All Forum Posts by: Jeff Formeller

I have been searching around for a couple months in attempt to find my first rental property to buy, and have found a foreclosure that I think has a lot of potential. However, the listing says:

"Water and heating system will not be activated for inspections and appraisals"

I am sure that this question is posted somewhere in the forums, but I was not able to locate it and wanted to see if this was common, and/or if this should be a concern?

My initial thought process is that:

A. I would have to pay to have these turned on myself for inspection/appraisal, or 

B. There is something wrong with one or the other, or both.

Any insight? I am new to investing and this would be a great learning experience to hear some answers. Thanks!

@Joe Conklin  Congrats on your first purchase! I am approaching a similar property with this "find and wait" strategy, I have determined a good price that I would feel comfortable purchasing at, waiting for it to get down to a reasonable price where I might be able to negotiate a little more and then pull the trigger. Glad to know it has worked out for a newbie as well!

@James Klafehn @Account Closed  This is great motivation  seeing as to how young you guys were when you started, I am 22 as well and have set my goal for buying my first place in 2015, so hearing your advice and stories has been motivation in itself. Thank you both!

@Braden J. 

 Congrats on your first deal! Did you use specific search criteria when waiting for the right property to appear? If so, could you share some insight? My goal is to purchase my first property as well in 2015, so I'm always looking to learn how others got to the point of purchasing their first. 

This is a good reference to have for future use when I eventually do move forward on getting my first property, looking in the NW Suburbs as well. Thanks for the lead @Danny Duran and @Cliff Mccue 

I agree with @Arlan Potter in that the rent seems really low, is under $400 average per unit correct? I guess it would depend on what the specs of the each unit are (bed/bath), but I still feel like it should be higher.

I'm very new to RE investing as well, and have been trying to gain as much as possible, but I think you may be getting a little bit ahead of yourself. Like recommended above, I would make sure you talk to a hard money lender to ensure that you can get the financing you need, before searching for your first property. Also, do more research, read the articles, watch podcasts etc. to determine exactly what YOU want to buy, then it'll help make the search process easier. You want to make sure you are positive it's a good investment instead of guessing without running the numbers.

Best of luck!

@Stephan Haas  I just graduated from college myself, and I was required to sign a 1-yr lease for my apartment. So I guess the issue would instead be, is it going to be rented or vacant for 1 year? It also depends on the demand for student housing in the area, the structure of the lease (are utilities included in rent, etc.) and how many bedrooms each unit as. Lots to factor in.

Hello BP Community! I am from Kildeer, IL, have lived there my entire life. I just graduated from a B10 university with a Finance and Econ degree, as well as a Leadership Certificate. I have always had an interest in real estate, but never put my interest it into motion. It wasn't until I came across Bigger Pockets about a month ago that I really got hooked and have been educating myself as much as possible since. Thanks to all of the admins and contributors for putting together such an easy to read, resourceful collection of articles and podcasts because it is amazing how much knowledge I have gained in just a month. 

I have decided that 2015 was the year I was going to really get the ball rolling and hope to purchase my first property to start off what will hopefully be a large portfolio one day. I will most likely utilize an FHA for an owner/occupy property for at least a year. I haven't decided on location, however, as I have been playing around with the idea of a home, multifamily unit, or an apartment in the city of Chicago.

As always, I am hoping to add as much value to the site as well as gain a tremendous amount of advice from seasoned professionals. It looks like a ton of Chicago suburbs investors have been joining/already on the site, so I look forward to building my network and what I plan to be a successful investing career! Thanks everyone.