Bill Bein's (wbein) Blog

"Arm-Chair" Investors are those who do NOT want to live in the property they buy (a more precise term for this would be "NON-owner occupied"). The question we ask here is: Where have ‘arm-chair' investors like that been concentrating their investments? Our work with arm-chair investors has led us...

With 2- to 4-flats, cheap properties don't always perform worse than expensive ones (or better, for that matter). Instead, some less expensive properties perform well, but not all; some expensive properties sparkle, but others don't. In short, in this market you can't easily correlate price and v...

As the home page of www.chicagoland2to4flats.info says, "You buy a home or condo to own property. Multi-units flats take it to the next level: building passive income and wealth. But the rules in buying multi-unit property are NOT the same as with a condo." AND THAT CERTAINLY IS THE CASE IN TERMS...

This blog post is #9 in a series we call "Mortgage 101." To see the whole Mortgage 101 document, click on this link: Mortgage 101   Here is a link that will take you to the Tools / Resources page of the Chicagoland2to4Flats.info website-where you can see and print: Current Loan Matrix   And this ...

This blog post is #8 in a series we call "Mortgage 101." To see the whole Mortgage 101 document, click on this link: Mortgage 101   Here is a link that will take you to the Tools / Resources page of the Chicagoland2to4Flats.info website-where you can see and print: Current Loan Matrix And this is...

This blog post is #7 in a series we call "Mortgage 101." To see the whole Mortgage 101 document, click on this link: Mortgage 101 Remember that, especially in this market, all that glitters is not gold! Few mortgage brokers are true experts in this market-and the initial low rate many quote may t...

This blog post is #6 in a series we call "Mortgage 101." To see the whole Mortgage 101 document, click on this link: Mortgage 101 Types of Loans: Conforming. Unless theirs is a jumbo purchase, people with at least 5% down and good credit typically apply for what is called a ‘conforming' loan (it ...

This blog post is #5 in a series we call "Mortgage 101." To see the whole Mortgage 101 document, click on this link: Mortgage 101 It's important to explore all your options with a good lender. The key question no longer is "What's your rate?"-now it's "What the best fit for me?" You don't want a ...

This blog post is #4 in a series we call "Mortgage 101." To see the whole Mortgage 101 document, click on this link: Mortgage 101 FHA financing requires just 3% down, but can be hard to get everything (including the appraisal) approved.   Here is a link that will take you to the Tools / Resources...

This blog post is #3 in a series we call "Mortgage 101." To see the whole Mortgage 101 document, click on this link: Mortgage 101 Closing Costs / Earnest money •·         Earnest Money. $1,000 typically goes with the opening offer. An increase to 2% is typically the minimum sellers will accept, 3...