All Forum Posts by: Tom O.

 My Butler buys all my construction material. 

The one thing I found really helpful in getting tenants out (and you really don't want to even think about eviction in Cook County these days) is cash for keys. In the long run it will save you money. I used it with a gang family and it worked so well it was astonishing. That and bringing cookies. 

To answer your question, talk to bankers now. I have really liked Horizon bank for loans. Talk to bankers and mortgage brokers now about what your income and data would pre-qualify you for as some sellers will want to see that before they even show you their property. You should also try your own bank. You already have a relationship with them.

Not an appraiser but I know many many (most?) two and three flats in Chicago have these enclosed but unheated back porches. So I'm not sure heating is a requirement. 

I have my butler handle all such pesky questions. 

my umbrella is $300 for $1 million. So $1200 buys a lot of umbrellas. 

Welcome to Chicago. 

First, there's a new Chicago ordinance which provides for 30, 60 or 90 days notice for rent increases and terminations depending on how long the tenant has been in the unit. So you need to figure that out. It's 30 for a 6 month or less tenant; 60 for 6 months to 3 years and 90 for more than 3 years. 

https://www.chicago.gov/city/e...

And while I agree with your decision to not use property management you will need to get up to speed on regs here in Chicago. For leasing up, for instance, there's a new Cook County ordinance regarding criminal screening. For that use apartments.com or Trulia or Zillow as they seem to follow it. Also, require a 650 credit score. I'm in Chicago so feel free to reach out to me if you need any advice. I'm only four years into it but have made my share of mistakes. 

And this is a good read on evictions and other rules in Chicago and Illinois: 

https://www.chicagoeviction.co...

He's an attorney and I can highly recommend him if you need help especially with evictions, etc. 

@Jeff Copeland can you send me that link as well? Thanks

She's a good tenant. I don't think you should try and make it up too fast. You said you want to keep her. So, you send her a notice of rent increase. It says: 

Current rent: $1,100

Market rent: $1650

New rent: WHAT YOU THINK SHE/YOU CAN AFFORD. 

I would look at her application when she first got the apartment or otherwise try and figure out her finances. Does she have a good job and can afford an increase of more than $100 a month? Maybe $200 a month? Do you know what her job is? What her income is? I think a 10% or maybe 20% increase is reasonable. You could also increase 100 every 6 months. 

I wish I would have seen this post a month ago. I know of a really cool three-flat in Albany Park. Anyway, I like this idea. I also like my realtor who helped by my friend do this and he's now moved after selling his three flat and making around $100K in about a year of ownership. 

My realtor can help you. Message me and I'll shoot you her name and number. 

I would stay out of the west side and shoot for the north side. I would try to get three units. I am warning you that you will not cash flow but you'll be paying rent to yourself. The deal my friend had with his three flat was the tenants paid the mortgage and he paid the rest, about $1,200 to live in the 2d floor 2 bedroom unit. 

What is the physician loan you are talking about? You're going to want something where you can have a 3.5 or 5% down payment by living in the premises. But the banks often won't loan more than 70 or 80 LTV.

I think this is a good idea and very realistic but you're not going to live for free unless you want to buy a 4 unit in Hammond. 

First thing I would do is start searching on Trulia for north side three flats. You can run a search using 3 or more bathrooms, which is often a default for units as most apartments have only one bathroom per unit. You can move the search around. I saw some nice buildings around Lincoln Square, which is a very desirable area.