All Forum Posts by: Joe Mende

shoot me a dm, I have a great guy for you!

Originally posted by @Jeff Burdick:

Originally posted by @Joe Mende:

Jeff Burdick , this is mostly contingent on if a child is accepted into a selective enrollment school. CPS neighborhood schools are not of the same caliber.

 This is not universally true.  Some of CPS' neighborhood schools are among the best schools in the state.  

 It's not universally true, but it's pretty close.  I happen to work at one of the top neighborhood high schools in the state.  If you look at the list of top high schools in the state, the neighborhood schools start in the 20s.  All those schools in the top 10 are selective enrollment.

Hello everyone, it's been a bit since I last asked for help on here but we are finishing up renovating the 2nd unit on a duplex, which will also be the unit we live in for the foreseeable future.  We had a kitchen designed with a peninsula.  We're finishing sanding the drywall tomorrow, then it's time to paint and install cabinets.  Today, someone told my fiance that the space between the door and the peninsula isn't enough space and would be against code.  Does anyone know if this is true? Or more importantly, what the code is?  I'm attaching a picture of the kitchen plans with measurements and hoping someone can help me out.  Thanks in advance!

Jeff Burdick , this is mostly contingent on if a child is accepted into a selective enrollment school. CPS neighborhood schools are not of the same caliber.

Originally posted by @Mark Taliercio:

I purchase Shlage electronic locks for all of my rentals and find them to be very effective. 90-100$ per lock and they are very convenient, especially when doing renovations after purchase. 

 Which one do you usually use?

Hey everyone, so we just moved into our new duplex we purchased and I've read on here that it's a good idea to immediately change locks when moving in.  Has anyone bothered with smart locks?  I was thinking it would maybe be convenient short-term and long-term when it comes to tenants moving in/out because we'd be able to change the code or fob.  Obviously the price is significantly more than regular locks, but just figured I'd see if anyone has experience using them in their rental properties.

Awesome job! I see you’re from Mundelein, but where did you buy the property? If you don’t mind me asking..

Originally posted by @Andrew Postell:

@Joe Mende ah, yes, this is a common problem. But there are FHA "renovation" loans that are available to you. They are more complicated though but you can absolutely buy a "challenged" property with an FHA loan. Research the "FHA 203k" loan. That is the specific type of FHA loan that you can use for renovation purposes.

Yea, I’ve read all about them.  It was just tough because I was only approved for so much, so it really limited my options. 

Originally posted by @Andrew Postell:

@Joe Mende the good thing about Bigger Pockets is the amount of great information you can get. But every once in a while, there is some incorrect information too. And that person who posted was probably told wrong by someone else so don't take it out on them. Here's the rundown on FHA loans:

• You can receive as many FHA loans in your lifetime as you like.
• FHA does not allow you to have more than one FHA loan at a time UNLESS you have justification for it.
  • For example:  Your family grew and you need more room.  Or your job transferred you and you need a home outside of your pre-existing commuting area (generally 90 miles)
• So if you are moving from one home with an FHA loan and you are moving up the street, and your family size did not change, then you would need to do a conventional loan.
• But if you refinance that FHA loan into a conventional loan you could get as many as you need.
• Keep in mind that if you used 3.5% down on a duplex, a conventional loan will require you to have 15% equity to refinance.  If it is a single family home, then you would only need 5% equity.  So depending on the property you are house hacking this might have an impact on your ability to refinance.

There are a lot of rules to these so feel free to tag me if  you have any other questions.  Thanks!

 Andrew,

Thanks for the info! So, in order to get that additional 15% equity, significant improvements would need to be done to the property to appreciate the value, correct? This is where FHA always gets tricky to me. To me, I want to get a "fixer-upper" with FHA so that it's a lot easier to increase the value. But, FHA has so many regulations that most fixer-uppers don't qualify for FHA because they're usually being sold "as-is". So, how do you get around that?! I was looking for an FHA duplex in Chicago and eventually just went the conventional route because nothing qualified for FHA in the price range I was looking for.

Hello everyone, I just had a quick question about FHA loans. I've been reading these forums like it's my religion and I came across a post recently about FHA loans and how the limit is 4. If I get married, can I still acquire 4 FHA loans and my wife acquire 4 more? Or would WE only be able to acquire 4 total? I know you can only be in one FHA loan at a time, but my goal was to basically acquire one per year and we just move after a year into a new place, hack it for a year...refi and move to the next spot.