All Forum Posts by: George Skidis

LegalShield members get a 25% discount of the services of qualified attorneys. In Chicago that would pair you with Evans Lowenstien, Moscardini and Shiminowsky. My contact info is below if you need additional information

Contact Jane Garvey at the Chicago Creative Investors Association. Her REIA has hundreds of members. She probably has a few HVAC guys that work with landlords.

Welcome to BP. I run Illinois REIA. hope to help you some day.

I am an insurance agent with licenses in Illinois, Missouri and Michigan. My contact info is below.

To answer your question. What does the lease say about who is responsible? In a lawsuit that is the deciding factor.

Renters insurance would not have paid a dime. Neither would the landlord's policy. Subsurface water which enters the basement or foundation of a building due to hydro-static pressure is excluded from coverage. Spent 30 years as a claims adjuster. Not a covered loss.

Not covered under a flood policy unless two or more adjacent properties or two or more contiguous acres suffer a sustained period of inundation.

The thing to do now is try to prevent this in the future. Are the downspouts pointed away from the house or do they "Report Directly to the foundation?" Are the gutters clean and free of debris? Check the exterior to protect the interior. It may have been a seasonal fluke or it could be a recurring problem.

There will always be Walmartians. A huge segment of the population is poorly educated with no credit. Also many middle class families plan outings for their children just to get out of the house. A segment of our society will always shop in person. 

Where the retail stores will suffer is the higher paid and better educated consumer with better credit. But even those folks will want to go to the mall and look around. Like my grandmother used to say, "Boy, it is time to get outside and let the stink blow off.

Some entrepreneur will come up with a use for those buildings. Indoor storage, paint ball parks and whatever the next arcade fade will be.

As has been said, "The automobile is crushing the buggy and whip industry, what will we do?"

Movie theaters survived Block Buster. Blockbuster could not survive Netflicks. There will always be change. The key is to lead instead of follow.

Mark my words. Some future millionaire will figure it out first, and the herd will follow.

Conservative is the key to success in real estate investing. Negative cash flow will sink you. You can never be too conservative when making a purchase. However, Before turning the deal down look at a few other things to be sure. 

1. Can you raise the rents to cover the deficit.

2. How much does the coin op laundry earn. Can you raise the laundry price to make it profitable.

3. Are there other opportunities to be had? Renting storage lockers on premises to residents in addition to their lease? Air B&B? Is there anything else that can make up the deficit?

4. Is the earned income of you and spouse if married less than $150,000 per year. If your earned income exceeds $150,000 you might not be able to write off any losses. If under 150 K would the tax breaks on the loss lower your personal income tax burden enough to justify it? Speak to the person who prepares your income tax return to find out. Maybe look for someone who is also an investor they may have a more"personal" knowledge of the benefits. 

Multiple streams of income from one property may make sense. Could you rent space for a billboard or cell phone tower?

You have done MOST of your due diligence. Time to finish the job.

In 1997 we wanted a commercial building that needed a lot of TLC. This was a former Rexall drug store built back in the 1950s. Approximately 2100 square feet zoned commercial. It had also served as a coin laundromat and HVAC repair facility. 1/2 was a garage the other 1/2 was a one bedroom apartment.  Flat roof leaked like a sieve in one area. 

The prior owner had lived across the street in a single family home until he was murdered. We were dealing with a probate attorney. Property was listed for $54,000.00 and $7,500 was our first offer. They didn't even respond. Three months later made the same offer with the same result. Three months later same thing. One year after our first offer the probate  attorney contacted my realtor and asked if I would go $25,000. An $8,000 counter offer was made. Back and forth we went until I offered $12,900 and told them it was my final offer since 13 was unlucky.

They accepted $12,900 in 1998. I spent $6,900 adding a 5/12 pitch roof with 3 in 1 tab shingles over the existing commercial flat roof. Not a leak since. The place dried out, we removed the damaged materials and now use it as 50% maintenance garage and 50% man cave. This is the place where my friends my wife doesn't like can come and play cards, drink adult beverages and they also have the freedom to smoke their occasional cigar.

Welcome to Southern Illinois. We meet 10 miles away on the second Tuesday of the month.

Contact the Chicago Creative Investors Association run by Jane Garvey. They have dozens of vendors and hundreds of members.