New Member from Chicago, IL!

Accountant · Chicago, IL · Member since 2014 · 38 posts · 7 votes

Hello All!

My name is Polina Goncharova and I’ve joined the Bigger Pockets community after searching “investments” in my Podcast app. After listening to one podcast, I became HOOKED! In the last week I think I listened to all of the podcasts, began reading up on the beginner guide and now reading “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” – Awesome!

I am 4 years new to the Chicago area and live on the Near West Side. I am looking to understand the Chicago real estate market deeper and hope to learn from this forum. I do not have any experience in real estate and would like to make my first multi-unit purchase as a buy and hold property.

Looking forward to connecting with fellow Chicaegans to understand this market deeper!

I work in Accounting and am a current CPA so would be looking to learn about RE tax as well!

Polina

3 Reply

34 views

Most Popular Reply

Brie SchmidtBusiness Member

Moderator

Real Estate Broker · Chicago, IL · Member since 2013 · 6k+ posts · 5k+ votes

12y

Welcome @Polina Goncharova ! I am a buy and hold investor in Chicago too. BP is a great resource and you will find a lot of great connections on here. We are actually having a networking meeting in Schaumburg on March 11th and then one in the city on April 9th

Podcast Guest on Show #132

Second City Real Estate4.821 Reviews

Website View Page

1 Reply

See this reply in the discussion

32 Replies

Jump to latestLatest

Sort by

Andy Wong
Wholesaler · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2013 · 76 posts · 18 votes
12y
Rich Dad Poor Dad - what started it all for most of us.

Welcome Polina!
0 Reply
Brie SchmidtBusiness Member
Moderator
Real Estate Broker · Chicago, IL · Member since 2013 · 6k+ posts · 5k+ votes
12y
Welcome @Polina Goncharova ! I am a buy and hold investor in Chicago too. BP is a great resource and you will find a lot of great connections on here. We are actually having a networking meeting in Schaumburg on March 11th and then one in the city on April 9th
Podcast Guest on Show #132
Second City Real Estate4.821 Reviews
Website View Page
1 Reply
Ben Leybovich
Rental Property Investor · Phoenix/Lima, Arizona/OH · Member since 2012 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes
12y
@Polina Goncharova

Russian by chance? Welcome to BP - home away from home. Listen to Podcast 14 - multi-family income-producing investments :)

Stay active and reach out. Good Luck!
0 Reply
Polina Goncharova
OP
Accountant · Chicago, IL · Member since 2014 · 38 posts · 7 votes
12y
@Brie Schmidt - Thank you! I will have to join on the April 9 Meetup!

@Ben Leybovich - Russian? Da! Thank you for the advise, I am sure I have already listened but it wouldn't hurt to listen again :)

Best,

Polina
0 Reply
Ben Leybovich
Rental Property Investor · Phoenix/Lima, Arizona/OH · Member since 2012 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes
12y
Otlichno Polina. I am actually being somewhat facetious - Podcast 14 is the one I did with Josh ad Brandon :) Seems like forever ago...

Feel free to reach out. I do not know Chicago too well, but I do know it some what. A lot of friends there - we might know some of the same people :)

Good Luck!
0 Reply
Dmitriy Fomichenko
Solo 401k Expert · Anaheim Hills, CA · Member since 2012 · 18k+ posts · 6k+ votes
12y
@Polina Goncharova

Welcome to BP community! It is a great place to meet new friends and learn about various aspects of real estate and more. Here are a few recommendations for you:

Find and connect with other BP members that are in your area http://www.biggerpockets.com/meet

Set up keyword alerts to be notified of the topics that interest you http://www.biggerpockets.com/alerts

Wishing you the best!
0 Reply
Dennis Gavilanes
Investor · Chicago, IL · Member since 2013 · 26 posts · 8 votes
12y
Welcome!
This site is great and plenty of information from many sources, by the way I live on the Northside of Chicago

0 Reply
Paul Timmins
Specialist · Rockland, MA · Member since 2010 · 7k+ posts · 2k+ votes
12y
@Polina Goncharova

Welcome. Your profession should be the source of all the private money you will need.

Check out the Start Here page http://www.biggerpockets.com/starthere

Locate and attend 3 different local REIA club meetings great place to meet people gather resources and info.

Two Great reads, I bought both J. Scott The Book on Flipping Houses,The Book on Estimating ReHab Costshttp://www.biggerpockets.com/flippingbook

Consider checking out HUD homes for small multi's owner occupied gets first crack.

Go to IREM.org search for ARM certified property managers. Call 5 ask them what parts of the city they like/dislike and why. Ask them what they see expenses running per category per unit. What do they see them selling for per unit, what is the market occupancy rate. Ask them if they know anything coming up for sale. Great way to pick up some good info and possibly a deal.

Good Luck

Paul
0 Reply
Polina Goncharova
OP
Accountant · Chicago, IL · Member since 2014 · 38 posts · 7 votes
12y
@Ben Leybovich - I have listened to your podcast and currently listening again :) I will definitely be picking your brain soon.

@Dennis Gavilanes Thank you ! Hope to see you at one of the local meetups, sounds like there's one on April 9. That should give me enough time on brush up on my goals and projections.

