I'm a total newbie myself, but I've been doing an insane amount of reading and research via youtube etc. 

I'd have an agent run comps and see if they are offering a fair amount.

@Veronica Mitchell - A little bit of an open-ended question since Chicago is just so massive and has a ridiculous amount of mult-family properties. 

It's always hard to fix things after closing, but you should try anyway.

If it’s the latter, then you’re going to need to devote an immense amount of time and energy to becoming a full time agent.

Consider offering equity partnerships, debt financing with profit sharing, or preferred equity, where investors get a fixed return before you share profits.

ABL, which is the basis for HML/fix and flip lending, will have different criteria and different focuses than multi-year loans based on cashflow and borrower credit score (long term mortgages).

You may be looking only for "low-hanging fruit" type deals, which are far & few between these days.Read copy & paste info below:--------------------------------------------------------------------------------The Real Estate Crash of 2008-2010 caused real estate prices to crash across the country - but didn't affect rent amounts.

Why not joint venture with someone who has money, fix & flip itWhy not rent it out for at least the monthly carrying costs.Why not sell it on a lease option, get 10% cash up front to fund school? 

This would also prevent me from using the HELOC for a different type of investment like BRRRR or fix and flip.