CHICAGO'S #1 REAL ESTATE INVESTING PODCAST

Victoria Barkate joins us to discuss how she has quickly scaled her rental property portfolio as a W2 employee!Victoria starts by explaining her decision to move to Chicago specifically to invest in real estate. She talks about how she decided which neighborhoods to invest in and how she has utilized partnerships to scale She dives into the ins-and-outs of her first couple house hacks including things that went well and challenges she f...

The Straight Up Chicago Investor Podcast is back with another great episode, this time focusing on understanding Chicago garages with Vince Sliwa. In Episode 194, Vince Sliwa dives deep into the factors investors should consider when deciding to invest in garages in the Chicago area. He covers topics like selecting the right location, doing your due diligence, and making sure you pick the right investment for you. Along with his ex...

Jessica Ryan, Head of KSN’s Landlord/Tenant Department, joins us to educate Chicago Landlords on the eviction process and best practices!Jessica begins by explaining the first step in the process; properly serving a 5-day notice. She talks about utilizing process servers for notices and summarizes the filing fees associated with an eviction. Jessica then gives a detailed breakdown of the phases of an eviction including time frames...

Nick Yassan, President of Rany Management, grew up in a family of real estate investors and has been instrumental to growing his company’s real estate portfolio! Nick begins by explaining how he was involved in real estate from an early age and the competitive advantage that it has given him. He shares what the 2008 housing crash was like and how that impacted his real estate investing. Nick jumps into his investing philosoph...

Are you overwhelmed when you look at your rental property insurance premium? Do you have difficulty understanding what the costs are associated with? If so, you’re not alone. Many people struggle to comprehend the various components of their insurance premium. In this blog post, we’ll explore your insurance premium, so you can better understand what goes into your premium and what you should be looking out for as an investor...

Real Estate Broker, Developer, and Entrepreneur Luke Blahnik joins us to discuss his neighborhood of expertise: Logan Square!Luke knows the neighborhood block by block and outlines some of the premier streets that feature phenomenal housing stock on oversized lots. Luke elaborates on the different pockets of the neighborhood including the higher priced areas around the Boulevards and other more affordable options near the edges of Logan...

We sat down with Megyn Christensen, Strategic Account Manager of Strategic Account Manager to talk about a great powerful tool to validate personal information and criminal history.For example, if somebody calls you for a house showing, who just got out of prison; You're going to be able to enter that person's phone number and be able to pull up their criminal record and their financial history.  Questions We Answer In this...

Rick Ofman has over six years of experience in commercial real estate and is a Director at Essex Realty Group.Rick kicks things off by defining underwriting and associated terminology. He provides a thorough breakdown of income, expenses, and necessary assumptions. Rick shares insight on forecasting variables such as rehab costs, rent increases, and tax increases to name a few. He explains some valuation terms such as gross rent multipl...

Marisa Novara was appointed as Commissioner of the Department of Housing (DOH) in 2019 and has since led the creation of policies to promote equitably distributed affordable housing across the City.Commissioner Novara starts by explaining the purpose of the DOH. She dives deep on a fascinating study on segregation across the City that her team conducted. She speaks to the results of the segregation study and how her team is utilizing th...

At the age of 32 years old, Scott Trench has already become CEO of BiggerPockets and his contributions have helped countless investors build wealth.Scott discusses meeting Josh Dorkin and the early start-up days at BiggerPockets (BP). He speaks to BP’s rapid growth, challenges along the way, and of course, BP’s loyal customer base. Scott fills us in on the current vision of BP and some of the potential upcoming enhancements ...