All Forum Posts by: Scott Steffek

Juan,

I'm from Northwest Indiana and I have investors buying out here. We invest in the following cities in Indiana: Crown Point, Hobart, Merrillville, Lake Station, Portage, Griffith, Highland, Hammond and others. The property taxes out here are extremely low, compared to Illinois. Obviously you know the home prices are less as well. Plus, Indiana is a very friendly landlord state. Illinois can take over a year to evict a tenant, if they fight it. You can "boot" someone out in less than 45 days! Buying a completely "rehabbed" home, in a good area, that's ready to go at $50k, will be difficult, but not impossible. If you want to stay in "decent" areas, you're looking at $65-$80. Merrillville and Hobart, Portage and Hammond are very good cities for buying and holding.  Those cities would have prices around $65k and above. Stay out of GARY!  I just sold a house in Portage for $45k, but it needs $25k in rehabbing. Once we complete the rehab for the investor, it will be worth $105k. We'll be getting $1250 a month for rent. Believe it or not, the taxes are only $526 a year. The cash on cash return is almost 15%. If you'd like more information on the area, PM me. Best of luck to you.

Pavel,

I totally agree with Dale Stevens. IMHO, you're asking for major problems, if you add the 30 day clause into your lease.  Illinois is one of the most "tenant" friendly states that I know of. Leases are signed and drafted up for a reason. If you go to Court to have someone evicted with the 30 day clause, you will most likely run into big problems with the judge and others.  Also keep in mind, that as of the end of November, the Sheriff's department was over 2 weeks behind on evictions! Best of luck to you.

Michael,

If you're considering Illinois, I would strongly recommend you look into Northwest Indiana, over investing in Chicago. Northwest Indiana is only 20-40 minutes to downtown Chicago. The taxes are far less and I mean far less, than Illinois. Indiana is a Landlord friendly state. Evicting someone in Illinois will give you ulcers, not to mention drain your pocket! Let me give you an example: I looked at a house today in Portage, Indiana. Good schools, low crime and the house was a 3 bed 1.5 bath, with a basement and on .7 acres of land. We could purchase it AND rehab it for less than $75k. The ARV is approximately $105k. ( I haven't had a chance to run sold comps as of yet.) I can rent it for $1250 a month. Oh, the taxes........They're a whopping $419. That's a year! You can also evict someone very quickly. If you know how to file, your "non paying" tenants can be thrown out in 30 days or less. PM me if you'd like more information on the area. I wish you the best of luck, wherever you purchase.

Jeremy,

I don't know anything about the Morris program, but I will tell you this. I find properties for investors, rehab them and if it's a B&H, our property company manages them.  For a company to tell you that your rehab costs are $20k or so and they eat the "additional" costs, really scares me.  Plus, a rehab cost of $20k today, buys very little.  I can't think of one rehab we've done,  where some unforeseen problem hasn't come up. Some are small and some are not. We tell our investors that we require a 10% "cushion", on the rehab costs. So, if we run into problems after we start tearing out walls, etc, we're not losing any money. Sometimes, we request additional funds, other times we eat it, if it's not a major problem.  For a company to buy a house for $15-30k and only put $20k into it, seems extremely difficult to me. I'm NOT saying they aren't doing it, but I really have to wonder what kind of area it's in.  I agree with Wayne and Craig. Be extremely careful and do your due diligence on the area you're buying. I'm also trying to figure out where they're making their money. Even if it's only $5k. Those numbers are just extremely tight! Best of luck to you. 

Mary Leonard.......Love the climate change comment?

Lisa,

PM me. I have a solid honest lender. The best part, is they don't charge junk fees!

Marie,

Welcome to BP and I hope things work out well for you! One thing I noticed, is that no one brought up "rehab" coats for multi units. Many of my investors, look at multi units and like the cash on cash return, but no one seems to be educating them on the "true" costs. If you're looking to get into the business with $20k down, keep the following in mind. Let's say you buy a 4 plex, instead of a single family home. Most likely at the price range you're looking at, rehabbing will need to be done. If that's the case, keep in mind that now, you have 4 kitchens to rehab. You have 4 bathrooms to rehab. You have however many bedrooms to rehab. So as a result, your rehab costs go up substantially, over purchasing a single family home. So that cost has to weighed against buying one home, versus a multi unit. I'm by no means saying that multi units aren't great on cash flow, I'm just saying that in most cases, not all, but in most, you'll need to spend quite a bit more on rehab. If a multi unit building needs very little repairs, then most likely, the price will be substantially higher. I just wanted to give you a little food for thought. Best of luck to you.

Kenyette,

I don't want to get into trouble for advertising, so please private message me. We find investors properties in Indiana.

Thanks and good luck with your business,

Scott

Daniel,

Pm em if you'd like to talk. I'm currently mentoring 2 other people, but there's always room for one more! I;m in Crown Point.

Pav,

Call Karen at Property Boss in Hammond. OM me if you want her number. Tell her Scott sent you.