Finding a commercial/residential space

[ElSilva]

I'm doing some research on the possibility of buying a space in Chicago in which I can live and also fashion a respectable studio. I don't think I want to shell out to maintain both a home and a studio.

How does one go about finding a suitable piece of commercial/residential property? I've never looked for commercial real-estate before. Are there any net resources? There are tons of residential home sites, but after some Googling, I haven't found anything similar for commercial space.

I'm reticent to employ a real estate agent just yet before seeing what I can find on my own.

Thanks,

ElSilva

 

[frederic]

If you want an officially dual-purpose property, you're probably looking at commercial space with an apartment (or several) above it, whether it be a strip mall type of thing or an older victorian house along the roadside. Both are VERY common in NJ, whereas in NYC the standard rectangular "brownstone" type of commercial space is common. Never been to the windy city, so I'm not sure what you would find.

That said, a real estate person actually is a good resource - because they can give you listing of availabe places, which you can take with you. Also, www.mls.org or mls.com (I forget which), also has listings, and you can search for the word "commercial" and rule out single family houses.

The warehouse I snagged recently came out of bank foreclosure - the only reason why I got lucky is a very good friend of mine, who works at that bank currently (I worked there for 5 years on wall st) knew I was "kinda looking" and knows me well enough to know I like "amazing deals" and "dirt cheap". So here I am with a warehouse full of metal widgets and clutter

let me know if I can help you more... I'm a bit rushed this morning, back from 2 weeks vaca and obviously nothing got done in my absense

 

[frederic]

If you want an officially dual-purpose property, you're probably looking at commercial space with an apartment (or several) above it, whether it be a strip mall type of thing or an older victorian house along the roadside. Both are VERY common in NJ, whereas in NYC the standard rectangular "brownstone" type of commercial space is common. Never been to the windy city, so I'm not sure what you would find.

That said, a real estate person actually is a good resource - because they can give you listing of availabe places, which you can take with you. Also, www.mls.org or mls.com (I forget which), also has listings, and you can search for the word "commercial" and rule out single family houses.

The warehouse I snagged recently came out of bank foreclosure - the only reason why I got lucky is a very good friend of mine, who works at that bank currently (I worked there for 5 years on wall st) knew I was "kinda looking" and knows me well enough to know I like "amazing deals" and "dirt cheap". So here I am with a warehouse full of metal widgets and clutter

let me know if I can help you more... I'm a bit rushed this morning, back from 2 weeks vaca and obviously nothing got done in my absence