All Forum Posts by: Van Blackman

@Carl Edwards

Hello sir! Congratulations on starting your real estate/wholesale journey!

I absolutely do not want to discourage you, but there is a LOT of competition in the Chicago wholesale market. That being said, there are a TON of investors looking for quality deals, so if you can manage to provide TRUE value and acquire great off-market opportunities, you'll be a sure success.

Couple of tips:

1. Please do not take properties from other wholesalers, mark up their prices, and distribute to your book of investors without having it under contract yourself. As investors, we HATE that. Of course, there's nothing wrong with co-wholesaling, but the issue in Chicago is that you have TOO MANY inexperienced wholesalers who re-blast blasted properties. I've seen ONE deal from 8 sources before, all at different price points. That's a QUICK way to lose respect and credibility as a wholesaler.

2. Educate yourself on rehab costs and be conservative on your re-sale ARV's. These are the TOP 2 complaints about wholesalers in ANY market. If you send me a deal that needs $15,000 in work, and has an ARV of $200,000, there's a small chance you're going to move that deal. I would recommend getting your real estate license so you can get access to the MLS. This is the only way that you can truly get an "apples to apples" comp for any house. You'll also want to shadow a contractor, or investor to get a feel for rehab costs. Get a house under contract and get 3-5 true bids (line-itemed) from contractors so you can see for yourself that $15,000 rehabs on most houses are hogwash. Even my rentals get $30k-$40k rehab estimates.

3. Lastly... this is a no-brainer. BE ETHICAL. Trust me: if you can be credible AND ethical as a wholesaler, you will be THE MAN! Don't lie to get a deal done, and always be fair to the seller. Please.... just like there's a MASSIVE need for ethical and reliable contractors, there's a MASSIVE need for ethical and reliable wholesalers. Don't be one of the people that gives the niche a bad name. 

Wholesaling is not easy, and it's not quick. Put some real time into it. 6 months from now you can either be a rockstar, or a jokester. It's your choice.

Hope this helps!

Fell free to contact me if you have any questions.

Thanks,

Van

@Marcos Brandon

How are you sir? 

Are you still acquiring properties for your group in those areas mentioned above? We're very active in those areas and would love to be of assistance.

Thanks, 

Van

@William Stewart

How are you sir?! I know this thread has been up for some time, but I'm curious to see how your rental portfolio has developed over the last several months.

Anything positive to report on?

We've recently closed on two rentals in Markham, IL and Lansing, IL. We have another under contract in Calumet City that we're closing on late this month.

All three of these should be excellent cash flowing properties because we bought them so low ($20k, $40k, and $30k roughly). Also, all of these areas are getting anywhere from $1,300 - $1,500 per month in rent, some even Section 8.

Hope your endeavors are going well.

Would love to hear about your progress!

@Karl Lathus

@Karl LathusCongrats on the first flip, sir! How has your experience in South Holland been thus far? I keep hearing great things about that market, but we have not purchased anything there yet. We purchased one recently in Tinley Park. It's a little further west from S. Holland, but it's a great area! The values are a little higher than the ones you mentioned above, but the good news is: it's very desirable. Have you considered going a bit north into the safer parts of South Side? We've had some success in a few areas like Auburn Gresham, Chatham, Calumet Heights, and Washington Heights. You can buy close to $50,000 there and the resale values are at $200,000 give or take. Beverly is a great area too, but your purchase prices will be higher.

@Bora Yalcin

Congrats on your first investment property as well! Are you only looking for rentals at the moment? We just closed on a few in Markham and Lansing. Looking into one in Calumet City now. I'm from Houston, TX where we've been buying for 10 years. The cash flow on rentals up here is MUCH better than down there. 

@Kaitlyn Sweet

Hello! Do you ever acquire any listings that need work and repairs in the southern suburbs, or are you strictly doing leases? Please let me know if you come across any that you do not want for yourself. We're buying quite a few homes right now, and we're looking for flips and rentals. I'd be happy to send you our info and POF if you need. Thx!

Hi @Benjamin M pitassi!

What neighborhoods in South Side are you looking into?

We're buying flips and rentals throughout SS Chicago and the southern suburbs. 

I really cannot speak to other investors' reasons for contracting homes and backing out, but I would think it has more to do with the condition of the home rather than the laws.

If you're looking to buy and hold, you need to know that there are some areas of the south side that won't expect to appreciate but WILL cash flow a good bit, and there are other areas that are currently growing tremendously but won't necessarily cash flow as much.

Are you looking to buy in this area?

@Alexander Ramos

Hello sir!

Yes, I'm looking into a couple of properties over there as we speak.

I can't speak much about the rental market because we're looking into the area more so for flips, but there's plenty of value there to make a profit it you buy them right.

Are you wholesaling, or looking to buy there yourself?

@Pawel Zurek 

How are you?!

We are currently buying properties from Schaumburg to Lansing, IL. We do wholesale, but we rarely assign properties. Meaning, every opportunity that we uncover, we will always close with our own cash, and then re-sell to another investor in the event we're not keeping it for ourselves.

I'm always open to offering advice if you need any. I'm pretty sure BP has a few resources on the website that will get you started. But if I had to sum it up for you in just a few words, here it is: get out there and market yourself. Network, network, network. This game is difficult when you're starting off. But after you've built your network properly, it is actually very easy.

Feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions. 

Good luck!

@Quamal Burton

Great post, sir!

I believe you answered your own question within your post above.

The great news is: at 25 years old, you are still VERY young. Quitting your current job and changing careers it totally acceptable at this time in your life.

If you truly love real estate and investing, I'd say that's what you need to be doing!

Good luck to you sir!

Best,

Van

Hi @Peter S.!

Let's just compute the cash flow and ROI for the one house you're looking to potentially rent out (your current home).

Let's try this:

Estimated Rent - $2700

Current payment - $1930

Taxes/Insurance - what is it?

Maintenance - some people put in a little per month to account for this

Vacancy - some people put this in too, in case you're house is leased for the full year

Take your rent and subtract all the other figures to get your estimated monthly "cash flow". This is the amount of money that goes into your pocket for that house each month after the bills and expenses have been paid. 

If you want the ROI, divide your yearly cash flow by the total amount invested, and there you have it. @Antoine Martel made a suggestion to use one of the BP calculators, that's a good idea. But typically, I don't compute ROI on multiple houses together, we just do it one house at a time.

Hope this helps!

Thanks, 

Van

@Mike Woods,

How are you sir?

I graduated from a major university in Texas in 2011.

I had several pals who opted to rent out houses in close proximity to the campus rather than paying a little more for a nicer apartment complex.

I would like to think that any reasonably located house near a large university would be okay - students will ALWAYS need housing. I guess the big question is, as always, who are you renting to? 5 frat guys, or 5 honor students?

I was a frat guy. We definitely didn't take 100% care of the property! That being said, irreparable damage was never the case (it was mostly just the aftermath of post-class activity), and rent was ALWAYS paid.

Are you "asking for trouble"? You're asking for potential trouble in ANY rental you purchase. A bad apple can slip through the web anytime, whether it's in a college town, or in a middle-class neighborhood.

The good news is, at least with me and my pals in college, a lot of our rent was paid by the parent/guardian of the tenant. The landlord could rest assured that they weren't relying on a party-crazed 20 year old for rent - their parents were on the hook for it. I'm sure if you went found a house at a big enough school, and leased to the right tenants, you'd be very happy with your rental on any campus.

Just my opinion! Hope it helps!

Thanks,

Van