All Forum Posts by: Andy Nathan

@Joe Villeneuve funny!

@Jim K. I saw you have a humanities background. I was a history teacher way back, so I have a fair amount of understanding where being a landlord conjures images of evil.

However, landlording is starting to change. Not all, but many are making communities better.

For my part, my business partner and I provide affordable section 8 housing to families on the south side.

When I think about bad things we have done, this is the only incident that comes to mind.

We checked out a property to purchase. As we pulled up a pit bull came running out. The owner came out chasing it with a gold plated pistol in his holster. We got the wrong vibes and decided not to purchase properties on that block. Not safe enough for us or our contractors.

Otherwise, we spend most of our time and efforts returning Victorian Era homes to their glory for low-income tenants to rent. By the way, it is very profitable because we work with Section 8 tenants.

We are adding more environmentally friendly features to properties we rehab as well. That is being updated right now, but we spend money on features that reduce energy. Not talking about solar panels but safe insulation and low energy appliances and light bulbs.

My advice (or $.02 for all it is worth), don't think about what you can do wrong or the money. It is great, and a definite benefit. The real benefit to investing is applying real changes outside the theoretical. You leverage money and time to create a better future. Those who don't agree don't have to be your partners.

I had bad partners in the past. The people I work with now are so much better.

@Nathaniel Davis have you talked to Joe the Plumber? If not, I can send you his info on DM.

@Eric McArthur as someone who spoke at Wordcamps for years, I can tell you that WordPress is the best way to go. There is a learning curve but you don't need an IT degree to set it up. The plugins and themes give you the flexibility you need to setup the site you want.

 Let me know if I can help you. Thanks! 

We have a property under contract in Chicago. The property is classified by the county as a residential property. We had a hard money lender reject the loan because the area is classified as C-1 (commercial). How do different governing bodies classify this differently (bad government jokes ahead)? Would the zoning fall under the county because it is the higher governing body?

@Jonathan Klemm weird. I thought it was in the profile comments. Here is the link again. I will update it later today when I am on my computer. Thanks for the heads-up!

https://meetu.ps/e/Klznm/1rt1V/i

@Bryan Danger my wife and I had a baby daughter a few months ago. That changed my freedom date slightly. That said, I built up a good career in marketing. Based on my investment strategy, I believe I can replicate my income in 18-24 months. I will still need to manage the properties but I am building technologies and systems to improve the operations of this as well.

Join us for another fun game of Robert Kiyosaki's Cashflow Game. Play the game with other investors. Here is the Meetup Link to join the game. See you at the game. 

@Jessica Huynh what is the specific challenge with doing FHA? For example, if your DTI is too high it will kick you out. While you can't make more money on a dime, maybe you can reduce your expenses to get under the limit from the bank. Some issues can be resolved with some creativity. Hope this helps.