All Forum Posts by: PJ Kolnik

@Karen Rittenhouse it was more an anecdotal trend that this property manager noticed from their clients. However, seems pretty reasonable to think that most people are going to do the most renovations when they first get the property to immediately justify the raise in rents and refinancing possibilities.

Hey BP, I was at a Meetup here in Chicago a few weeks ago and I heard an interesting stat from a prop management company that was presenting that made me wonder how it is for other investors around the country. 

This particular property management company stated that an investor will make approximately 80% of the capital investment (renovations) that they will ever make within the first year of owning the property.

Do you agree? When did you do your renovations? If you waited to do your renovations, what was the reason?

@Justin Petrides I’m currently renting to a friend on my current rental property. At the time, he needed a place to stay and I really needed a renter. I read all the things that said it was a bad idea and 10 Months in it hasn’t been too bad. He’s pretty vigilant and let’s me know when things are broken or other tenants may be needing something. All that to say it’s business first friendship second. If they can’t respect the business part then the friendship is jeopardized - that goes both ways. I’m not sure it will be long term deal but it’s worked fairly smooth so far.

@Mark Kappelman are you planning on maintaining vacation licenses for both those Airbnb's in Logan Square? Unless you the building is under a primary residence then you have to get a vacation license for the unit. From my research the vacation licenses are $500 per year per unit and require bi annual inspections from the City of Chicago...

@Mark Kappelman I have run / or own two units in Chicago that I have done Airbnb with. I would say it’s definitely more work, but cash flow is easily 15-40% higher than regular rentals here.

@Nathan McBride the book on managing rental properties is a straight up textbook to me. Got a rental property, did everything it said, everything is going pretty well. You’ll find it pretty useful!

@Josh Lyons I renovated a whole property using a bike and rental cars, great way to rely on my contractors, however, now I own a car because my wife wasn’t going to do another winter without one. Unfortunately I have started to do more DIY projects at the property as well since I bought it. At least I don’t have to carry 55” blinds on my bike in snowstorm though.

@John Underwood So how do they determine "market rent"? I don't know about Greer, SC, but it can be pretty variable neighborhood to neighborhood in Chicago.

@John Underwood that's some helpful insight. As a newer investor, I sometimes feel like I have no idea how to manage the risks of Section 8, its only for the pro's.

What are the keys to managing the risks that come with Section 8 vs. other more conventional tenants in your opinion? I realize we are treading some potentially legal issues here, but curious to learn from you experience.

Hi BP,

I came across this interesting announcement on the HUD.gov site today. Looks like HUD might be looking to make Section 8 and Housing Vouchers less difficult to accept by initiating listening sessions across the country.

What are your thoughts on taking Section 8 vouchers if there was less inspections and regulations for accepting tenants?

https://www.hud.gov/press/press_releases_media_adv...