Naperville, IL · Member since 2015 · 6 posts · 1 vote
Hello BP Community,
My name is Larry and I've been a lurker for a while, but ready to take the plunge into real estate investing. I'm looking for rental units in the Fox Valley area (currently have my eyes on a potential house hack to get out of our current apartment rental). Looking for any and all advice about the area!
I've lived here my whole life, but my one concern is the long term prospects of Illinois which has me considering looking out of state, but that is also a headache (currently reading Long Distance Real Estate Investing by David Greene to get over that fear if the chicagoland area turns out not to be viable for a newbie).
Anyways, hello again, and I'm very excited to get off the couch and into this exciting world.
Investor · Phoenix, AZ · Member since 2016 · 349 posts · 418 votes
8y
Larry - congratulations on your decision to pursue real estate investing.
While I have been in AZ for nearly 30 years, I grew up in Naperville and go to Naperville/Chicago frequently to visit relatives as well as for business travel.
My recommendation would be to definitely look out of state. My uncensored opinion is that IL (Chicago especially) is a cesspool of a state financially from decades of corrupt politicians. I personally will never own a real estate or earn 1 cent of income in IL.
So where to go? AZ has had a serious run of appreciation and I am having trouble finding deals with numbers that I think work. So I am currently looking at Indianapolis, and perhaps South Carolina (Myrtle Beach/Charleston). I have not pulled the trigger yet on a remote purchase, but I see it happening in the next six months. In the meantime, I've pinged BP members for property manager recommendations and am getting familiar with those markets and what the numbers look like.
Investor · Phoenix, AZ · Member since 2016 · 349 posts · 418 votes
8y
Larry - congratulations on your decision to pursue real estate investing.
While I have been in AZ for nearly 30 years, I grew up in Naperville and go to Naperville/Chicago frequently to visit relatives as well as for business travel.
My recommendation would be to definitely look out of state. My uncensored opinion is that IL (Chicago especially) is a cesspool of a state financially from decades of corrupt politicians. I personally will never own a real estate or earn 1 cent of income in IL.
So where to go? AZ has had a serious run of appreciation and I am having trouble finding deals with numbers that I think work. So I am currently looking at Indianapolis, and perhaps South Carolina (Myrtle Beach/Charleston). I have not pulled the trigger yet on a remote purchase, but I see it happening in the next six months. In the meantime, I've pinged BP members for property manager recommendations and am getting familiar with those markets and what the numbers look like.
Naperville, IL · Member since 2015 · 6 posts · 1 vote
8y
@Dave G. Thank you for the honest opinion of the IL market. I've been combating the two thoughts of invest close to where you live to get started and invest where the numbers make the most sense. I'd like to move out of state at some point, but will need to stay here for at least the next few years due to family commitments. Hopefully reading David Greene's book will give me the confidence to pull the trigger on long distance. Do you have any advice in putting together a team out of state?
Out of curiosity, where in AZ are you? My wife and I went out there last spring to see some family and friends in Tucson and Scottsdale. We loved the area. Hiking up to Wave Cave in Gold Canyon was beautiful. Maybe we'll make it out there a little more permanently in a few years
Naperville, IL · Member since 2015 · 6 posts · 1 vote
8y
@Nate Shields Thank you for the welcome! If you send me the dates/times I'd definitely like to figure out how to make it. Looking forward to getting involved in the community!
Real Estate Entrepreneur / Investor · Chicago, IL · Member since 2016 · 688 posts · 367 votes
8y
@Larry Green how's it going. It depends on what your overall strategy is in real estate. I personally think if you don't have trusted sources in the other states your looking to invest that's going be trouble for you. Real estate is a very cut throat industry and to be honest many people can't be trusted. Since your kinda close to the Wisconsin and Indiana markets I would suggest looking there if you don't want anything to do with Illinois real estate. Northwest Indiana has some nice areas for rentals. But back IL......you're also missing out on some really good cash flowing deals. Especially on the south side of Chicago in certain suburbs you can get a SFH with a cash on cash return of 13-15%!!!! My point is.....there are problems with every state but you have to do your own analytics to know if something doesn't work for you or not, not just going by what people say(including me). Run some numbers of some homes in Illinois and see if they make great rentals(you might want to stay away from the MLS it's too expensive).
Attorney · Northbrook, IL · Member since 2017 · 719 posts · 549 votes
8y
@Larry Green Seems like a solid plan to house hack and when you move you can rent out your unit. I agree that Illinois has problems but that shouldn't be the defining factor to prevent you from moving forward with real estate investing. Waiting a couple years to get started won't benefit you.
Naperville, IL · Member since 2015 · 6 posts · 1 vote
8y
@Elbert D. thank you for the advice! I'm continuing to look into the area, but will also extend my search into those close Indiana/Wisconsin areas you mentioned. I'm also going to look into nothern Alabama as I have family down there, so I can take a few weeks down there later this year to meet with a potential team in person.
Do you have any recommendations of places to stay away from in the south side suburbs? I will need to do my homework as I don't know much about the area at this point.
Real Estate Entrepreneur / Investor · Chicago, IL · Member since 2016 · 688 posts · 367 votes
8y
Well I would stay away from certain areas in Cal City and Dolton. Some blocks in those areas are pretty good and don’t have any crime. On the flip side,Some are high in crime. I’ll stay away from Harvey, Robbins and Markham and the majority of Riverdale.
Some areas of Hammond Indiana and East Chicago is ok as well. But you have to really pay attention to the crime.
Nice to meet you and would be happy to help you with any anaylsis of the house hack deal your looking at. I'm a local broker. Our office is over off 75th St. I see your from Naperville. Send me any details of the deal and I would be happy to help!
As far as the out of state investing I would recommed getting your feet wet 1st with the house hack here. See how that goes then when your looking to move out of state in a couple years, maybe after having the money saved roll into another house hack (maybe like a 4 unit or even a bigger. Anyways if you have the cash for downpayment. STOP RENTING ASAP!!!
I am in Phoenix, the Ahwatukee-Foothills part of town. My wife and I have rentals in the same area.
There's a very diverse amount of beauty in AZ. A lot of folks just think it is desert and cactus, which are great, but there's so much more (Verde Valley, Prescott, Flagstaff, Payson, etc).
Some great points in this thread by others. I'll amend my first note to you with the thought that it may be wise for you to start your RE investing close to home to learn the ropes before you invest out of state.
Real Estate Agent · Wheaton, IL · Member since 2013 · 54 posts · 14 votes
8y
Hi, @Larry Green. I'm so glad that you've decided to start investing in real estate! Welcome. I'm a local agent in the Naperville area, so if you need anything, let me know.
In terms of investing in Illinois, I think there are still opportunities here, even though they may be harder to find than, say, a few years ago.