All Forum Posts by: Lumi Ispas

@Andrew Fielder call Peak Properties! 

Good luck to you!

@Lucia Matos , try AB Flooring at 3100 N Elston in Chicago. 

@Steven Lalonde , it all depends on parking availability.  If parking is available on the street and the rental income not including parking makes sense, then go for it. At least you don't have to shovel a parking lot!

Also if you have public transportation nearby, some tenants will not own cars. 

Good luck and wish you an amazing 2018!

@Bruce Reeves , Congrats on your courage to ask for that advice! I am not sure if I can help you, however, I will be happy to talk to you without any fees. :) You might want to talk to multiple people to hear different opinions! 

Always be a student and not a follower!

@Jason V. , first of all I want to say that you and your wife are amazing people. You are not just adopting 4 children, you are putting yourself on the line to raise these children! Good for you!

Regarding motivation, if you have not heard of Earl Nightingale, listen on YouTube to "The strangest secret in the World". This recording is the only nonentertainment recording to win a Golden Globe in history. It's only about 50 min or less. You can listen to this daily for a while. Also, Jim Rohn and Napoleon Hill.  Book wise, pick up "Think and Grow Rich" the second most published book after the Bible and any book by Jim Rohn. Other great motivators are Zig Ziglar and Og Mandino!

Good luck to you, and I'm sure you'll find your inspiration quickly!

@Brian Burke , what a great idea and great goals also! 2017 has been a year of growth and hard decisions.

Some of my business and personal goals for 2018 are:

• Simplify my life and my business.
• Continue teaching investment seminars and increasing the frequency to two/month, to help other investors achieve financial freedom and become millionaires.
• Sit down with 24 new investors to create their own plan of action.
• Help 100 sellers get the most money for their homes.
• Purchase 10 million worth of multi-family buildings.
• Complete construction the 4 flat that I just got permits for.
• Buy 4 more lots for new construction projects.
• Help 100 sellers get the most money for their homes.

Happy New Year to Everybody!

@Maria Bocanegra , the closing cost for buying a parking spot is very similar with the closing cost of a home. You'll pay city/county/state stamps, title fees, etc. Call a title company and they will let you know exactly how much it will be.

Regarding investing in a parking spot, it all depends on location. If you are in a neighborhood that doesn't have parking spots at all, you will be doing great. 

I do have couple clients that have bought multiple condo units with parking spaces in Downtown and for the last few years they could not rent them out, as most of the new tenants don't have cars, they use uber and public transportation. 

In other words, buy for yourself a spot and do research on parking in your area to know if you should buy extra spots for investment purpose. 

Good luck to you!

@Camellia B. , I am impressed by your willingness to put yourself out there and post on the site to find a partner for the event. That takes guts and an enormous amount of courage. Good for you!

You have huge goals, and if you are going after them the way you wrote this post, then go ahead and sign up for the training. Even though the three-day event is an informational event for the next most expensive program, it still has lots of great information.  You will learn a lot, so go for it. In order to learn that much, you'll have to be on this site or ready tens of books and it will take months and months to absorb what you can get in 3 days.

Regarding the kid you mentioned that owns already two properties, you can do that within a year yourself. If you don't own another building or a single family home, you can buy a 3-4 unit building with only 3.5% down, ask the seller to cover the closing cost and the downpayment can be a gift to you. 

There are plenty of downpayment sources available if you qualify, or your family can gift to you or borrow from your retirement funds. You are allowed to borrow tax-free when you buy your own home. 

A year later, you can repeat the process and buy with 5% down, conventional loan your next property. 

Good luck to you and reach out if you have any questions.

@James Canoy , if that helps, everyone gets nervous after getting an offer accepted, and I will say everyone had different levels of being uncomfortable and work through it.  It's part of being a human being. If I were you, I will write a letter to myself before I write an offer on why I believe the deal is great and then keep reading it until you close! You will trust yourself the most, or ask someone you really trust to have a conversation with you and to refer to it after you got an offer accepted and keep you afloat!

You'll push through it - I am sure of it! Focus on the outcome only! Good luck!

@TJ Walker, I love @Jennifer Beadles 's idea, with one exception. A city as a whole is not representative of the entire local market. 

Take Chicago for example. We have 77 official neighborhoods and over 280 unofficial neighborhoods. This city is the 6th wealthiest city in the World, based on the companies that choose to have their headquarters there and is not on Jennifer's list. Why? Because in surveys it is reported as an amalgam of markets over a huge distance.

While Downtown appreciates at a rate of 10% a year or better, each neighborhood is different. While Chicago market as a whole is losing population, the highest income population moving in a city is in Chicago. We have the headquarters of companies like: Google, McDonald's, Uber, Glassdoor, Boeing, United Airline, etc...

I will say, choosing a market depends on your specific goal first and foremost. If you want to invest only in single-family homes that you hold long term, the question is are you looking for cash flow or equity grown? As each answer will send you in a different direction. 

If you decide cash flow is king for example, then what type of neighborhood are you choosing: A, B or C? If you decide the type, then depending on your price point, you can finally start to narrow down the markets.

I will say be very specific what you are looking for and then, after looking at statistics, you can contact investors in those markets that hold a lot of properties and ask them why they chose those markets.

You might also want to buy where you travel a lot so you get some extra tax deductions. Each large city will have one neighborhood that is the place to be! Buy for location first, and the money will come!

Good luck to you!