Aurora, IL · Member since 2016 · 14 posts · 4 votes
10y
@Alex Sanchez the red tape that @Elyse Moore is referring to involves a few things for the city of Aurora. In order to lease a property in Aurora you must first complete a Crime Free Multi-Housing Program Phase 1 - 8 Hour Seminar. Once you have completed the seminar you have to purchase a Property License. The renewal of the license was $90 this year. Then the city's department of Property Standards will do an inspection of the property to ensure that you are in compliance with all of the rules and regulations for rental properties in Aurora. At that time you will need to provide an executed copy of the lease, a signed copy of the City of Aurora's Landlord-Tenant Lease Addendum, as well as background checks on all tenants 18 years and older.
Hope this helps explain the red tape for leasing in Aurora. Good Luck!
Westmont, Illinois (IL) · Member since 2016 · 53 posts · 15 votes
10y
Hi Alex, we used GC Realty & Development for our first deal. Mark Ainley is a Pro on BP, and our agent was Steve. Great guys! http://www.gcrealtyinc.com/
Investor · Aurora, IL · Member since 2015 · 29 posts · 14 votes
10y
Alex Sanchez I grew up in Naperville, live in Aurora, and work heavily in Plainfield/Oswego/Aurora. I've looked into downtown Aurora for investment opportunities but because of the red tape I've been hesitant to make a solid move of my own. What are you looking for in a deal? Flips? Buy and hold?
Westmont, Illinois (IL) · Member since 2016 · 53 posts · 15 votes
10y
@Alex Sanchez Technically, it was the 2nd deal, but at the time of closing we didn't own anything. Yes, it was buy and hold. We closed on a 3-flat a month ago and are house-hacking it now. We still have to build up better cash flow so we are in the process of improving the property and increasing rents for tenants. We used MLS, and I can say it was very hard to find what we wanted as we were looking in prime areas in DuPage (that's all we knew) so we had to expand and purchased in Cook.
West Chicago, IL · Member since 2016 · 58 posts · 8 votes
10y
Elyse Moore I've been looking at DT Aurora as well. I like Aurora because there is a lot of multi unit housing that's on the cheaper end. I'm looking mostly for buy and hold. Cash flow is what I'm looking for. But I may want to do some flips to build up capital to invest in more Multi Family.
West Chicago, IL · Member since 2016 · 58 posts · 8 votes
10y
Yulia Jenner Yes cook county seems to have more variety. So do you not recommend MLS for Dupage county? What type of property were you looking for? A- B+? Are you having cash flow with that 3flat? Or is it enough to cover the mortgage? FHA loan?
Aurora, IL · Member since 2016 · 14 posts · 4 votes
10y
@Alex Sanchez the red tape that @Elyse Moore is referring to involves a few things for the city of Aurora. In order to lease a property in Aurora you must first complete a Crime Free Multi-Housing Program Phase 1 - 8 Hour Seminar. Once you have completed the seminar you have to purchase a Property License. The renewal of the license was $90 this year. Then the city's department of Property Standards will do an inspection of the property to ensure that you are in compliance with all of the rules and regulations for rental properties in Aurora. At that time you will need to provide an executed copy of the lease, a signed copy of the City of Aurora's Landlord-Tenant Lease Addendum, as well as background checks on all tenants 18 years and older.
Hope this helps explain the red tape for leasing in Aurora. Good Luck!
Investor · Aurora, IL · Member since 2015 · 29 posts · 14 votes
10y
Alex Sanchez Bill Flannagan is spot on! It's nothing too over the top, just an additional step along the way. Once that's under your belt then you're good to go. I agree that Aurora is a good option for some buy and hold units. Depending on the quality of the unit I've seen them renting for as high as $1,500 a month!
"Red tape" is rather a dated expression, going back to when things requiring further inspection, repairs, etc. literally were flagged with "red tape" - think of crime scene tape colored red. It refers to procedural complications arising from just about anything we try to do, it seems.
Merriam-Webster (dictionary) says it this way: "Full Definition of red tape. : official routine or procedure marked by excessive complexity which results in delay or inaction."
Real Estate Agent · Elmhurst, IL · Member since 2016 · 153 posts · 36 votes
10y
@Alex Sanchez., you most certainly can find properties on the MLS. Looks for properties that have been on the market over 75 days and claim to need TLC or " diamondshould in the rough". I just bought a property innot the western suburbs that way. 40% under ARV. Plenty of room for rehab. Welcome to BP and good luck investing.
West Chicago, IL · Member since 2016 · 58 posts · 8 votes
10y
@Don Colagrossi thank you so much! I'm still looking for an agent to work with me. My best friends dad is a realtor but I kind of don't want to get involved with him because he is kind of like family.
Westmont, Illinois (IL) · Member since 2016 · 53 posts · 15 votes
10y
@Alex Sanchez I definitely recommend using the MLS, why not. It's just the inventory for 2-4 units in DuPage is very low, so it's slow. We did find this 3-flat on MLS.We were looking in the A areas, and our search was pretty narrow, because we wanted to stay within a reasonable distance to a small private school our kids go to. Yes, we have an FHA mortgage. We inherited the tenants, and their rents are 65-70% of the market value, so cash flow is slightly negative right now taking into account vacancy rate, utilities, maintenance,cap ex, management fee, etc. Even though we are house-hacking, we do all calculations as if it was fully rented out. The low rents from the 2 smaller units cover most of the mortgage/taxes/insurance.We are increasing the rents to 80-90% of the market in October, which would bring the cash flow up into positive, and the next increase will be to market levels. At that point we will renovate and will probably lose the existing renters.
West Chicago, IL · Member since 2016 · 58 posts · 8 votes
10y
Very nice! Yeah it really is a bit harder to find a 2-4 flat. Why are the rents so low? And why are you waiting to increase them? Are you paying a property manager or are you just including it in your calculations in case you want to move out some day? Are you waiting for the tenants lease to end? Is your cash flow negative because you are occupying a unit?
Westmont, Illinois (IL) · Member since 2016 · 53 posts · 15 votes
10y
@Alex Sanchez These are long-term M2M tenants, and the previous owner didn't bother to change anything, I guess. If we jacked up the rents we would probably lose both tenants at once, and we are not ready for that. We need to renovate all 3 units plus cap ex, and we started with our unit first. We have kids and both my husband and I have full-time jobs so renovating all 3 units at once while having 2 vacancies would be overwhelming. We are not paying for property management but I am including it in calculations, and the cash flow is negative just because the rents are very low. I calculate as if all 3 units were rented out.