All Forum Posts by: Jack Lindstrom

Hi all! As the title suggests, I am looking for real estate networking/educational events in the Chicagoland area. I am a new investor looking to acquire my first multifamily property in the Chicago suburbs. I have seen a few real estate meetups on google, but I was curious if someone could point me in a direction to events specifically for multifamily.

I'm also happy to grab a coffee with other investors in the area - thanks in advance!

2 Votes

Chicago, Illinois

Quote from @Nicholas L.:

@Jack Lindstrom

definitely house hack. and if you're trying to 'cash flow' a house hack - reframe your thinking. the goal of a house hack is simply to repurpose your housing payment and build equity.

you said you're paying $1700 in rent. OK. say you could find a house hack, and you'd owe $1432 to the mortgage net of rent. and break even when you move out in 2 or 3 or 5 years. that's a go. you're building equity, paying slightly less, and learning RE in one fell swoop. what is better than that?

good luck.

Thanks Nicholas - I should have rephrased my thinking. I am more torn between investing in section 8 with lower loan amount given the interest rates currently compared to a house hack where I’m paying way more.

I suppose as interest rates decrease property value will increase when it comes time to refinance so maybe it’s not a huge deal - especially if I cash out some equity for my second multi family. Thoughts?

0 Votes

Quote from @Jamie O'Connell:

Quote from @Jack Lindstrom:

Quote from @Jamie O'Connell:

What area are you in? I have multi families that I have all section 8, I also have some where 2 are regular tenants and 1 is section 8.

I’m in Chicago. Looking to purchase in the suburbs though. ReallY open to anywhere as I’m self employed. This also means I’ll Prob be looking at dscr loans as well bc not having w-2 history can be an issue I’ve heard

How have your experiences been with section 8 in multi family & in general? Most of the research I’ve seen is finding single family homes to renovate and lease to section 8, not multi family units.

Chicago should have some good ones for cheap. I’m in Upstate Ny and most of the section 8 are multi families like I have. Duplex, triplex and quad plex.

i have had good luck with section 8. It’s the non sec 8 tenants I have problems with such as not paying rent and such. I do have one sec 8 tenant who doesn’t ever pay her portion of $50 a month but after 8 months I complained to the local director of sec 8 and she spoke to the tenant and got that taken care of. They threatened to kick her out of the program I believe.

I will say with section 8, less is more but make sure everything is in good order. I go in and renovate all my properties to make sure it looks nice and is someplace I would want to live. But I take out the dish washers, the washer and dryer, all ceiling fans (switch to dome lights) and garbage disposals. Because if they are they and break you have to replace. But if they aren’t there it doesn’t stop it from being sec 8.

I am also self employed and only have one year tax return non w 2 so I also did dscr loans for first few and then fix and hold loans. But I would suggest the fix and hold loans after you’ve done a few because you learn a lot in first few purchases.

Got it thanks for your insight on the appliances - didn't know that. I definitely like the stability and guaranteed payments that come with sec 8, along w the ability to rid the debt rather quickly. The biggest drawback I am having is calculating cost for repairs & finding a reputable contractor for a fair price - I know nothing about renovations right now.

1 Vote

Quote from @Jamie O'Connell:

What area are you in? I have multi families that I have all section 8, I also have some where 2 are regular tenants and 1 is section 8.

How have your experiences been with section 8 in multi family & in general? Most of the research I’ve seen is finding single family homes to renovate and lease to section 8, not multi family units.

0 Votes

I am 23 and have saved up enough money to start my RE journey. I want to start out in househacking a duplex or a triplex but I am concerned with the interest rates on such a big investment for my first property. Alternatively, I have been researching going into section 8 to get my feet wet. This would require a much smaller downpayment & interest would not be nearly as big of a deal for these small single-family homes.

I am currently paying $1700 in rent and I despise paying rent, especially being in a financial position where I can afford to build equity in some manner or get a cashflowing asset to offset it.

My biggest hurdle with section 8 is finding a turnkey property that doesn't require a ton of renovations. I don't have a network of contractors or real estate investors in general to ensure the numbers make sense. Is it possible to find a single-family house for around 100k that is compatible with Section 8 standards? Everything I see online talks about required renovations to make the numbers work for these properties.

1 Vote

Quote from @Sarah Kensinger:

@Andrew Steffens answer is the best way to handle payments from clients. You don't want a fixed rate retainer because depending on the seasonality of a property, you could be under cutting yourself and then other months overcharging the client. Cleaning fees are a pass through from the guest, so you would be receiving the payment from the guest within a short time after check-in and then you can directly pay the cleaner with the cleaning fee you received. There shouldn't be a need to pay a whole month's worth of fees, before you have the cleaning fees in hand.

Hi Sarah,

Yes that is what I have been doing with the two properties listed on Airbnb. My concern is I can't figure out how to get those instant cleaning fees for bookings on sites like Vrbo and booking.com. Once I integrate to a channel manager like Hostaway, how do I collect the fees from Vrbo & booking.com?

Airbnb is straightforward because I get the automatic payments. I am unclear how to proceed with the other two platforms. Thank in advance for any insight!!!

0 Votes

Thanks Andrew, that's what I was thinking. The only issue I have with that is I will need to front all the cleaning services for the month going forward. Not really a big deal right now but if I bring on more properties it'll take a while to save enough to do that.

Would the recurring payments be if I charged a fixed rate retainer for my services each month instead of a % of monthly revenue?

0 Votes

I am new to AirBnb co-hosting & currently oversee two properties listed on airbnb. I am going to start listing these on other platforms like Vrbo & booking.com. I am currently paid out a % of each booking as a co-host on airbnb automatically.

If I were to expand to get bookings on vrbo & other STR listing places, how can I receive my commission for omnichannel bookings?

The only way I see this being possible is if I become a PM, collect all fees, take my cut, then redistribute to the owner. This requires certifications. Does anyone have suggestions on how I can go about this? I currently use hostaway to manage my listings but don't see a way to coordinate payouts. Thanks in advance!

0 Votes

All Forum Posts by: Jack Lindstrom

Jack Lindstrom has started 3 posts and replied 10 times.

Post: Looking for Networking/Meetups in Chicagoland Area - Any Suggestions?

Post: Looking for Networking/Meetups in Chicagoland Area - Any Suggestions?

Post: Looking for Networking/Meetups in Chicagoland Area - Any Suggestions?

Post: Section 8 vs. Househacking a Duplex or Triplex

Post: Section 8 vs. Househacking a Duplex or Triplex

Post: Section 8 vs. Househacking a Duplex or Triplex

Post: Section 8 vs. Househacking a Duplex or Triplex

Post: As a Co-Host, how do I receive my payout for multi-channel listings?

Post: As a Co-Host, how do I receive my payout for multi-channel listings?

Post: As a Co-Host, how do I receive my payout for multi-channel listings?