Listing your property there ensures visibility.Build Relationships: When agents reach out, respond quickly, highlight your property’s amenities, and showcase your flexibility to meet displaced families’ needs.Highlight Insurance-Friendly Features: Emphasize features like flexible lease terms, utilities included, and a fully furnished setup to attract insurance placements.This approach has helped me successfully market to insurance companies.

Now they have exchanges, which are still not as secure as they are advertised to be by the operators. 

I wait for 10 minutes and then a security guard tells me it is closed at 4 PM as indicated by a printed sign.... 

On 12/19/2024, we sold it for $99,000, securing a great return.

Please consider this if you move forward.Additionally, you need to have a broker on payroll in illinois and three separate bank accounts with the security deposit trust account located in illinois.

I work full time at a decent job, but have quickly learned that I needed to make some changes in my families life by securing our financial future. 

With that being said I'll obviously be focusing on out of state.I know Ohio is mentioned a lot around here, specifically Columbus, and I'm an Ohio State alum, so that would be pretty cool to secure my first property in Ohio.

Secure your dream home and call it a day?

My advice: don’t overthink it—your first house hack is about learning, so pick a strong rental market, ensure solid demand, and lock in a deal that gets you close to break-even or better.

.🔹 Great for Sellers & Investors – Motivated sellers can turn a vacant or hard-to-sell property into income while investors secure future deals without a huge upfront commitment.🔹 Ideal in Any Market – Whether home prices are rising or falling, lease options allow you to lock in today’s price while benefiting from future appreciation.Other creative strategies—like seller financing, subject-to deals, and the BRRRR method—can also open doors, but lease options remain one of the most powerful, low-risk, minimal cash out-of-pocket ways to build a portfolio.