St. Paul, MN best Househacking Neighborhoods?

[Nathan Christensen]

Hello Biggerpockets,

My girlfriend and I are planning a move to the Twin Cities in early 2021 (possibly later depending on the pandemic) and we will be looking to house hack. I have been collecting rent information off of Zillow for duplexes in Payne-Phalen, Dayton's Bluff, North end, Frogtown, and West 7th for almost a year now and I just added West St. Paul to the list. I just wanted to get some investor/resident perspective on these neighborhoods. West 7th seems to be the investor hotspot in St. Paul and I'm afraid it might be nearly tapped out by early 2021 given that it isn't the biggest neighborhood. Crime statistics also point to West 7th and West St. Paul being better neighborhoods with stronger rent. Please let me know what you think of these neighborhoods and their housing stock as I hope to call one of them home soon!

I am also open to moving to areas around Minneapolis as well, initially I thought we would struggle to save up enough for a down payment in those neighborhoods but we have been fortunate enough to land good jobs out of college and we have enough to put at least 10% down (with 6mo cash reserves) in almost any neighborhood and we will save some more before we move.

Thanks in advance!