All Forum Posts by: Bryan P

I've been thinking about buying a three-flat in Chicago with a friend as tenants in common. I would live in one unit, he'd live in one unit, and we'd rent out the third. Is it hard to get a loan in a scenario like this? Does the bank just add up our gross income to determine how much we'd qualify for? Is 10% down enough? We both have credit scores above 700 which should help us a lot. Let me know what you think.

Iv'e been looking to buy a house or condo for myself to live in, and just started to entertain the idea of buying a multiple unit building instead. I would live in one unit and rent out the other 1 or 2 depending on size. But I've noticed in Chicago that rent is pretty low compared to mortgages, so I wouldn't have a positive cash flow if I live in one unit. I found a real nice two flat with a top floor rental and an owner duplex on bottom. I figuered out the numbers and basically I would just be saving a few hundred a month compared to buying a single unit for myself. Is it even woth it?

Thanks everyone for the advice. I've recently checked up on the property and it's now listed as "under contract". So maybe someone really did offer that much, if that's the case I have no problem with letting someone else overpay. I'm not sure how they'll get a loan though when the appraisal comes back with such a low value. If they can't get a loan because of a low appraisal, will it go back on the market?

I put my first offer in a little bit low hoping they would counter and we could meet in the middle. But once I realized his stories weren't matching up, I got worried that he was just trying to make me outbid myself. He might have figured that I'd be willing to go up since my pre-qual was for a loan higher than my offer. When he called for my highest and best, I raised it a couple thousand. The listing agent came back and said that I was outbid by 30K! I really don't believe him and the house is still listed. What do you guys think? Are they just holding out for more money?

I put an offer in yesterday and the listing agent is now asking for my highest and best. He's being kinda shady because first he said there were no other offers but one was coming in soon, then he said another offer came in about two weeks ago. Is he lying about the multiple offers just to get me to go up? Also how can I make my offer look better besides a higher price? More earnest money? Quicker closing? Please help, I need to give my offer today.

I found a nice cheap place relative to comps in the area, but it needs a lot of work (maybe $50,000). It's been on the market for one month and the bank has already lowered it's price. Now if I fix it up it's still cheaper than average comps by about $50 per square foot. I still live at home so I can do all the work before I move in. I plan on living there myself when it's complete and maybe even putting it on the market just to see if I can make a nice gain. If no one buys it, no big deal I'll just have a nice house to myself. What do you guys think?