Chicago Real Estate Investing Blog

By Mark Ainley

Seven Factors that Determine Your Commercial Loan Rates and Terms

Most real estate investors, especially when just starting out, use personal credit to obtain conventional loans to buy rental homes. And this may work fine for you today, but how serious do you intend to get about your investing tomorrow? But if you plan to increase your portfoli...

By Mark Ainley

Life Cycle of A Fix and Flip

I haven’t gotten the chance to discuss fix and flips quite yet. My apologies to the fix and flip real estate investors for the delay! This article will be a comprehensive article for understanding the tax implications of your fix and flip. There are three main stages of a f...

By Mark Ainley

What You Need to Know For Your 2021 Taxes

The tax world is ever-changing with our complex set of laws, oftentimes yearly. That is why it’s important to stay on top of the latest changes. In this article, I wanted to set the stage for some key changes/provisions that will impact your real estate business: meals, mil...

By Mark Ainley

Passive Activity Losses: What You Need to Know

In this article, I will be discussing the basics of passive activity losses (PALs). This is a very complicated area within the tax code that I want to boil down to its essential elements. In this article I’ll touch on what PALs are, where they are formed, what happens to th...

By Mark Ainley

How Cost Segregation Can Lower Your Capital Tax Rate

Do you happen to own stocks that you are thinking about selling? Do you also own a commercial property? If so, now is the time to consider cost segregation. Using cost segregation on your commercial property will lower your taxable income. This will make your capital gain less wh...

By Mark Ainley

The 3 Best Investing Options for Getting Started in Real Estate

I get asked this question frequently: “What would you do if you were starting over?” The answer is: It depends. It depends on life circumstances. It depends on the amount of money available. It depends on the amount of time I’d have.What I’m going to...

By Mark Ainley

Is Real Estate the Best Alternative Investment?

Are you an executive who just retired after being in corporate practice for several years?Or an entrepreneur who just sold a business? Perhaps you are a new graduate who received an inheritance unexpectedly? Or, you may be the lucky one who won the biggest jackpot in ...

By Mark Ainley

What is Passive Income?

What is Passive Income? Passive income is an income received on a regular basis that requires minimal or no work to maintain the source. It differs from active income – a job for example – which requires specific performance in order to generate the paymen...

By Mark Ainley

Is Real Estate Investing Right For You?

Simply stated, real estate investing is not for everyone. It can, without a doubt, be a phenomenal wealth-building strategy, but without the proper set of expectations and goals, it may not be the best fit for you. I often hear people talk about real estate as this sure-thing mon...

By Mark Ainley

Life Cycle of A Rental Property

In previous articles, I’ve detailed each stage in the life cycle of a rental property (purchase, rehab, monthly work, and disposition). In this article, I wanted to piece together the entire life cycle of a rental property. I will only be discussing traditional rental prope...

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