All Forum Posts by: Alice Wang

Hey Jacquan, awesome idea to get into flipping. As a realtor you are in a unique position to provide tons of value to people who are already flipping out there and I would recommend using that to get a mentor. Go to meetups, get acquainted with the people you want to become and just be a sponge. Work with them. Reach out. Find them deals. List their properties. Check their projects for them while they're out of town. Run to the village hall for them when they're busy. Just start doing it. Get your foot in the door. This will be way more helpful than reading any books. most flipping knowledge is just common sense. You learn the knowledge by doing the things, not reading about them. 

Great question. There are people making money in real estate in every type of market. Up or down. If you are trying to invest by timing the market, unfortunately you are missing out on opportunities. Good investors figure out how to combat the market, not wait it out. As a realtor I always get asked:" what is a good time to buy?" My answer is alway "The best time to buy was 30 years ago. The second best time to buy is right now." Happy investing!

I agree. Best way to approach this is to go to your tenants have a reasonable conversation. We are all humans and things happen. Asking you for $500 and citing the landlord/tenant rule for 18 days of no refrigerator. They are either pissed, really strapped for cash, or professional advantage takers. Having a human to human conversation will remediate the first possibility. If the 2nd or 3rd is true or both are true, time for new tenants.

But 18 days of no refrigerator is pretty long. As a landlord myself if an appliance has a tech problem such as control panel malfunction, then it's time to buy new. These appliances tend to not work right after replacing stuff like that and will drain more of your money down the line. 

One last point, be proactive. If you knew it was gonna take time to get the repairman and the parts in, have a convo with the tenants earlier on. Set reasonable expectations. Talk to the neighbor and see if they can keep their stuff with them for a few days. There are many viable options before getting to this point. 

Most solutions to problems like this is always common sense. You're working with people, not rules and regulations. When you have that convo with them, be a human and decenter their stance from the rules. You've got this. Hope you can save that $500

Agree with @Shea Murray. Looks like north Bronzeville. Possibly driving up Michigan Ave

Hi all,

I’ve got an appraisal question. The subject property is a single family pre-fire brick build in Pilsen that was originally built as a 2 story home on a slab. Both floors have 9 ft ceiling height. The parcel is “sunken” with raised front street and back alley. Access front door from street through stairs to the second floor. The upper level is designed as the living space with some bedrooms and there are 3 bedrooms on the lower level. No part of the lower level is below ground compared to the parcel level. But it is below street level. I know in multi family buildings of this kind the lower level apartment is usually legal. But I’m wondering if the lower level will appraise as GLA in a single family. The lower level is currently only partially finished but the plan is to finish it the same way as the upper level. Although single family homes are rare in Pilsen, I’m guessing since this is common here there must be an appraisal standard for these sunken single family builds? 

 Hi @Andrew Katz, I feel your pain. However, as a seasoned landlord, I would not ever dare to ask "how much more damage could they do?". The answer is always "a lot more than you could ever imagine".

Your tenants look like they have way too many red flags. Personally when buying rentals I tend to buy in neighborhoods that I feel like I wouldn't personally mind living in and when I look for tenants I try to look for people that not only pass my screening but also I personally don't dislike.  

First I think you don't necessarily have to hate the process of placing tenants. If you want to run your investment like a business you 100% need to establish a solid screening process that makes placing tenants in the future easier. Once you get organized and get the process down, placing tenants shouldn't be such tedious work. Also once you get the workflow established, when you move out and need a property manager, you can hire anyone and plug them into your workflow easily. 

On top your due process, my advise is to trust your gut when vetting tenants. Real estate is a people business and only after you master the people can you weather your business with finess. Good luck on your investing journey!

Hi @Calvin Rappard

I think the other contributors covered the issue with screening tenants prior to renewing the lease. I want to cover the other questions you asked here. 

1. No we do not screen tenants every year. Building a relationship with tenants is important like others have mentioned. Their character, their payment record, how well they take care of you property, etc all these things are for you to discover with your tenants and build trust between each other. 

2. when it comes to screening, you must check their credit, their paystubs, their employer and landlord references, their criminal background, I also get a copy of everyone's photo ID.

3. Yes, I would screen all adults in the household, not just whoever's on the lease

Chicago is very segregated. Depending where your rental is in Chicago, you should also be flexible with your requirements. For example, I have rentals on both north side and south side. On the north side, my credit score requirement is 680 and I strictly require their monthly household income to be 3x the rent. On the south side, my credit score requirement is 600 and will qualify people who make 2.5x monthly rent.