@Paul Timmins - Thank you! I truly appreciate your advise, I will definitely look into IREM.org and take those steps you suggest. Will reach out if there are any further questions!
0 Reply
Timothy Riley
Investor · Chicago, IL · Member since 2013 · 451 posts · 96 votes
12y
Welcome to BP fellow Chicagoan. This is a great place to start.
0 Reply
J. MartinPro Member
Rental Property Investor · Oakland, CA · Member since 2011 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes
12y
Hi Polina, and welcome to BP! I'm a "fix and hold" investor from the Bay Area in CA, and loving it! But you'll find a variety of every type of investor on the site, and everyone is amazingly helpful. Some pointers for you: The "Learn" link across the top navigation bar has lots of great info, and so do BP members! You can click on the "vote" button if you like someone's post or is helpful, and there are "awards" to earn on your profile. And you can tag people by typing @ before you type their name, then clicking their name at the bottom of the message box. Welcome to the site, and good luck in everything!
0 Reply
John Weidner
Chicago, IL · Member since 2014 · 710 posts · 200 votes
12y
@Polina Goncharova

Welcome! I'm also from Chicago - NW side.

Feel free to reach out to me if you have any Multi Family questions.

That CPA and accounting background will be very valuable as you grow your business.
0 Reply
John Hauser
Investor · Fairfax, VA · Member since 2013 · 126 posts · 28 votes
12y
Welcome to the site. There are lots of Chicago-area investors here, s if you set up a keyword alert then it start to feel like Cheers. Chicago has some areas with some great returns, but some restrictive landlord-tenant rules, so be mindful of those. We have one building and really liking it as we get to know what we're doing. Hope to hear about your success soon!

John
0 Reply
Xavier Y.
Investor · Chicago, IL · Member since 2014 · 67 posts · 13 votes
12y
@Polina Goncharova, welcome to the wonderful world of real estate...in Chicago! This city is great for many reasons, including real estate. I'm excited that there so many investors from Chicago. I may be in search for a CPA in the near future, hopefully we can talk about some of the services you provide. Hope to meet you at one of the many meet up groups that local investors hold.

I'm glad you joined BP! especially through the Podcasts, which I believe have really good nuggets of information and it's awesome how the guests are everyday investors that have had success in real estate. It can be comforting when you hear regular people doing so well in real estate.

@John Hauser I'm glad you decided to invest in Chicago being from Fairfax. I was actually there this past weekend. It's a nice little town. I also went to "Old Town" Alexandria and as I was walking through those streets, I couldn't help noticing so many realtor businesses, including a Coldwell Banker and a commercial real estate investing company called WRIT, heard of them? Anyway, how's the real estate market over there?
0 Reply
Jarrett Harris
Calumet City, IL · Member since 2014 · 312 posts · 49 votes
12y
Welcome.
0 Reply
John Hauser
Investor · Fairfax, VA · Member since 2013 · 126 posts · 28 votes
12y
Hey @Xavier Y. ! The numbers here in Fairfax don't make a lot of sense for investing (example $260,000 townhouse in need of repairs drawing $1575 per month in rent). I haven't yet searched for towns in Virginia where it makes more sense, mostly because I have a good business partner in Chicago and we're getting to know what we're doing there.
0 Reply
Xavier Y.
Investor · Chicago, IL · Member since 2014 · 67 posts · 13 votes
12y
@John Hauser I'm interested in renting out of state, as well. Do you have any pointers, advice, and/or recommendations to novice investor trying to rent out properties out of state? If you have properties in multiple states do you have a would you recommend a national or local property manager? Thanks in advance.
0 Reply
John Hauser
Investor · Fairfax, VA · Member since 2013 · 126 posts · 28 votes
12y
@Xavier Y. I have partnered with someone in-state and we are managing ourselves, so my example may not be typical. If you're interested in buy and hold out of state, you might want to follow @Ali Boone 's posts. She has a lot of experience with turnkey investing from her home in Los Angeles. For out of state flipping, @Larry Smet is the one I know personally who has had a lot of success doing that in Chicago. Out of curiosity, is there a reason why you want to invest out of state?
0 Reply
Polina Goncharova
OP
Accountant · Chicago, IL · Member since 2014 · 38 posts · 7 votes
12y
Thank you for the Welcome @Timothy Riley

@John Weidner I certainly think my background could be a benefit. I will definitely reach out, thank you!

@Xavier Yepez I appreciate the encouraging words, after listening through all of the podcasts I don't have a doubt that even I can begin in REI.

@John Hauser Thank you! I already have Chicago keyword alerts setup :) Great tool!
0 Reply
George Foster
Residential Real Estate Broker · Streamwood, IL · Member since 2013 · 93 posts · 51 votes
12y
????? ?????????? ? ??????! ?? ????? ??????? ?????? ?????, ???? ?? ?????????????? ?? ??????????????.

Welcome we are glad to have you!
0 Reply
George Foster
Residential Real Estate Broker · Streamwood, IL · Member since 2013 · 93 posts · 51 votes
12y
????? ?????????? ? ??????! ?? ????? ??????? ?????? ?????, ???? ?? ?????????????? ?? ??????????????.

Welcome we are glad to have you!
0 Reply
George Foster
Residential Real Estate Broker · Streamwood, IL · Member since 2013 · 93 posts · 51 votes
12y
Welcome we are glad to have you! If you are in Chicago we have a local meetup where you can meet active investors. Let me know if you have an interest.
0 Reply
Ramon Jenkins
Real Estate Agent · Milwaukee County, WI · Member since 2009 · 3k+ posts · 525 votes
12y
Welcome to biggerpockets
0 Reply
Polina Goncharova
OP
Accountant · Chicago, IL · Member since 2014 · 38 posts · 7 votes
12y
@George Foster Thank you! Yes I am definitely interested, I hear April 9th is the next meetup. Is that the one you are referring to?
0 Reply
Polina Goncharova
OP
Accountant · Chicago, IL · Member since 2014 · 38 posts · 7 votes
12y
@Ramon Jenkins Thank you! I look forward to learning from everyone!
0 Reply

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