All Forum Posts by: John Clark

People forget how nice the South/Southwest side can be. Lots of overlooked opportunities. Just follow the Orange line L and check out the neighborhoods.

"The ONLY reason why our offer was accepted was because we were able to close quickly using the LOC. There is value in using equity this way. I'd consider that a reasonable strategy. Also, we are able to refinance before paying a cent of interest."

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I understand Joe V's posts and point of view, I just disagree with his philosophy of a high use of leverage. Here, however, Joe is right when he said that the property owns the equity, not you.  As for there being "value in using equity this way," do a thought experiment: What is the difference between you having $130k cash in the bank and no equity to put a line of credit against, and vice versa? Your refinancing would allow you to put the money back into the bank. No doubt Joe would say that you could assign your cash flow to the bank and borrow against that for those times when you needed to move fast.

On what grounds would you evict? I guaranty you that a judge would rule that you modified the lease by accepting split payments in cash/check/whatever, and the fact that she is proactively seeking help from various organizations will count in her favor, not yours. As others have mentioned, an eviction will set you back far more than round trip drives twice a month, AND I bet a judge would laugh you out of court.

Post-dated checks is one possibility, as has been mentioned. You might try contacting the "different organizations" and see if they can help her set up online payments. It sounds like you have a jewel -- if older -- of a tenant. Don't blow it.

If you do decide not to renew, give her P-L-E-N-T-Y of notice (far beyond what is legally required) of non-renewal, so she can smoothly move out.

"the title company didn't think an old man would lie so they gave him the title."
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As others have pointed out, title companies insure title, they don't hold title.

There are title company subsidiaries that hold title -- these are land trust companies. So Chicago Title Insurance Company issues title policies and insures title, and it owns a subsidiary -- Chicago Title Land Trust Company -- which can hold title to properties placed in its trusts. I say this because a layman can easily confuse the two and think  that the title company holds the title.

That, however, gives the original poster a possible way to check out the **** and bull story that nut job applicant is telling. Most county recorders offices are on line these days, and one can see the chain of title (if not the actual documents) on line. First question is: Was title to the property placed in a land trust? If not, then one simply tells the applicant that her story doesn't hold up: The title company, being an insurer, could not give title to anyone, and never would have done so in any event.

If the "old man" committed fraud then the nut job applicant should have filed a police report. and possibly complaints with the state's attorney and possibly other state agencies that deal with fraud. If the property was in fact held in a land trust, then the land trust company will certainly file criminal complaints against the alleged con man.

So the original poster can ask the nut job applicant for the criminal complaints.

As for the "legal team" -- talk to them and obtain case numbers for filed complaints (most county court systems areset up for on line case name searches, so one can type in her name and see if any cases are filed in her name), and any filed charges with state agencies that the "legal team" made.

And if it turns out that nut job applicant lied about any part of the story, disqualify her immediately and forevermore, documenting everything and saving your records.

Check with the alderman's office. In my ward, for example, all short term rentals are forbidden, period. Find out what the alderman says first.

Others have commented on the costs of building an ADU, so I won't beat that dead horse. The other factor you have is that and ADU can kill appreciation. You lose the family that wants the extra outdoor space, and doesn't want to be a landlord.

Whether one misses an opportunity because of insufficient funds or one misses an opportunity because of lack of qualifications (e.g., too high a debt-to-income ratio) is irrelevant; you missed an opportunity. Solve the problem. Even if the interest rate is higher, the refinancing is for a much longer term, so your overall payments go down. If you'd like, you can up the difference into the refinanced loan each month until you've paid in the principal amount of the car loan. Wouldn't make all that much financial sense, but it might give you peace of mind.

Remember, It's not important to grow fast, it's important to start. Your DTI ratio is, per you, a limiting factor. Do what to can to stop that. Some other poster wrote that he could disregard the loans if his outfit was allowed to directly pay the loans off out of proceeds at closing. Banks will place greater weight on paying off the car loan than they will the credit card debt, because you are much less likely to go out and buy another car. You get to maybe drop collision and comprehensive insurance coverage too, usually a significant savings.

How much do you owe on the student loans and the car? Look into a cash out refi where the bank takes a lien on the car as well as on the house, and the bank directly uses proceeds to pay off the car loan and the credit card so it knows they're paid off. If you can swing it, get the bank to do the refi without a lien on you car, but the bank pays off the car and the credit card. That improves your DTI ratio and you can drop your collision and comprehensive coverage, saving you hundreds on your car policy premiums.

Does it slow down your expansion plans? Sure, but the cash flow from this house, the AirBnB income, and easy rentals in a university town make you a "yes" for the next house purchase.

Believe it or not, call (best to go down to in person) the Bolingbrook buildings department and ask the building inspectors which contractors they have had the least trouble with/do the best work. Then contact those contractors.

Do you already own the building? Contractors won't waste their time giving estimates so you can determine an offer price.