Chicago burbs - I need help to choose one (Harvey: real estate, foreclosed)

[rlohiya]

Hey All,

I'm a small investor living in the UK who is looking for suggestions of areas that are considered as livable, but with foreclosed homes available to buy at reasonable prices.

I'm looking for SFR's or MFH, (Duplex/Triples/Quads) in neighborhoods, which are considered as, "not too bad".

When I last visited Chicago, I got lost one night and ended up in East Chicago. I have bought myself a SatNav since then, especially to avoid that place).

I have just bought a place in Harvey, but I understand for $20k-$30k, I can pick up an REO house in a much nicer neighborhood. I just need to pin down which areas to focus on.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you

[TempesT68]

Originally Posted by rlohiya

Hey All,

I'm a small investor living in the UK who is looking for suggestions of areas that are considered as livable, but with foreclosed homes available to buy at reasonable prices.

I'm looking for SFR's or MFH, (Duplex/Triples/Quads) in neighborhoods, which are considered as, "not too bad".

When I last visited Chicago, I got lost one night and ended up in East Chicago. I have bought myself a SatNav since then, especially to avoid that place).

I have just bought a place in Harvey, but I understand for $20k-$30k, I can pick up an REO house in a much nicer neighborhood. I just need to pin down which areas to focus on.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you

If you thought east chicago was bad, you don't even want to go into harvey. For a budget of 20-30k, you're going to be in the worst neighborhoods the area has. Around 100k is when you will start to get into the "decent" areas, and/or houses that are actually worth fixing though with how horrible the market is right now, getting into flipping isn't the best choice in my opinion.

[Drover]

My consulting retainer is £2,500. Contact me for further details.

[tonythetuna]

Harvey? Ouch. Mistake.

[TempesT68]

Originally Posted by tonythetuna

Harvey? Ouch. Mistake.

Couldn't keep away angelfire?

[rlohiya]

Thanks for feedback people
I'll re-phrase my question, Please would people hint which suburbs I should try to avoid and why, ie. war-zones, too many boarded up houses etc.
I'd appreciate the help.
My RE consultant bought me a house in Harvey, he said it's a nice area, so I just don't understand how it could be completely opposite.
He wanted me to buy in Gary, IN, but when I visited it, I hated it, so I told him Chicago is the place I want to buy in.

[Drover]

Assuming this is a serious thread -- about which I have substantial doubts -- you need to fire your RE consultant. If the object is to buy homes in nice areas, he's an idiot. I am not exaggerating when I say Gary is one of the worst places in the industrialized world. Maybe if he wanted you to buy a home in the Miller Beach area I could see it. The rest of Gary is an urban disaster bordering on a humanitarian crisis.

However, if the object is to buy you rental income property that will generate immediate cash flow.... well, places where real estate values are substantially depressed but people still need places to live is a good way to do it. Gary and Harvey happen to be such places.

[Drover]

BTW, there are also large swaths of Chicago that are as bad as Gary. There are also large swaths where real estate is exceptionally pricey. Chicago is a city of extremes. Not quite Sao Paolo extremes, but extremes by developed-world standards. So just advising your consultant "buy in Chicago" isn't going to guarantee you he'll do better for you than he did with Harvey. Depending, again, on what the actual aim is.

[TempesT68]

I agree with above i'd fire whoever told you to buy in harvey, that is one of worst cities in the area. It's possible and i know of a few people who do buy houses in these area dirt cheap, make them habitable and turn them rentals which is an option, but if you are trying to fix them up to sell you're going to be throwing your money away.

[chirack]

Fire that broker and even in the worse of places a house in chicago sells for $80k-100k. $20-30K is the price of a full sized car. If a house sells for 20K rest assured it is teardown quality and needs 60K+ worth of repairs to get it habitable.