All Forum Posts by: Victor So

Hello, does anyone have any experience with house hacking in Chicago? I will be graduating college in May 2025 and would like to work/live in the city. I am considering buying a 2 bedroom condo near the loop and renting out the other bedroom. Would it still be worth it if I'm still having to pay around $1,500 a month to live there? Is house-hacking a condo in Chicago a feasible option to begin with? I'd love for any opinions and feedback!

Investment Info:

Small multi-family (2-4 units) buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $520,000
Cash invested: $340,000

This is a House Hack investment property in Uptown Chicago near Andersonville. My wife and I live on the 2nd floor and rent out the first floor. We have been repairing various aspects of the building since 2019. We gut renovated the entire 1st floor, the 2nd floor kitchen and bath and turned the basement into a Garden Unit. It's been a long journey (fired our first GC, GC'd it ourselves, then hired another GC) and we've learned a lot from the experience.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

We wanted to have passive income from rental properties. We also were looking for a condo, but found them all to be very expensive. This building was in the location we wanted and we were excited about the idea of being able to remodel it while making income from the rental.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

Searched on Redfin and our Realtors listings. There were several interested buyers. We offered $5k over any other buyer's asking price up to $520k (with proof of verified offer).

How did you finance this deal?

15% down and 30 year Mortgage

How did you add value to the deal?

Nearly gut renovated the entire thing over 5 years

What was the outcome?

We still live here as of 2024! We love the space. It cost way more than we budgeted for. We found out a year ago that we were having a baby and we were able to make a new opening in the first floor so that we could expand into it and use both floors for ourselves. We are preparing to rent out the newly renovated garden unit.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Vet your contractors better and don't let positive past performance excuse current poor performance. Our first contractor in retrospect was not great. They were fast and cheap, but the quality wasn't always there and they were a mess. It got worse over time, since the contractor lost a few key team members and we should've let him go then.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Elizabeth Amidon, Lorenzo with Archetype Construction

Hello there!

I'm hoping I can find an agent to help me sell a rental property in Chicago. It is a SFH. I am out of state.

Thank you!

Hi everyone! New to real estate, I've lived in Chicago for the past 3 years working in the medical field and plan to get my start with a multi-family house hack within the next 5 months. I've been primarily working on educating myself and am now in the process of finding a lender/agent to work with, but am looking to expand my network in the Chicago REI community and learn from those who have greater experience than myself. Additionally, if anyone has experience in medical real estate I would love to pick your brain on starting out as a new RE investor, as this a long term goal of mine. Would be happy to chat on BP/over coffee/zoom/whatever works for you, I appreciate the help and looking forward to connecting! Cheers

I am new to REI. I know this is something I want to do. I haven't even started and already am having a bit of fear. Its the networking part that gives me anxiety. I am an introverted person but i am also a get it done kind of person. Any tips on how to get over this fear for a newbie. Is best advice just to put myself in situations and with time I will get comfortable. This is my usual approach but since this is a market I don't know figured id ask seasoned people. Thanks in advance and looking forward to being part of the REI family.

Hi all,

I’m an academic and a total newbie to real estate investing. I'm looking to learn, make connections and figure out the best approach to get started. I’m currently soaking up as much knowledge as I can on BP, saving money, and planning to buy my first house hack in 2024. I’m in Chicago and would love to connect with others in the area (and elsewhere) as I figure out my path! If anyone has tips about house hacking, getting started with little money, or getting started in investing in general it would be much appreciated!

I am really interested in learning about renting out individual rooms out to professionals and possibly students, under one roof. Not sure the term of this strategy.

What books or other resources do you recommend to learn this strategy?

Thank you!