Archive for the 'Bear Claw ' Category
Invest in The Property Pundit
If you’re a real estate investor, you realize how important financing is. Often it means the difference between making money each month or losing it. When I bought the Bear Claw House, my wife and I lived in one of the four units. This allowed us to only have to put 5% down as opposed […]
Read More..>>The Bear Claw House - an update
Caroline and I have moved out of our four-flat in Chicago and have headed down to San Antonio. I had to come back to fill a few of the units. The folks in the garden apartment have moved upstairs to the 1st floor. I gave them a break on their rent to manage the property […]
Read More..>>Using MySpace to screen tenants
People often don’t realize who reads what they’re putting online. For the first year at my first real job I would sometimes have to go through resumes for interns and temps. I couldn’t believe that someone would put their goofy email address on a resume. I mean, if the email you use is drunkgirl69@hotmail.com, don’t […]
Read More..>>Tenants: Are you being blacklisted?
I’ve gotten a few new tenants into my four-flat, which brings up the question of background checks. Given my experience with the tenant I had to evict, I’d be interested in hearing what kind of background checks you do, or you think you should do. I have a three page application which includes a credit […]
Read More..>>Preventing an eviction by screening potential tenants
When I bought my four unit building in March, the previous owner left me with a tenant that caused me problems throughout the summer and who, ultimately, I had to evict. Reflecting on what had happened, I realize I could have done many things differently to prevent the situation that occurred. I also would […]
Read More..>>Evicting a tenant Chicago-style
I successfully evicted a tenant recently. If you’re in Chicago, let me give you some information about what I did and how you can attempt to do it yourself if you want to save lawyer expenses.
First, a disclaimer. I am an attorney, but this post is for information purposes only. Consult a qualified attorney to […]
Section 8 - I wish I knew how to quit you!
I read an article last week saying it’s old news to use Brokeback Mountain quotes. Since I’ve never actually watched the movie, does it apply to me?
In Chicago the Section 8 program is called CHAC, or the Chicago Housing Choice Voucher Program. Wait a minute, you may ask, where do they get the acronym CHAC […]
How to make an extra $7,000 a year
The goal of any real estate investor when they purchase a piece of property is to maximize income. You’ve got a new loan, your property taxes may have re-set, and the property may have been under-utilized before you bought it.
Here’s what my wife and I did. In March we bought a four unit building in […]
When Do You Need a Permit?
Pretty much all the time.
We have a small strip of grass on the backside of the building we call the Bear Claw house. (The facade looks like the paw of a brown bear. It’s really odd. I’ll have to put up a picture sometime.) When it rains the water doesn’t have anywhere to run […]
