All Forum Posts by: Scott Dixon
Scott Dixon has started 14 posts and replied 188 times.
Post: From Soldotna, AK to Champaign, IL

- Rental Property Investor
- Champaign, IL
- Posts 192
- Votes 74
Hey @Jerrad Anderson
@Jerrad AndersonWelcome to BP and Chambana! I live a couple miles south of campus in Savoy, IL. We have a small group of BP Members in the Champaign/Urbana area and will be sure to let you know the next time we have a Meetup if you are interested. Good luck with school!
Scott Dixon
Post: Central Illinois Meetup - 1/31/2014 6:00 pm

- Rental Property Investor
- Champaign, IL
- Posts 192
- Votes 74
Hey guys,
Just wanted to sent a quick note that I will be at the bar directly inside when you come in the front doors of Jupiters @ the crossing. We will hangout there for at least the first 30 mins (6 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.) then might play some pool or grab a table.
See everyone tonight.
@Anthony Hornbeck @Tyler Zindars @Rob Anderson @Brian Schroeder
Post: Central Illinois Meetup - 1/31/2014 6:00 pm

- Rental Property Investor
- Champaign, IL
- Posts 192
- Votes 74
Once we get a few gatherings under our belt down here in Champaign/Urbana area maybe we can organize a meet up in a more central location like Bloomington. I would really be interested to talk to a lot of the guys and gals in Central Illinois to compare and contrast the different markets. We will keep you posted.
Take Care!
Post: Critique This Deal In A College Town

- Rental Property Investor
- Champaign, IL
- Posts 192
- Votes 74
For this type of College Rental in my area I do use a higher vacancy rate for running the numbers (25% = 1 out of 4 bedrooms open). This is because I feel I have little control over filling the unit but this is specific to units which are filled on a per room basis and I don't personally manage.
On the other hand I have a 3-unit college rental which I manage, all units are 12-month leases and not rented by the room. Over 2 years the property has performed with a 2% vacancy which is the 1 week I need to fix and clean the unit between tenants. I have found college rentals to be significantly more hands on but my personal experience has been very positive.
Scott Dixon
Post: Central Illinois Meetup - 1/31/2014 6:00 pm

- Rental Property Investor
- Champaign, IL
- Posts 192
- Votes 74
@Tyler Zindars and @Anthony Hornbeck
Hey guys feel free to spread the word around your network which might be interested in rest estate investing but not plugged into BP just yet. Looking forward to next Friday!
Post: Central Illinois Meetup - 1/31/2014 6:00 pm

- Rental Property Investor
- Champaign, IL
- Posts 192
- Votes 74
Hello All,
BP's Investor group in the Champaign Urbana area is growing! Thought we could all get together one night for a Pool and Properties meet @ Jupiter's At the Crossing in SouthWest Champaign.
When: Friday Jan 31 @ 6pm
Where: Jupiter's At the Crossing (2511 Village Green Pl, Champaign, IL)
Who: Anyone and Everyone Interested in Investing
What do I bring?: Good attitude and a Few cool stories
@Rob Anderson thanks for getting the ball rolling
I hit most of the investors I see active lately on the forums. Let me know what you guys think. Pitch in ideas and hopefully we can make this happen!!
Urbana Savoy Rantoul Danville Mahomet Decatur Bloomington Peoria Tuscola UofI Universityofillinois illini UIUC
@Anthony Hornbeck @Jeremy Lamb @Jeremy Zindel @Roger Heiser @Kirby Vandivort @Josh Markiewicz
Post: Advice of Mileage Tracking App or Software

- Rental Property Investor
- Champaign, IL
- Posts 192
- Votes 74
Thanks for the tip. I was considering doing the same method just take out the pen and paper and insert Evernote. Just need to build up the habit.
Post: Advice of Mileage Tracking App or Software

- Rental Property Investor
- Champaign, IL
- Posts 192
- Votes 74
Putting together all of my tax info for the year and I was reminded of how poor I am at tracking mileage. Very interested if anyone has used any iPhone/Android Apps with success. I am imagining an App which you could click Start when leaving the house and End when returning home and the GPS functionality of the smart phone would do the rest. Then fill in a few more pieces of info and all the mileage could simply be output to a .txt, .csv, or .xls. which I could input into my master excel spreadsheet.
Thanks!
Post: Critique This Deal In A College Town

- Rental Property Investor
- Champaign, IL
- Posts 192
- Votes 74
I have looked at a similar developments in the college town I am currently investing. @Ross Leavitt mentioned the issue that I found in the local development. When I spoke to the onsite property manager they said the current occupancy of the entire complex was roughly 75%-80% and all units were leased on a per room basis with a roommate matching program. So, for the 4 bed / 4 bath I was looking at there was a good chance that I would have a vacant room the majority of the time. This quickly made the numbers fall significantly short of my expected returns.
Best of Luck!
Post: Should I take it....

- Rental Property Investor
- Champaign, IL
- Posts 192
- Votes 74
Who is going to know the market more than you? You have a perfect benchmark located close to this property that gives you a solid base for many of the inputs to your analysis. If the numbers fit your personal investment strategy I would say this is a no brainer!
Best of luck and keep us updated.