All Forum Posts by: Will Rodriguez

Hello, currently living in NYC and looking to possibly start investing in multi families in NJ, also been looking at Chicago and a few other markets. What's the situation on the ground, pros and cons? Thanks in advance.

@John Casmon at this point I have a list of over a hundred properties across the US and i'll get daily alerts from redfin when any new multi-families meeting my criteria pop up. I'm actively working on software that i'll be able to feed the list to and it'll narrow it down further for me. My partners (brothers) are actively looking into real estate brokers and PM so that we can further filter out our list and start sending out offers. 

I appreciate all of the advice I've received here. It was a lot more than I expected. I know Chicago is a risk, but I will be spending a lot of time upfront in an attempt to reduce the risk as much as possible. I was raised and still live in an area of Brooklyn that was one of the worse parts of NYC. These beautiful brownstones use to sell for under 150K about 20 years ago. This neighborhood is now one of the hottest real estate markets in the country. These same brownstones now sell for about 1M without renovations or 1.4M with renovations. I'm not saying the same thing will happen in Chicago, but the risk/rewards are worth it for me. I'm looking at all of this as a long term play (15+ years). I'm lucky enough I can partner with people I trust and we all have high paying jobs so are able to take on bigger risks.

Now i'm not only looking at (Illinois/Chicago. I have listings for 15 states and that's why it is important I have a quick and automated way at filtering through the list as I get new listings. If I do go with Chicago I will be leaning more towards fully occupied properties with preference towards section 8 tenants.

A lot of great feedback so won't respond to anyone directly. We're very green on the real estate investing front so doing a lot of catching up. Currently on BP podcast 72 (which happens to discuss Chicago). 

1. Right now i'm putting together a spreadsheet of multi families with some data points (e.g. price, units, NOI, crime area, rent roll, taxes, last rehab, year built, etc..) using information from redfin. I'm also signed up for alerts in my search area and updating the spreadsheet as new listings come through. Just using the spreadsheet to filter out properties before digging deeper (most likely with a real estate agent).

2. We're stilling obviously trying to figure out a process that works for us and once we figure that out I can automate some of it since i'm a software engineer.

3. I've been using https://www.trulia.com/real_estate/Chicago-Illinoi... to checkout the crime areas.

4. All good points on the taxes (noticed that when looking at the properties) and also on tenant friendly laws (heard the same thing in podcast 72).

5. Once we have a list of properties we will start looking into insurance companies and more importantly property management companies. If we're not able to find a top notch property management company in the areas we're looking at then no sense in making a purchase in that area.

We're also looking at Indianapolis, Atlanta, and North Carolina but focusing on Chicago first before taking a look at those properties. Just a lot to take in right now but appreciate all of the input.

Thanks everyone

Morning Ted, excellent feedback. Thanks for taking the time. I think Chicago will be a good place for us to start building our portfolio.

Hello,

I'm from NYC and looking to make our first purchase of a multi-family in Chicago. I've been coming up with a list of close to a hundred multi family properties which i'll dive deeper into. This is for a buy and long term hold. Focused more on cash flow than appreciation. I'm a little concerned because the numbers for these multi families look a little too good. I know there is a population decline but job growth continues in the right trajectory, and we all know the story with the crime. What's currently scaring investors the most in Chicago? Also, how big of a deal is the whole "split block construction" issue i've been hearing about?

Thanks!

@Chris Jensen awesome feedback. Thanks for taking the time to respond.

Hi everyone, 

I'm looking to start investing out of state with my two siblings. All 3 of us make very good income and even after maxing out retirement accounts we have plenty to dive into real estate with. Unfortunately we live in NYC which means our money won't go too far, or the cash flow will not be good. We plan on buying out of state and having a property management company running the property.

I'm unfortunately also going through a lengthy divorce so obviously can't buy any property until that is finalized.  Trust will not be an issue with my siblings (and no I'm not being naive). To simplify the purchasing process we plan on only one of us taking out a loan for a property but have the ownership of the property distributed between the 3 of us depending on how much each one contributes to the down payment. I do have some questions about buying property with others.

1- Does it make sense to set up an LLC for this or can we split ownership without it?

2- We're most likely looking at buying 1-2 properties a year to start out, but possibly more. Does it make sense to set up an LLC for each one?

3- I can't have any property under my name until the divorce is finalized. How would I be able to obtain my share of the property after the initial purchase has been made, and what is the typical cost?

4- Is it a better idea to use the cash flow to further pay down the mortgage on a property or to just use it to eventually make more purchases? I understand people generally like to save some of the cash flow for vacancy and repairs, but we earn enough that having to come up with cash quickly won't be an issue.

Thanks for the feedback and glad I found this community.