All Forum Posts by: Lumi Ispas

@Joe Mende & @Sade Queen , I just messaged you! Happy New Year!

@Dave Madoch , I am not sure which building you are living in, however, the parking spots are not worth gold anymore. I have a client at 130 S Canal with two parking spots vacant for a year, as all the tenants that moved in did not have cars and nobody in the building was interested in extra parking.

I have another client at 200 N Jefferson with multiple units and even there in the summer, the parking spots don't get rented unless he discounts the price to half!

If you have a 3bed/2bath unit and own only one parking, I would say - buy it, as in the future when you'll resell you'll get your money back and make the unit more desirable, however, buy it if the rent you'll get will cover your property tax, assessment ( hopefully you have no special assessment in the building) and you'll get a decent return on your money.

If you own a 2bed or less, I would personally not buy it. When you sell your condo, chances of recouping the money will be low.

Be aware that since Uber, Lift and similar companies, a lot of people are getting rid of their cars downtown. Most of the parking lots Downtown has had a decrease in rentals, so they've increased the price of parking there to recover some of the lost income from the people coming to the City Hall, Title Company, DMV, etc, the one-day trips...

@Chris, Welcome to the BP family! You are the perfect addition with your high desire to be successful, getting prepared and most importantly taking action! Reach out with any questions and I'll be happy to help, as well as a lot of this great community!

Good luck to you and Happy Holidays!

@Chris Adams , it all depends on how well you know the real estate market in your area and pricing property. 

Getting your license teaches you only to follow the law. It takes years to really learn the business and the market. If you have the time, then take your license and learn by practicing on others. If you want to invest now, learn from the brokers that represent you and you can take your license in time if you decide you want to that job the realtor does. 

Also, Realtors when writing offers on REOs and short sales for themselves, most of the time won't get paid any commission as they are considered experts and already making money on the purchase.

Best of luck!

@Deonte Palmer , nice meeting you. What's your 2019 real estate goal?

@Amber Turner, @Kyle J. , @Adam Wigdorski , PenFed won't do investment HELOC for an investor with more than 3 investment properties. If you have less than three, then PenFed will work for you!

@Devin Londo , getting $1,000 cash flow per month with 500k Invested is really not difficult in Chicago. I am actually surprised you have not found any deals. Are you looking for growth in your properties also, or just cash flow?

@Dan Tsunekawa , No residential lender can do this type of financing, however, if you move the property in a revocable trust whose beneficiary is your LLC, then he can do the loan! I will send you the info of my lender directly as it is prohibited to place it in this post. Good luck to you!

@Alex Arter , I like Robert Kiyosaki's books and a surprisingly great book has been "How come that idiot's rich and I'm not" by Robert Shemin.  It's written on a light tone, and takes you from the Mindset needed to succeed, goals, plans to think like an integral investor.  I rarely read an RE book twice, and in addition to @Caitlin Damani 's book reference of Gary Kelly's book, Shemin's book is really standing out!

Another great book is "The Automatic Millionaire" by David Bach. - You'll learn why mortgages make you really wealthy by holding properties and paying them off instead of just buying RE and either flip or sell quickly and teach you more about the investing process in general. 

I believe the difference between the people that want to get in investing, or buy a property and stop and the ones that have the courage to keep going and learn from their experiences, good and bad is the Mindset and understanding investing at a deep level.

Good luck to you and make sure you buy your first property within the year the latest. Without Action, knowledge is not power.

@Caitlin Damani , Congratulation on choosing the 4th largest business centers in the world for your investment. There are a number of neighborhoods that match your requirements: some of them: Logan Square, Humboldt Park, United Center, West Town, Avondale, Bridgeport, Bronzeville, Pilsen, McKinley Park, etc. 

Regarding the landlord-tenant laws, the city is occupied 70% by tenants, so you can imagine that the City is tenant-friendly! I can send you the Landlord- Tenant Ordinance Summary if you are interested. You just need to follow the law, choose your tenants carefully by doing a credit, background, and eviction checks,  which I assume you'll do it anywhere else anyway.