern Wisconsin, from Racine to Washington county, so Milwaukee is virtually the back yard for me!

@Shawn Ackerman - I am a realtor here in Milwaukee.  Yes, its very easy! I set my own hours... the choice is 80 hours a week or a 100 hours.  I do feel that here in Milwaukee we are very friendly, in spite of competing with each other, and people are willing to help out even when they absolutely don't have to.

@Joe Martella, I see you have finally found Shawn.  He makes it look easy, doesn't he?

Andrew - 

Michel Henry is correct, there is a ton of people from Illinois that take advantage of lower price points and buy out in Wisconsin, and the drive is not bad at all if and when needed.  Feel free to reach out any time with any questions!