Will $1100 rents work in Little Village?

[Account Closed]

So there are a couple of cool things that'll be happening to Little Village.

• http://chicago.curbed.com/2017/3/15/14935330/chica...
• El Paseo Trail
• 2nd class Restaurants being put into 26th Street (Panda Express)

Apart from business and development, the way i see it is that residents of Pilsen are being pushed out due to gentrification and my prediction is that they relocate to Little Village. Little Village still has their fair share of crime. If youre investing south of 26th street, crime is better there but then youre faced with being far from the Pink lines. What im asking is: would you believe that purchasing a multi unit property in Little Village is ideal, south of 26th street and would it be possible to pull off $1100 rents consistently if the place is nicely displayed? The way I see it is that if you have 200k to spend on a two flat you only have a couple of options: Little Village, East Garfield Park, McKinley Park, and Brighton Park. I think the best choice out of these neighborhoods is Little Village due to the livability of these neighborhoods. The neighborhood that has the best future outlook is East Garfield Park due to its proximity to West Loop and downtown itself, but something extraordinary has to happen to really turn that place around in my opinion. Feel free to express your thoughts here. I'd like to hear some of your feedback.

-Tony

[Matthew Olszak]

@Account Closed Possible? Yes. BUT, it'll have to be a large unit with a lot of upgrades and high end finishes. Also, your pool of potential/qualified tenants will be much more limited than at around $800, so I'd plan for a greater vacancy period. Your best chance of getting that amount will be South of 26th and West of Pulaski, or East of California. Also the closer to an elementary school the better. Many times I've found that the payback time for the improvements you'd have to make to go from the $750-$850 bracket to $1k+ is substantial.

We're seeing the status quo starting to change here in Little Village with tenants and buyers showing more appreciation for higher end finishes and larger spaces by way of rising prices and rents. So if your strategy is long term, it might make sense to make those upgrades. Just be careful as always to not overbuild small spaces, i.e. marble floors in the attic still isn't going to change the fact that its a small attic which will really limit how far the rent can rise.