Slim pickings in Chicago

[Natasha Richardson]

I’ve been searching for a 4 unit turn key house hack in Chicago in my price range since September and haven’t found not one that cash flows or the ones that do flow is so minimal it’s not worth it. I’m pretty sure my analysis is correct using the 1% rule etc. but just wanted to see if anyone else out here is looking for something similar in Chicago and having the same results. Maybe I’m doing something wrong?

[Tom Shallcross]

Hi @Natasha Richardson.  Chicago can be tough to cashflow but there are definitely opportunities.  First step is to hone in on specific areas.  Chicago is made up of 77 community areas and 200 neighborhoods.  Some will have cashflowing properties, and a lot will not.  Some you'll want to straight-up avoid.

I personally have my best cashflowing properties outside the city in Glenwood and there seems to be more options in the Southern Suburbs.   There are also areas of the city I love like Pullman but you need to be careful as the neighborhoods change on a block-by-block basis.  @Ibn Abney runs the Southeast Chicago meet-up and it would probably be worth your time to join the next meeting on 12/22 if interested in speaking with other Chicago investors for that area. 

If you're strictly looking at the MLS offerings I would strongly suggest networking and reaching out to the many Chicago wholesalers on BP so you can expand your search with off-market deals.

Lastly, the 1% rule doesn't necessarily work in all areas due to the insanely high Cook County taxes.  Run your numbers on the BP calculator with the actuals to validate.  

Feel free to reach out with any questions and hopefully this helps!