Advice on Fix & Flips in Englewood Chicago

San Diego, CA · Member since 2021 · 6 posts · 3 votes

My name is Manny and I am interested in buying a property in West Englewood neighborhood of Chicago IL. I am from San Diego, California and I travel frequently out of state to buy property. Property in my city is out of my budget. The off-market property I found in West Englewood is affordable. My goal is to fix and sell it for a profit. I am able to purchase it for 20% of the purchase price of similar comps in the area. I am nervous, mainly because this is new to me as I am unfamiliar with the Chicago market and I read West Englewood is known for crime. Can anyone share advice on flipping properties in a not so nice neighborhood? Whether or not I should jump into a rehab project in this area. Any information, contacts, and advice is greatly appreciated

1 Reply

49 views

Most Popular Reply

Jonathan KlemmBusiness Member

Moderator

Contractor · Chicago, IL · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 2k+ votes

Hi @Manny Rivas - I think this is totally doable BUT you absolutely have to have the right team in place. Englewood is one of Chicago 's roughest neighborhoods and the area is VERY block by block.

As @Alan F. pointed out 20% is a little thin, especially as a first deal - I would say though, in my opinion, the most important thing is getting started so even if it's not a home run a single, walk, or even a strikeout is better than not even batting... because as you take more at-bats you'll get a better batting average.

Happy to connect around the renovation process and help you build a solid team here in Chicago.

[email protected]

Quality Builders4.966 Reviews

Website View Page

2 Reply

See this reply in the discussion

7 Replies

Jump to latestLatest

Sort by

Alan F.
Flipper/Rehabber · CA · Member since 2023 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
2y
Quote from @Manny Rivas:
My name is Manny and I am interested in buying a property in West Englewood neighborhood of Chicago IL. I am from San Diego, California and I travel frequently out of state to buy property. Property in my city is out of my budget. The off-market property I found in West Englewood is affordable. My goal is to fix and sell it for a profit. I am able to purchase it for 20% of the purchase price of similar comps in the area. I am nervous, mainly because this is new to me as I am unfamiliar with the Chicago market and I read West Englewood is known for crime. Can anyone share advice on flipping properties in a not so nice neighborhood? Whether or not I should jump into a rehab project in this area. Any information, contacts, and advice is greatly appreciated

A 20% is way to thin, especially for a noob. You want alot of wiggle room for your 1st, especially if you're not doing it yourself, let alone in a bad neighborhood.
ive done it, I wouldn't advise it.
1 Reply
Crystal SmithPro Member
Moderator
Real Estate Broker · Chicago, IL · Member since 2014 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
2y
Quote from @Manny Rivas:
My name is Manny and I am interested in buying a property in West Englewood neighborhood of Chicago IL. I am from San Diego, California and I travel frequently out of state to buy property. Property in my city is out of my budget. The off-market property I found in West Englewood is affordable. My goal is to fix and sell it for a profit. I am able to purchase it for 20% of the purchase price of similar comps in the area. I am nervous, mainly because this is new to me as I am unfamiliar with the Chicago market and I read West Englewood is known for crime. Can anyone share advice on flipping properties in a not so nice neighborhood? Whether or not I should jump into a rehab project in this area. Any information, contacts, and advice is greatly appreciated

Before purchasing, you should seek out data beyond the crime statistics and also seek out local relationships. What kind of data that goes beyond the crime statistics? Naturally the After Repair Value, but more important than that is the average days on market data. If the average days on the market for recently sold properties is relatively low and they are selling close to the listing price then the data is telling you that the risk of purchasing, renovating and reselling quickly is relatively low, despite the crime data.
Establishing local relationships and having a team on the ground that you can trust can mitigate the risk associated with a potentially bad neighborhood.
Regarding West Englewood- We sold a property in that neighborhood in the fall for an absentee owner. We had not done business there in a while and I was pleasantly surprised at the market data near our client's property. We had a contract on his property in less than 2 weeks.
312-681-7487
1 Reply
Jonathan Bock
Accountant · Bryn Mawr, PA · Member since 2023 · 409 posts · 321 votes
2y
@Manny Rivas
https://heyjackass.com/2023-homicide-map/
This is an interactive map let us know your thoughts?
Looks like Englewood only had 55 murders and 179 wounded last year ..... I'm sure it will be easy to manage remotely
Jonathan Bock, CPA
0 Reply
Jonathan KlemmBusiness Member
Moderator
Contractor · Chicago, IL · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 2k+ votes
2y
Hi @Manny Rivas - I think this is totally doable BUT you absolutely have to have the right team in place. Englewood is one of Chicago 's roughest neighborhoods and the area is VERY block by block.

As @Alan F. pointed out 20% is a little thin, especially as a first deal - I would say though, in my opinion, the most important thing is getting started so even if it's not a home run a single, walk, or even a strikeout is better than not even batting... because as you take more at-bats you'll get a better batting average.
Happy to connect around the renovation process and help you build a solid team here in Chicago.

[email protected]
Quality Builders4.966 Reviews
Website View Page
2 Reply
Sean O'KeefePro Member
CPA | Accepting new clients | 50 States · Member since 2022 · 1k+ posts · 870 votes
2y
@Manny Rivas congrats on getting started. Most real estate investors that flip properties use an S-Corp. It has something to do with self-employment taxes and paying less in taxes.
[email protected]628-241-0888
0 Reply
Kim C.
Investor · Chicago · Member since 2024 · 3 posts · 1 vote
2y
Englewood is one of the main areas that we purchase! I think the biggest issue would be a break in. You don't want all of your newly installed materials stolen and stripped.
We have used services that provide steel doors and window guards to prevent break ins. You also have to register it with the City of Chicago as a vacant building. Best of luck to you!

1 Reply

Join the conversationCreate a free account to reply, vote on answers and follow this thread.