All Forum Posts by: John Warren

@Rance Smith thanks for sharing your story. July 2 of 2023 was a rough time for Austina and the town of Cicero. We had 21 units that took water that day, and it was a rough month. You get through these things and focus on building forward. It sounds like you will be a successful owner which is amazing! 

Are you a member of GADA in Austin? Definitely worth checking out as local building owners and business owners meet up there to help build the community. I am hoping to go to this month's meetup. 

@Regina Bailey you can send the 5 day via certified mail. Are you sure the tenant is still living there? Did you do a wellness check? I would start there. I would immediately send the 5 day via certified mail or hire a special process server to serve it for $75 so its done. Then you can file and get the tenant into court. 

If the tenant has vacated, you post a notice of abandonment ASAP. You might even start there by posting a notice and placing a bit of clear tape on all the entry doors at the top so you can see if they are entering or exiting. 

Welcome to the West Suburban Building Owner's Association!

We meet on a monthly basis to discuss topics pertaining to building owners and housing providers here in the Chicago suburbs. Our goal is to help you connect with like-minded individuals, stay up to date on industry hot topics, and to participate in resource sharing. We are a membership organization, but attending is free! We are centrally located to suburbs such as Berwyn, Oak Park, Forest Park, Elmwood Park, Lyons, Cicero, Stickney, Broadview, Bellwood, Hillside, Brookfield, La Grange and La Grange Park.

This month we have Michael Procaccio II. Michael is a tax advisor with Pro Financial Services Group, Inc. Michael will be presenting on the topic, "From BOI to ROI: Essential Tax & Compliance Knowledge for Real Estate Investors". Michael is a repeat guest, and he always adds a ton of value. You won't want to miss this presentation!

If you are interested in being on our monthly email newsletter, feel free to sign up here.

If you are interested, check us out at our new website! We are now officially a chapter of the Neighborhood Building Owner's Alliance as well!
https://www.wsboa.com/

@Patrick Williams sure I have a cleaner that can help you out. I will PM you. 

@Porsha Fross every owner of a larger building ends up becoming a mini GC for this reason. Ultimately, turning an apartment isn't rocket science and you don't need a GC. You need a good kitchen/bath sub, a painter and a flooring person. I would focus on finding "your guy" locally who does this type of work for reasonable prices. You can purchase your own cabinets and save the 15k that a GC will charge as reasonable profit and overhead. 

@Louis A. welcome to 2024. It is the worst this year! The only insurance companies in the game for the stuff we are doing in Berwyn and Cicero seems to be Distinguished programs through Zurich, a little bit of Honeycomb and Greater New York. My insurance broker has shopped this stuff around, but there was a huge contraction in the amount of places that will cover apartments this year. 

Also, the prices are going up roughly 20-30% across the board. Same as you, I have never made a claim.

@Brian Fabel we manage around 350 units in the Chicago area, and I am an owner on much of the portfolio. We had so many issues with bed bugs, that I invested in my own bed bug heaters. This was the single best investment I have made into a tool. Heat can kill all bugs within a few hours with zero residual damage. Traditional treatments are rarely necessary, especially if the infestation is in the early stages. 

I would focus on finding heat treatment in this scenario and not do the traditional treatments. You will lose far less revenue. 

@Faiyaz Hashmi to be honest, I would focus on stacking up a bit more cash so you can be in an area you are excited about. House hacking requires you to live in the building and being able to get into a 300 or 350k place can make all the difference between having a Starbucks next to you or a vacant building. 

Where do you live now? Are you in the city? Burbs? Where do you work? Start with the end in mind and building your investing to serve your life. 

@Jake Oakes one of the tough things about owning properties long term is that you have to always be thinking several steps ahead of everyone else. So with your escrow shortage, will you be able to increase rents over the next year or two? Can you renegotiate your insurance to save a bit? What about contesting taxes? 

In Chicago, we contest taxes regularly and that is part of the game. If you don't play the game, then you won't win. I am not sure about where you live, but that is something we look multiple years out on constantly. 

@Connor O'Brien I have an electrician for you. I will send his info in a DM. He lives in Blue Island, and he covers the whole south and SW side.