All Forum Posts by: Fedor Volkov

 Thank you, I hope I'm just overreacting as this is my very first purchase :) 

Hi BP community, 

I'm looking for a masonry contractor, to solve this one, but in the meantime wanted to gather any thoughts on one home inspection item I just received yesterday. There is a masonry cracking in one of the walls in this building. Doesn't look bad from the photos, but would love to hear any "worst-case scenarios" that folks have seen on similar cracks. Could this be bad and result in a lot of costs to repair? 

Thank you!

Hi Conor, 

I'm om the same boat, doing my first house hack in Chicago. We are under contract for a triplex in Avondale (south part of it, close to Logan). I found the numbers are just much better in that area compared to Wicker Park, but I've seen some properties with good potential if rehabbed in Wicker/Bucktown

The trick is that exact "little work" that you mentioned. Most duplex properties we saw actually required a lot of work to make them work for good rents. Go tour the properties, most of them look much better on photos. 

Also don't forget to check the property taxes. We toured a duplex in Logan square that had 14k in property taxes and our three-flat in Avondale will be around 13k. It was a deal breaker for the numbers. 

Happy to chat more, shoot me a PM. 

@David Wandel

@David Wandel

Hi BP community, 

I just got my very first house inspection report and looking into some items to try to understand next steps and get a sense of potential cost of repairs. One item that I was curious to ask here is a swag for dealing with a roof leakage (see below) - is this just an easy fix just using sealant + repainting the interior or can be a more expensive item? Thank you!

Hi Chicagoland BP community, 

Does anyone have any masonry contractors that they could recommend? Just got my house inspection report for a triplex in Avondale and there are a few items I would like to get a quote on. 

There are some minor things (e.g., condition of the exterior caulking is poor) and one item that is a bit worrisome - step cracking through the mortar joints that is visible outside of the top unit. 

Would love to have a professional contractor to come down and take a look. 

Thank you all!

Hi Chicagoland BP community! 

Under contract for a 3-flat in Logan square/Avondale that I plan to house hack. Any recommendation on home insurance brokers/ companies that folks have recently used? 

If I understand correctly, I will need a landlord policy that covers the structure and carry renters insurance for my personal belongings. 

Thank you for your help!

Hi BP community, 

Looking for some expert reactions on roof condition. This one is on a multi-family triplex in Chicago on a ~18 years old building. Any thoughts based on the photo below will be appreciated. Many thanks!

Hi Katie, 

I'm just a beginner in REI and I've been watching a lot of different youtube videos of different vlogers that film their flips and share with the broader community.

Here is my perspective (as someone who watches these videos just to start learning about flips) on what is very helpful as I watch those videos: 

1. Current state of the property - just showing how the property looked before any major rehabs as a starting point is super helpful 

2. Buyer's perspective on current state. It's super helpful to learn what was going on in buyer's mind when he/she approached the property (e.g. top-3 good things about this property that made you buy this house; top-3 bad things that you spotted right away where a rehab will be needed; top-3 areas where you saw an opportunity to add value - probably this is in parallel with the top-3 bad things).

3. Initial rough financials - purchase price; rehab estimates; ARV; financial and closing costs (very often the videos miss sharing details on the financing aspect of the deal, which I think are very helpful)

4. Rehab process - lot of things that can be shared here, but I think a walk through video for each major room with initial details on what is the rehab plan and a rough cost estimate are the best. I'm not that interested in actually watching the rehab process, because I'm not planning to do the rehab myself, but the financials are really important.

5. Aftermath - closing up with a short video of how the property looked after (incl. each room, a summary of total rehab costs and time it took + potential ARV (you mentioned you will be using the property for yourself, so maybe just a guesstimate of the ARV)

These are just some initial thoughts. Hope this helps!