I'm not sure if this is even possible, or if it would be a better idea to rent an apartment for the first year to get settled into the area and spend time looking for deals during that first year.

Now that I've settled in Chicago for the foreseeable future, I've been aggressively looking for a buy-and-hold/house hacking property and have luckily gone under contract for a 3-flat in Jefferson Park.

So I picked up a 4-plex a couple of years ago, and thanks to a highway getting approved for development in that town the value has jumped roughly 50% in what was an otherwise stagnant market.The property is cash flowing a bit, but nothing special considering some unexpected repairs last year.So my question is: would you think about holding on to it and see where the market settles?

After the divorce has settled in and one party is trying to make the payments instead of having two people make the payments, reality sets in of how stupid getting a divorce was in the first place.

Essentially, you will have a balloon payment in a few years and will either have to settle your debt or refinance. 

Traditionally banks loan on appraised or purchase, whichever is lower...you may be describing a hard money lender...that's a different ballgame altogether...It's impossible (in 99.999%) of all real estate acquisitions to use financing and acquire a property with no money out of pocket...best you could do is HML if you're flipping this...you may scrape by with points and fees...If you're using HML you will have to sell the property or settle the debt with a re-finance...re-fi's are typically 70% LTV...and completely dependent upon your personal financial situation, DTI...easy to get burned if you don't have capacity or the value is not there...and this is an expensive asset.A conventional lender can't lend if seller financing is involved...lending constraints...

Mudjacking weighs a lot and can cause the mudjack to settle just as much as the concrete.

We don't settle for less than 9% CoC, 15% IRR.

What ways are acceptable for you to settle disputes (Mediation, arbitration, court, etc)7.

I have family in that area and my wife and I hope to settle near there in the future!