I'm in Chicago but would love to know their contact info if they're willing to lend here.

I am prepared to start making offers on SFHs in Chicago, IL, but I don't know any attorneys at all.

@Thomas Landis @Zach TobiasI'm sorry to say it brothers but I'll be heading to Chicago on Friday to research the market..I mean find a place for me to live in January :)Sorry I can't make it this weekend guys.

(I'm a fairly newbie investor, still trying to learn/digest as much as I can about investing, so please bear with me if these are basic questions.)When you invest in a distant property, is it better to find a lender who is geographically closer to you (so it's presumably a quicker turnaround for you to communicate with them), or is it recommended to use one that is closer to the actual property/city/state (since they may be better calibrated to the local property values/appraisals/laws/etc.)?

Can anyone recommend a good hard-money lender in the Chicago area, who would be able to do a line of credit or bridge loan of up to $600k?

I own a real estate company in the Chicago area specializing in land and tear downs such as yours.  

Oh, and if you're in Chicago, I recommend Kinzie Street Chop House for steak.

RCG is doing a workshop in Chicago this month for Lonnie Dealers on that subject.

And this was their reply:To address your concerns with appreciation, you'll experience the same in [Market 1] or [Market 2] as you will with Chicago...In a buy and hold strategy, it's all about the cash flow.

Ryan Dossey  a lot of it is a west coast perspective IE cash flow is not necessary or not my number one goal most of the time.. of course there are many ways to skin a cat and many very successful cash flow investor out west.. with me I am more of an in the moment investor... my very best investment has been in bear land... path of progress pay cash and hold for 25 years but make 100 times my money.. not sure if its right  but when they cook off they are big checks.