All Forum Posts by: Soniel Estime

@Dennis Cosgrave

Much appreciated, I was thinking that. I most likely will not move forward but if I do, these are some serious talking points to have.

@Joe Villeneuve

Thanks for the reply, you have given me a lot to think about.

I have two friends who would like to partner with me on a few deals. They were telling me about how they were thinking of investing and after I told them of my past experience with real estate, they jumped on me about partnering. I have done one house hack where I got ripped off by a contractor and hit with fines by the city of Chicago.(Finished the project and got some good equity in the deal but wouldn’t call it a home run). They want to join in on a project that I was thinking of taking on where the rehab would be about $130,000. I an unsure if I should partner with them on such a large project because the relationship with my sister in law was damaged due to her referring the contractor that ripped me off... and i would hate for that to happen with these guys. If I lose money that is one thing, but if I lose their money, and friendship because of it , that would be devastating. My question is,

Should you mix friends and business?

How do I avoid damaging the friendship if the deal doesn’t go well?

Should I wait to do a few more deals on my own first before partnering with them?

Have you ever partnered with a buddy, and the deal not go well?

How did you handle it and what was the outcome?

@Jennifer Torino

Great question. I plan on providing a full update on my experience when I get a chance to sit down and put together pictures. Long story short the contractor ran off on me and I had to pay a bit out of pocket to get the project done. I did manage to finish the project and get the other unit rented out. I also refinanced the property to drop my mortgage payment. After the appraisal I realized I had quite a bit of value in the home and am debating selling at this point. Hope this helps.

@Jonathan Klemm

Wow, thanks for the advice, I will look into getting a brokers license and reaching out to some MLO’s. I was thinking I can be a part time lender for a while until I can get things moving, I know part time lenders don’t make very much, but it is really the knowledge that I am looking for.

I have often heard the best way to learn more about Real Estate is to get a professional in that space.

I have a decent paying job but I have been considering becoming a Lender or Mortgage Loan Officer.

I have already taken the prelicensing course and all I have left is to take the Exam. I am a little nervous to go this route because I know it takes a while for MLOs to start making money but I know the long term benefits can help my family in achieving generational wealth.

My question is:

1)Is becoming an MLO a good way to learn about Real Estate and find great deals?

2) What is a good resources to prepare for the NMLS exam?

3) On average, how long does it take to start making money as a MLO?

4) Are there any meetups in the Chicago area where I can meet MLO’s to get advice from?

@John Hickey

Thank you for this post. I just purchased my first investment property in Chicago and it has been very difficult trying to get the rehab done, “got burned by my contractor” this post gives me motivation to keep moving forward! My goal is to be doing the same thing some day!

Before getting involved with real estate investing I always heard about contractor falling off the face of the earth. This must be an initiation in the real estate-investor space. I am looking general contractor recommendations. Someone who has had experience working with a FHA 203k loan. I am in the south side Chicago area!

Finishing up on a renovation for my first duplex, My wife and I were thinking of renting out our top unit as a regular long term rental. We would live in the 1st floor unit, but we were thinking of renting out our basement as an Air BNB. We will be living in the south side of Chicago just a few min away from midway airport. I’m wondering how difficult it is to set up Air BNB in Chicago. I have read a few article about new laws that have been put in place by the city that makes the process much harder. Has anyone done this and how was your experience been before and after the new laws were passed?

@Joseph Konney thank you, I think after factoring how much a lawyer would cost if needed was applied to that 5k quote