I bet you can find your answers in the city of Chicago tenant's law and regulations@Carlos Valencia @Albert Bui

My realtor didn't give me a sense of what the "better" or "safer" areas or more affluent areas of JT are and I don't know where to look for that kind of information. 

Your best bet is getting the heir to agree to sell.

He bought it in 2021 so I bet it's low.

Who wants to bet it's 6%?

If you already have a pre approval for FHA then starting locally with a house hack is going to be your best bet.

Getting a local realtor to give you and ARV would the best bet but you can use sites such as Redfin (be careful of Zillow's Zestimate) to get you in the ballpark. 

I really see Columbus Ohio as an extremely safe bet for the next 10-20 years.

G'Day Bob,Not many "true" turnkey companies around anymore and I've seen a trend where investors want to DIY out of state and country.Personally, I think this is an even bigger recipe for disaster than buying turnkey.bBut that's just my opinion.Back in the day you had many "turnkey" companies selling crappy properties in crappy areas for a lot more than market value.Then they pass you on to a 3rd party PM that nickel and dimes you to death.Granted, if you want to DIY I would always advise moving to the market that you want to invest in.Spending enough time with key people needed to make your venture a success.Yep, easier said than done 🤷‍♂️If you DIY from out of state, you will probably find an "investor friendly" agent that will flog you expensive property from the MLS, refer a "good" contractor and then you will most likely also get nickel and dimed by a referred "trustworthy" PM.IMO, you are safer finding a reputable turnkey provider in a market that you want to invest in and go from there.If $#%@ hit's the fan (Which it always does in real estate), at least you have everyone to blame under the same roof.A true turnkey provider will have everything an out of state investor would/want and need under the same roof.No finger pointing is allowed lolI'm bias as we offer turnkey so take my words with a grain of salt.Just happy to offer my 0.2 Aussie cents.Wishing you much success

I bet there are options available to you such as using a "buy before you sell" (orchard, homelight, homeward, etc.) bridge-loan type program, or you may be able to use a HELOC or other bridge financing.