All Forum Posts by: Nicole R.

@Brett Goldsmith, we won at the foreclosure auction, but in Illinois you don't "own" the property until the sale is confirmed by a state court. So, technically, all we have is a certificate of sale and the judicial sale company is holding our money until the sale is confirmed. We can't even get to the eviction/possession part until the sale is confirmed and we own it. 

Hello BP Members,

I recently bid on and "won" a property at an auction that occurred this past early March.  Prior to bidding, I did my due diligence and felt comfortable bidding (i.e. ensuring it was a 1st mortgage, taxes in good standing, etc.).  It turns out, however, that the homeowners haven't paid a mortgage payment since early 2015 and instead just pay an attorney to continue to stall/keep them in the house for as long as possible.  

This lack of payment for a substantial amount of time resulted in a personal deficiency judgement against the Defendants (almost $400K) and the house is only worth $200k. They first attempted to file a motion to vacate the sale by arguing that the sale price was unconscionable (i.e. the auction sales price was too low given the amount outstanding and the bank should not have sold it for so low). This bought them additional time in the house because the judge granted them a "long" date to respond.  In late June, the confirmation hearing (where the judge was going to rule) date finally came. As some of you may be aware, it is difficult to prove that a sale is unconscionable when its purchased by an independent third party (so they were almost out of luck) and would have to start planning to leave the home. 

In keeping with their stall/delay tactics, however, only one of the defendants (the husband) filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy the day before the confirmation sale hearing.  This means that he is surrendering the home, but the personal deficiency judgment would be wiped out. Interestingly, he listed the other defendant (his wife) as one of his debtors.  Now, the bankruptcy filing automatically stays the state court confirmation hearing, so the judge continued our motion generally until the bankruptcy is sorted out in federal court.

Our next step is to file for a motion for relief from the stay and get back into state court to get the sale confirmed and then start the process to obtain possession/evict the occupants. My concern is that because the wife is listed as a debtor in the husband's bankruptcy, she may either (i) have a claim against the property or (ii) file for bankruptcy once we get back into state court for the foreclosure hearing which would set us back an additional 3-4 months. 

Keep in mind that, once we get the sale confirmed, if ever, we will have to go through the possession/eviction process not only with these two debtors but also with their adult children who are residing at the home (but were not on the foreclosure documents).

We have been accruing attorneys fees throughout this process, so I wanted to reach out to see if anyone had any recommendations or has been in a similar situation before. 

Many thanks!

@Johnny Cardena, how did the beta testing on your prototype go? I'd be interested in participating.

Hello,

I'm looking for recommendation for contractors for the near west suburbs of Chicago. The project is a SFH requiring mostly easy fixes. Feel free to message me with names of contractors you recommend. Also, I'd be interested in hearing tips/advice for working with contractors. Thank you in advance for your help!

Nicole

Hello BP,

I have a potential rehab in the works. Its a SFR that needs a significant amount of work. I'm looking for a general idea/estimate from contractors in the Northern suburbs of Chicago regarding how much a gut rehab would be. From what I've read and discussed with others, I am seeing it can range between $70-$90/sq. ft.

It is a small house (~1000 sq. ft. 3 bd/1ba) with a full, unfinished basement. The ARV is there, but I need to make sure my budget is in line with my offering price. Additionally, there may be some mold present in the house so I have the remediation expenses on a separate line item in my budget.

Can anyone provide an estimate of what a gut rehab would cost, please? I've attached some pictures for reference.

Thank you in advance!

I would use private money or go to a local bank I have a long-standing relationship with. 

@Jerry Stanford, thanks! I will check it out.

@Damian S.

In Illinois, an LLC can hold a broker's license. Oddly enough, it is called a limited liability company license. You can find the procedures for filing an application for a business entity/LLC license in Section 5-15 of the Real Estate License Act of 200 and in 1450.600 of the Rules for Real Estate License Act of 2000.

As the owner of the LLC, you would also need your own broker's license, and I believe you'd need someone with a managing broker's license as well until you were able to act as your own managing broker (after 2 years of actively practicing real estate).

Hope that is helpful to you!

Hello all,

I've recently passed the Illinois broker's exam to faciliate my real estate investing. I have been interviewing brokerages to get a feel for what would be the right fit for me.

Background: I have a full-time day job and will be using my license for personal use only; I am not looking to build a business of buyers/sellers. Most of the brokerages I've interviewed have two options that fit with my part-time status: 1) hold my license in an LLC (receive referral fees only) or 2) work on a 75/25 commission split with higher "desk" fees and will allow 1 personal sale per year commission free. The first option doesn't work for me because I want to be able to move to a managing broker and that will not be considered the active practice of real estate. I've targeted some smaller brokerages and have interviews set up next week--I'm hoping these businesses will be more amenable to working with a PT broker mainly interested in investment properties only.

Question: I'm looking for a brokerage with low fees to gain access to the MLS because I will only be using this license on a PT basis. Any suggestions/advice would be very helpful.

Thank you in advance for you help!

Thanks, everyone for the input!