All Forum Posts by: Crystal Smith

@Wendell De Guzman What's required for someone to pre-qualify, whether a newbie or someone w/ experience or a newbie working w/ someone w/ experience.

Thx ahead of time for your response.

Chicago Title

Welcome aboard Steven.  I love Shawn Holsapple recommendation on rich dad, poor dad.  We played the game over the holidays with the kids.  Getting them started early.

My thoughts:  Trust but verify (Actually if I received the email from your potential seller I wouldn't trust any of it.)  I've only done quit deeds w/ close business partners or family;  when I knew the history of the property.  Here are some resources to verify your seller's claims:  

1.  Building Code violations.  Not always up to date but a place to start  http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/bldgs/p...

2. You can research the chain of ownership & potential liens filed against the property.  Again not always up to date.  You'll need the PIN of the property. http://cookrecorder.com/

You may want to ask for a warranty deed & offer to pay for the the title search & insurance, especially if your objective is to wholesale the deal to someone else.  

Emma:  I'm sure there's a statistic somewhere w/ the breakdown of the vacany rate on the south and north, but I don't know the number or have the stats.

Great question.  For us the answer lies in the financials & the bottom line potential Annual Return on Investment.  My assumption is your flipping these properties, not holding.  If a  "full gut" is purchased @ a low enough price there should be enough margin to afford let's say a $10K surprise & still make a mint.  If purchased @ the wrong price w/ skinny margins then there's trouble.  So we let the numbers do the talking.   

Kylann Griffin

What do you mean by accepted? If accepted means you have a signed contract then you don't have to provide him w/ a POF. Provide him with his Earnest money then close the deal. If accepted means he verbally accepted your offer then provide him w/ some kind of Proof you can close. Whether it's your POF or the POF of someone you may be flipping the deal to.

We buy in Chicago.  Send us a PM w/ details as we may be interested.

Not backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac

This deal is way to skinny.  One thing goes wrong and you'll be in the red.

I'm not new to Real Estate, but new to BP & reading this thread I said Wow.  "Ghetto".  I'm from Chicago but have spent the last 6 years in Atlanta.  We just moved back & commute between Chicago & Atlanta.  My partner is from New York.  Our motto:  Yesterday's ghetto is today's trendy area.  

We'll invest in low income safe area for cash flow & flipping of properties.  But we also are constantly on the look out for what's the next area to be gentrified.  There are areas in Chicago & New York that were war zones a few years ago, now everyone wants to live there.  Chicago is on the verge of another change.  You just have to know the signs (bicycle lanes) & know the people (investors) who are creating the change.