All Forum Posts by: Elbert D.

anyone that does these guru programs and coaching programs are scamming people. If they are so good at real estate why aren’t m they flipping mansions and Commerical properties?????

@Michael Boyle you might want to throughly research the Woodlawn area. It’s getting better and it’s right next to the university of Chicago. But certain blocks are still iffy. Also some of the taxes over there are high and will kill your cash on cash return percent if your not throughly crunching your numbers. 

In fact, I was just in that direction today. Definitely a block by block situation. 

well using the keyword “wholesalers” and “wholesaling” will trigger alerts to anyone that wants to see things that people post about with that keyword. For example I have a keyword “Chicago” set up as one of my many alerts. 

I feel like they should improve their algorithms. They both have been off lately. Especially Zillow, the last Zestimate I seen I laughed out loud literally.

How’s it going @Will Rodriguez

I know it’s expensive to invest in New York, how’s the current market situation out there?

As far as Chicago. It’s definitely block by block. Since your looking at Buy and holds I imagine your looking at the south and west side. Only because the North side is so expensive and the cash on cash return is terrible. Also consider the south and west suburbs. 

Well for one just be advised the landlord always pay the water bills in Chicago. I have seen bills as high as $5,000 owed and you have to pay it. So just pay the water bill. Next watch the property taxes in some areas. I just seen a couple of properties in Oak Park and they were 11k!!!! But you can appeal these to get them down. Sometimes it goes down a lot sometimes it’s just a little. 

As far as crime, crime is everywhere. Chicago isn’t as bad as people/ mainstream media portray it. Some areas are kind of wild but it’s 4 areas I wouldn’t advise anyone to invest. So if someone isn’t familiar with a certain area of Chicago they Regurgitate what the mainstream media says or what other people who never been in that area say.  Truila is accurate sometimes but I decided to experiment and I went to certain areas in the day time then I came back when it was dark. The result was it was more or less the same. So I think just like zillow ARVs and “comps” they are using a formula to compute the area and they may mark a couple of blocks yellow or orange when it’s really not. Sometimes you have to see things for yourself to see if they are actually true. 

Now, honestly the MFHs That I have seen for the most part have been in high crime areas. It’s sad because I’m looking for a new one myself lol. Hopefully the inventory will get betterin the next month or so. But I’m not counting on it. 

I do agree somewhat with what @mike H.  Said about how the landlord Laws are ridiculous because they are and how the state handles money. It’s cringe worthy but taxes everywhere will continue to go up even if it’s the slightest. Historically they have always went up. That’s what the government does, tax people and make up laws and enforce them to profit off them.....

I noticed your list include Indiana. Northwest Indiana is a good option as well. They have landlord friendly laws and it doesn’t take too long to evict someone. Taxes are lower than Illinois and overall you could make some decent money flipping in the flipping areas of NW  Indiana or if you want to stick to just rentals there are overall better options IMO to choose from compared to Chicago. 

Overall Chicago is a great city. I love my city but I try to not be biased as well. If you want to invest in Chicago than do it. I’ll help you or anyone else if you want some help. But there are certain areas and things you should avoid. Indiana is great area to invest in as well. Plenty of out of state and foreign investors I have help get started investing in that area as well. Its some nice areas located in Indiana. I personally wouldn’t live there though LOL, no disrespect to anyone who loves Indiana. 

Let me know if I can help. 

thanks for everyone’s input so far. It’s nice to read everyone’s personal goals in real estate and other business ventures. 

@Brett Snodgrass how will you get the inventory to do 500 houses in one calendar year? Are you doing other states besides Indiana? 

These are all some great goals and baselines to hit for yourself. Does anyone have any business they do besides real estate? 

There are also other jobs within real estate besides the usual realtor, general contractor, or lender. What about inspectors or appraisers? It’s some other less common jobs within real estate. 

It’s so much to do within it. In general I’m a big fan of entrepreneurship, so the possibilities are exciting just thinking about them. 

wow. Good stuff everyone. I hope everyone achieves what they are looking for. 

Good stuff everyone

@Chris Williams and that's ok. Everyone goals should be catered to them

@Anthony Gayden good stuff your doing pretty good but I see you want to be doing better. 

I personally want to just get better every year. Before I hit 30 in several years I don't know where I'll be. So I'm taking it year by year. 

The year is coming to a close pretty soon. But if anyone who has closed anything knows it takes about 30-45 days to close on real estate(if your lucky 15 lol) . So, later this month is the time to begin prepping(actually now lol). 

What is everyone's goal for 2018 for real estate and general business goals? For me mines are:

1. Flip more houses-(Begin a fix and flip for Jan starting the year off with one, do 7-10 next year)

2. Wholesale 75-80 properties-(My partner and I separated ourselves from most wholesalers by providing actual rehab and sold Comp numbers, so the goal now is to have the actual inventory in Chicago and Northwest Indiana to do these numbers, maybe the recession will hit next year. Not sure)

3. Buy 2-3 rentals as buy and holds- continue to build up the portfolio in the Midwest region

4. Market my businesses much more aggressive!!!!!!!(probably the most important)

5. Find more quality Rehab guys- (it never hurts to have 4-5 groups of  plumbers, roofers, basement guys, flooring guys, and electricians, they will be needed to work on multiple projects at once)

Everyone share your goals and how you can overcome them.