All Forum Posts by: Joe Mende

Hi Ibrahim!

I’m a real estate agent and owner of a two flat in the Avondale neighborhood. I actually have rented my unit via Airbnb for 14 months, and currently rent to a tenant that subsidizes his rent with Airbnb.

Airbnb was truly a great experience and offered higher than market rents.

Feel free to message me I’d be happy to advise you through this process!

Best,
Chris Weichselbaum

@Joe Mende which part of Chicago are you in? I have some good referrals for the near southwest suburbs, but I am not sure how close you are. 

@Joe Mende Technically, those are services in many, states that you  can shop for. But in Chicago, not so much the case. You could try to negotiate the ability to choose those items, rather than the seller, but here, the seller chooses title and the title company will dictate the costs you see. Unfortunately, it won't be up to you or the lender. 

The title costs above do look a little high. Not sure you will need all those items in there (don't normally see survey in there with the title costs). What is the price of this property? How large of a loan? If your loan is a solid amount of $500k, then this is probably pretty accurate. 

Chicago is an expensive market. However to simplify things for you, most fees are going to be very similar, regardless of the lender, with the exception of origination fees and points. 

And I know how people love talking about nailing down rates and costs on here. My opinion differs a bit because the vast majority of this business is not great at originating loans. There is an absolute value with being 100% reliable and accountable. Even at the expense of slightly higher costs. So if you have a lender that you trust, I would stick with them.