All Forum Posts by: Bob Floss II
Bob Floss II has started 21 posts and replied 694 times.
Post: Non legal garden unit chicago

- Attorney
- Northbrook, IL
- Posts 716
- Votes 549
@Edward Kuk I haven’t heard of the city making people remove anything, unlike some of the suburbs. However, your zoning cert, mortgage, appraisal, etc will all line up with the legal number of units. The messed up part is I have clients with section 8 tenants in illegal units. If you want to make the unit legal, you can request a variance or nonconforming use from alderman, but there is a lot that goes along with process.
Post: Newbie Here!!! To Chicago and Real Estate

- Attorney
- Northbrook, IL
- Posts 716
- Votes 549
House hack and buy a 2-4 unit building
Post: Is there way too much encouragement of no money down investing?

- Attorney
- Northbrook, IL
- Posts 716
- Votes 549
I've been on both sides of 'no money down' pitches. I represent several investors that do wholesaling and 'subject to' and and as long as they understand all the risks and disclose everything to the seller, it can work out great. I can't tell you how frustrating it is to sit down for a closing and the investor hasn't explained anything to the seller and I have to answer questions for an hour.
I recently put a house I was rehabbing on zillow as a fsbo while I was finishing it. I wanted to see if I can could attract a buyer and close faster. Instead I had to field dozens of horrible cold calls. I was surprised how many rent to own and lease options offers I got. I could tell they wanted to sign a deal with me and then sublet to an actual tenant. Normally, I wouldn't care, but so many of them became belligerent and rude when I didn't respond or give them the answer they wanted. One guy went as far as to blow up my phone with texts and then threatened to file a complaint with the licensing department because I'm probably not the actual owner of the llc and I'm doing illegal activity. You can look up I'm the owner of the llc so he was clearly doing it to get my attention. Not sure how being an *** works out for him closing deals.
Post: Do you put security deposit into private escrow account?

- Attorney
- Northbrook, IL
- Posts 716
- Votes 549
@Cameron Riley In Chicago, the landlord/tenant law is written so failure to pay the $2.50 in interest automatically entitles the tenant to damages equal to twice the security deposit.
Post: Is Craigslist a Legit Option?

- Attorney
- Northbrook, IL
- Posts 716
- Votes 549
Depends upon your area. Craigslist for selling real estate is pretty dead in Chicago. One of my best deals was a lady that put her parents townhouse in Glenview on craigslist, no pictures, just a brief description. Put in new floors, kitchen, and updated baths and made a very nice profit. That was about 7 years ago. I check it maybe twice a month just to see if there's action, but it's mostly wholesalers and fake ads to get buyer data. Finding a legit fsbo seller with a property you can rehab is pretty hard.
Post: HOA board is forcing all of the investors to sell their units!

- Attorney
- Northbrook, IL
- Posts 716
- Votes 549
@Brian S. Get the 44 unit owners together, hire an attorney, call for an emergency meeting. You all have the voting majority.
Post: Rental Properties in Chicago

- Attorney
- Northbrook, IL
- Posts 716
- Votes 549
@Corey Miller It’s a balancing act right now. We are dealing with taxation and possible regulation that could push investors away and hurt their bottom line. However, Chicago is still one of the cheapest cities in terms of value versus population density.
The rent control bill is going to make a huge impact on investor confidence.
Post: Lawyer Recommendation in Chicago

- Attorney
- Northbrook, IL
- Posts 716
- Votes 549
@Lachanda Finley I’ll pm you my information. If you send me the best number to reach you, I’ll give you a call when I get out of my closing.
Post: If you had $100,000???

- Attorney
- Northbrook, IL
- Posts 716
- Votes 549
@John Matthew Johnston Partner up on fix and flip rehabs. Be the money guy, collect interest, and take an equity share on the profits. If you hook up with the right person, it's basically free money. As many will attest on here, finding the right person can be a tall order.
Post: Purchasing property on auction.com - is title insurance necessary

- Attorney
- Northbrook, IL
- Posts 716
- Votes 549
@Sunil Sharma Yes, you want title insurance and you want to elect to get your own policy. It will add to your closing costs but you will know you have good title when you flip. You need to know if you have issues and address now. Also get a survey.