All Forum Posts by: George Skidis

If you have not invested yet invested in real estate consider southern Illinois. We have more going on down here with 1/3 of the hassle. As long as you stay out of East Saint Louis and Washington Park you should be OK. 

Before investing in Chicago contact Jane Garvey who runs the Chicago Creative Investors Association. She has hundreds of members and tons of experience. Chicago is a place where location location location means everything. Some neighborhoods are war zone.

You could also consider the Marion / Carbondale, IL  area in southern Illinois, Home of SIU Carbondale.

Unless the rents are way under market, NEVER throw out a paying tenant. Work with the tenant in place to upgrade the property and increase the rent.

Join the Chicago Creative Investors Association run by Jane Garvey. She has hundreds of members and is one of the smartest real estate investors I know.

Once you buy the property go immediately to the county assessor and file for an owner occupied exemption. If you file for the exemption after January you must wait a whole year to get the Real Estate Tax deduction. This impacts your cash flow. Do not assume that your Title Company or Real Estate Agent did this for you. There are also other exemptions for disabled veterans, seniors and other things.

Check with Shelter Insurance. They seem to have the best rental property rates in Illinois. There may be cheaper insurance but you want good insurance.

Don't get excited about choosing a business entity yet. Buy plenty of liability insurance and get a minimum of a million dollar liability "Umbrella Policy"  as well.

If your bank will permit it place your property in an Illinois land trust at closing. This protects your privacy and avoids probate.

First up - Principal - Interest - Taxes and Insurance (PITI) is your critical factor. Get these figured out up front.

Many insurance companies will no longer insured anything larger than a four-plex. They will insure multiple four plexes in one community but not a five plex or larger.

For larger than four plex you may need to consider consulting with an independent insurance broker.

For PITI sake do these things first.

Electrical - Ask the current owner for 12 months from their supplier. Find out if electric and gas have been deregulated in the state you wish to purchase in. Mike Grimes with Commercial Energy Consultants trycec.com can help with that. Tell him I sent you.

Water AND Sewer - Make sure there are no liens on the property and get a 12 month report from the current owner before making an offer.

Landscaping - Are you cutting down trees or getting the grass mowed? Go through the phone book and call three services in the area. Get their estimates.

Good Luck and Good Investing

I would recommend Southern Illinois. If you want to be near a big city consider east of the river near Saint Louis. Either Riverside Investing ( Eva Radecki) or Chuck Baer Property Management (Cindy Cannon) could handle your investments.

You could also consider Marion and Carbondale, IL. Home of Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Down here contact Karen Cupp for buying and Megan Webb for property management.

As a landlord you should always both a "Crime Free Housing" Addendum and a "Drug Free Housing" addendum to your lease. Most police departments can help you get these. 

You have two options to consider. You can either enforce your rules now or waive them in this instance. If you waive them now you need to be prepared to waive them for others in the future.

Is this a mobile home park? If so does the park own the home or the resident?

For the resident to pay $35.00 per month for your policy the cost would need to be factored into the rent. You could not charge them separately. This is just like a single family home it is part of PITI. Principle Interest Taxes and Insurance.

You can require the resident to purchase "renter's Insurance" to protect their stuff and cover their liabilities. 

To my knowledge you cannot insure land for the named perils. You can obtain liability protection.

Infrastructure means roads, underground utilities and such. Never seen anyone insure that.

If there are buildings and fences on the land they could be insured for property damage.

Welcome to Illinois, the home of that is not the way I read the law. Every Sheriff's department interprets their duties in an eviction based upon past consequences. Our members have had the local police or sheriff tell them they could not put the tenant's property on the street.

It may be called a "Sheriff's Set Out", but that is a misnomer. The sheriff does not physically move anything. They are there to keep the peace. They can arrest the tenant "AFTER" they have assaulted you or your crew. They can also arrest you if you violate the law. The Sheriff's Department is not comprised of furniture movers. They move people from freedom to incarceration.

Never heard you had to be there personally. Our members have been unanimous in stating that for a set out you need to send a crew of three or four workers. The crew puts the property on the street. You will also need someone to change the locks. My suggestion is to call the Sheriff's department and ask them how they interpret the statute. If it sounds contrary to the law as explained to you by your attorney, you probably need to let the attorney deal with the Sheriff.

Whoever puts the property out, needs to document everything before they touch anything. Take plenty of photos to establish the quality and quantity of items being set out. Other landlords have told me of outrageous claims made against them for theft or conversion. 

If your local laws do not permit you to set their stuff out on the street, then you need to look into a prepaid storage locker. This is not a strategy I have used but one I have heard of. The landlord rents a storage locker for 60 days prepaid. Once the storage locker reaches the abandonment phase for non payment of rent then the storage locker company can auction the contents of the locker to the highest bidder. Here is the gray area. Can you hold their stuff hostage until they pay you? Ask a lawyer.

Storing the tenants property at one of your locations is dangerous. The tenant may claim theft. They may also have some type of pest problem like bed bugs or roaches which you just brought home. If something is stolen or broken while in your car can you be held accountable? 

So far this is all speculation. Until both houses pass it and the president signs it. We are status Quo.

Illinois exists outside of Chicago. We have friends who do well in Chicago. Those of us in the southern part of the state have different obstacles but they can be overcome. Right now I have my eye on Carbondale, IL as a place to invest.