All Forum Posts by: Larry Smet

Hey @Brent Mattison

I also have a good Illinois RE attorney that I've used for my last 7 deals in Chicago. Send me a PM and I'll provide you his contact info.

A quick recommendation: when it comes to attorneys, they really tend to specialize. I'd recommend using different attorneys for different things . I personally use 3 on a regular basis: one for general RE transactions and contracts, another for evictions and another for entity formation.

Cheers

Larry

Welcome @Sunny Verma

To take the suggestion by @Wendell De Guzman further, I think a good place to start if you're just trying to figure out what might work for you is listen to ALL the podcasts. It's pretty easy - most people have time when they commute, work out, etc.. From there, pick one or two methods (that you think you'd like to pursue) and learn everything that you can about them.

Good luck

Larry

PS - all the podcasts give value, but I'll give props to Wendell, since he's from Chicago (where I primarily invest too). :)

Welcome @Nathan Cowan

Definitely listen to all the BP podcasts - they will expose you to a variety of different strategies and one may resonate with you.

For me, I started flipping in Chicago (wanted to build up some capital) and am now starting to expand into rentals as well.

Larry

Welcome @Debo Adesida

My property inspector lives in Oak Park too. Lots of great info here at BP - keep reading, asking questions and (most importantly) taking some productive action every day.

Good luck

Larry

Hey @Teighlor Melton

Mine was $57,000 for an REO in a suburb of Chicago. But it's VERY market and sub-market specific. Lots of places much lower... and much higher :)

Welcome @Marcin Jurkun

There's lot of data to mine here at biggerpockets - and lots of brains to pick. Let us know if you have any questions!

Thanks @Raji Kaur

Really useful information you posted. Definitely keep us up to date on how your flip goes. That's exciting.

What area of the city is the property in and what's your rehab budget?

Cheers

Larry

PS - for context my primary market is Chicago, not Toronto, although we've done a flip in Orlando as well

Hey @Joseph Grullon

This may be a little obvious but getting a good realtor can be very cost effective too. Of the 8 flips that we've done I've done zero marketing - they've all come through a couple really good realtors. There's no money to put in up front - particularly if you've already got the budget for the initial flip.

Larry

Haha - I'm envious of all you marketers out there!

Mine was $57k a SFR REO in Northlake, IL. It got me started though! :)