First Rental Preparation

[Isaac Braun]

Hi there Minneapolis and St. Cloud.  After months and months of searching and calling, making offers, and waiting, I am finally under contract on my first rental.  I am reaching out to see if there is anyone that is currently self managing if they would be willing to meet for lunch on a weekend or coffee in the evening etc. to kind of run me through the process of how to get a property ready to rent.  The Minnesota specific forms I'll need, an example of a lease agreement that has worked for you, a screening process that has had a high success rate for you.  I plan on taking the landlord class through Homeline, and I believe there is a required class to take in st cloud through the police department.  I plan to use some sort of property management software solution like "mylandlordhelper.com" but really, I am looking for suggestions.   I do plan to use a management company eventually, I budgeted for it in my analysis, but I really need to self manage first so I know what questions to ask later on.  Thanks in advance! 

[Jordan Moorhead]

Isaac Braun I’m always up to meet. Shoot me a message and we can set up a time!

[Tim Swierczek]

@Isaac Braun  I feel that the homeline class is a must, glad to hear you are looking at it.  There are a lot of great meetups around the Twin Cities that can help you learn this stuff.  I use Cozy.co for rent collection, along with quickbooks, but I do not use it as a full property manangment software.  I hear good things about Rentulations for the small investor.  I think its free for your first few units.

[Isaac Braun]

thank you @Tim Swierczek and @Jordan Moorhead!

[Eric Beise]

I really like cozy.co for management. Not only is the process really user friendly, they also provide a lot of valuable tips and tricks relating to being a good landlord. 

One big thing to know is how to not discriminate against protected classes. Homeline should come in handy there, along with providing a ton of other valuable info. It's surprisingly easy to unknowingly be breaking discrimination law.

I'd love to meet up and chat more if you want, send me a message.

[Tim Johnson]

Hi Isaac.  Fellow landlord in the St. Cloud /Minneapolis corridor here.  Congrats on your first property!

We use Buildium for managing our rentals.  It works really well for us.  

Yes, I would recommend a property management class.  The bigger pockets community is super helpful if you're looking for advice.  

Best of luck to you!

[Tim Swierczek]

Originally posted by @Eric Beise:

It's surprisingly easy to unknowingly be breaking discrimination law.

There has not been a more accurate statement on BP all day.  Good job

[Pavel U.]

I agree, HomeLine (https://homelinemn.org/speeches-trainings/landlord...) class for $50 was good educational investment. I recommend taking that class before you start dealing with tenants. For rental agreements, can't go wrong with http://www.mmha.com/STORE/Download-Rental-Document... or I personally prefer ezlandlordforms.com, they have state specific forms. A corporate lawyer reviewed my commercial rental agreement once and said the following (copy/paste): I read your leases and I would have to give you a compliment. They are extremely thorough and very clear. I probably review 40 leases a year for myself or clients and these are the best of the lot. 

For tenant management, billing, expenses, background/credit checks - HIGHLY recommend Buildium. Not cheap but worth every penny. Good Luck!

[Isaac Braun]

Thank @Tim Johnson, @Pavel U., And @Eric Beise!