All Forum Posts by: Kristi Wolfe

I'm a newbie. I'm obsessed with learning about RE investing (for all of 3 weeks or so now), and have gotten my husband and brother involved. We're all very excited about moving forward (giving ourselves 1 year to learn/save/strategize/niche down before pulling the trigger). That said, I've been analyzing deals daily to help determine if we want to Buy/Rehab/Hold or use the BRRR strategy. According to my calculations, NONE of the 20 or so properties (SF and Multifamily) I've analyzed makes sense. I've found properties to analyze on wholesaler websites, foreclosure websites, Zillow and Realtor.com, I've looked in my area (NW Chicago suburbs), Chicago proper, Milwaukee, Beloit WI, SF and multi-family, etc...so I wonder if the "good" deals have already been picked over by the veteran investors before I'm even able to see them, or if my numbers are too conservative because I'm afraid over underestimating costs and overestimating cash flow/profit. Is this typical? Does it just take kissing a lot of frogs to find a prince? How do the veterans come up with ballpark numbers to determine if they want to go see a property in person? I can look a photos to see that the kitchen cabinets need to be replaced, or the floor needs to be refinished, or I need to purchase a refrigerator, but trying to figure out if there's a pipe leaking inside a wall or the furnace is 40 years old or the beams are sagging in the basement is something you need to see in person, so how do you not waste your time when you're at the point where you're ready to buy seeing countless properties that need more work than it makes sense to do from a numbers standpoint? Or do you just need to spend a lot of time to find a winner?

@Patrice Boenzi. I sent a pm but then my phone froze. Please confirm you received it. Thanks!

@Patrice Boenzi that would be amazing! Please do- (I’m new here - do I need to PM you my email - ?). Due to a few factors, we cannot buy until March 2021 or so, but if you could send a few for me to do practice number crunching, I’d greatly appreciate it. That way when the time comes, I’ll likely know a great deal when I see it so I can move on it confidently!

Thanks!

@Kenneth Garrett do you work with wholesalers? Care to share who is a good source of deals in this area? :)

Where is good to buy, renovate & hold a 2-4 unit building?  I'd consider anything within about an hour drive of Palatine IL (or 1-1/2 hours in the case of Milwaukee if it's a really great deal)  There doesn't seem to be much in my area (prices are pretty high here - would love to keep it under $100K/$140K all in.

Areas I might consider:

Milwaukee (which neighborhoods are up & coming?)

Kenosha WI

Racine WI

Aurora IL

Elgin IL

Chicago (which neighborhoods are up & coming?)

I'd appreciate any input from anyone familiar with any of these areas, positive or negative! 

@Jaysen Medhurst - I've done a little research online - are we talking about the *property's DSCR*? How exactly is that calculated? Is it just net income divided by net holding costs?

My husband and I are considering partnering with my brother on a deal. Between the 3 of us, we have well over 100% of the purchase price in IRAs, savings, and investments. I am self employed and my W2s show only about 30% of my actual income. I’m trying to figure out if I need to amend my tax returns/pay more taxes to increase my gross wages on my W2 of if our money in the bank will be enough for most lenders to lend us 80% of the price of a property. (Brand newbie, considering a small multifamily buy/hold out of state but only 1-1/2 hours from home)