Chicago Real Estate Investing Blog

By Mark Ainley

Best Areas To Invest In Chicago Real Estate

The Chicago metro area is made up of 77 wards inside the city limits and surrounded by over 130 suburbs across 6 counties. That means for people starting their search here with no knowledge of the100s of pockets to buy in, it can become overwhelming fast!Chicago has a lot t...

By Mark Ainley

3 Questions Chicago Real Estate Investors Need To Ask Before Starting to Invest

If you’re thinking about investing in real estate, the first step you should take is to ask yourself three questions. These questions will help you determine whether this form of investment is right for you, and if so, how to invest effectively and make the most of your inv...

By Mark Ainley

Tokenization - 4 Things Chicago Real Estate Investors Know

To understand what real estate tokenization is, let's first look at its definition and the three main types of tokens that are created as part of the process. Real estate has existed since the beginning of civilization, and it’s one of the oldest forms of investment tha...

By Mark Ainley

Three Tips for Applying for an FHA Home Loan

If you’re looking to buy your first home, you might be eligible for an FHA home loan. The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) insures loans made by private lenders, making it easier and more affordable to qualify for a mortgage. While the FHA loan approval process can some...

By Mark Ainley

Mistakes Real Estate Investors Make in Chicago

We have seen firsthand many of the mistakes that are made by Real Estate Investors here in the Chicago market. Most of these mistakes could have been avoided just by having maintained focus.For example, you go into a market you're not aware of and you take on a number of unit...

By Mark Ainley

Seven Ways to Allocate the Purchase Price of Your Rental Property

In past articles, I’ve shown you how to calculate your basis in your property. I’ve also shown you how to allocate the purchase price of your property between building and land. In this article, I’ll go through seven ways to do so. As a reminder, the reason why ...

By Mark Ainley

Five Things to Look for When Choosing an Agent For Your Chicago Househack Investment

By Tom Shallcross with Interview Insights from Brie Schmidt“I’m looking to buy ### amount of properties in the next year and hoping to sync-up with an investor-friendly agent” is thrown around Facebook and Bigger Pockets forums on a daily basis. Dozens of agents...

By Mark Ainley

What You Need To Know About Being A Real Estate Professional

Being a real estate professional has one main tax advantage: the ability to deduct losses against your active income up to $250,000 if you are single and $500,000 if you are married. With this exalted status comes some rules and restrictions that the investor must carefully consi...

By Mark Ainley

2022 New Conventional and FHA Loan Limits

The Conventional and FHA mortgage loan limits for 2022 will be increasing significantly over the 2021 limits in the United States. These loan limits are also known as Conforming Loan Limits. Any loan size above the limits is known as a Jumbo loan. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may o...

By Mark Ainley

THE NBOA in 2021 and What’s Ahead

I recently had the pleasure of recapping 2021 with the President of the NBOA (and father of an Olympian), Mike Glasser. Over the past year, Mike did a tremendous job leading an organization of over 600 members spread across nine neighborhood building groups. Our team at Straight ...

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