All Forum Posts by: Tayo O.

Quote from @Salomon Lino:

Hello Tayo,

Try contacting Millie Reyes Williams at BMO Harris Bank. VP of community reinvestment and mention my name.  708-497-0492

Hey Salomon, thanks for the referral. I'll make sure to reach out.

Quote from @John Warren:

@Tayo O. what we normally have done with our clients is try to negotiate a credit up front. Even if we have to go over the list price to get it, this helps a first time buyer not come with as much cash. For instance, on FHA multi units you can negotiate a 3% credit which offsets the 3.5% down. We recently helped a client close a four unit where he only brought like $500 to the closing.

@John Warren thank you for responding. Is this something exclusive to first time home buyers? If not, please let me know if you're able to talk through this more via PM.

Quote from @Jonathan Klemm:

Hey @Tayo O. - Sounds like you have your plan in place and just need to keep taking the daily consistent action you are taking. I try connecting with @Zack Karp or @Michael Facchini to see what type of programs they offer as well as work with your situation to see what is best fit.

Maybe you can check out areas like Woodlawn or South Shore if you don't want to be in Englewood.  That is the nice thing about Chicago, there is older inventory everywhere at different price points.

Hey Jonathan, thanks for the advice. The two areas you mentioned are ones that I definitely have my eyes on. I'll make sure to reach out to those guys to see what is possible.

Hi All,

Does anyone know of any programs in Chicago or Illinois in general that would be worth looking into for assistance with down payment or closing costs? From my research, I have come across programs that favor first time homebuyers or homebuyers whose incomes fall below the area median income. Also, any investor friendly programs that I have seen so far attempt to incentivize purchasing buildings in the rougher parts of the city (Englewood, Auburn Gresham, etc.) which I am hoping to avoid. I'm planning to purchase a 3-4 unit multifamily (budget $375-425k) at the end of this year & would prefer it to be in a developing area of the city. I plan to use FHA or a low down payment conventional. Apart from saving up for this purchase myself, any assistance I could receive would be a great help.

@Victor So When you did the refi into a conventional I'm assuming you did the loan as an investment property? Because FHA would require owner occupation from my understanding.

@John Warren I'm currently in Morgan Park. That's a good idea, I'll probably try to stay around the south side, southwest suburbs, or south suburbs. Thanks.

@Jonathan Klemm I wasn't able to qualify for the investment property refi so I'll have to refi into a primary conventional & wait a year to use the FHA. I don't really have a price range yet so that's something I'll have to look into.

@Jonathan Klemm thanks for your reply. Yes I like Zack's suggestion. I was thinking that doing the investment refi & new property FHA would result in a better overall gain than just refi'ing into the conventional now but it's good to hear you both confirm it. I'm going to see if I can get approved for the investment refi based on where my credit score is now. If I can't get approved I'm assuming my only option is to refi into the conventional for now? Also, there isn't enough equity yet to really do a HELOC.

As far as where I will be looking, I haven't dove too deep into a location yet but it will be Chicagoland (likely south suburbs, north, northwest suburbs). Do you have any suggestions for good neighborhoods/areas to focus on?

@Zack Karp that makes sense. Middle score is currently 655 so I think it would be worth seeing if I could get approved for the investment refi. Thank you.

@Zack Karp thanks! I’ve been told that in order to get approved for a conventional investment loan I’d need a score of at least 680, is that true? I’m below that currently so I’d assume this plan couldn’t work if that’s the case.