All Forum Posts by: Derek Nolte

@Trevor Schmitt Agreed! Great points 👍

Nearly 20-year property manager here. I also live in MN and own a PM business in ND. 

Dead deer or not, people are people who will do odd things. Likely, they are not breaking any laws that PD will care about, but they could be. In my experience, calling the police repeatedly for LEGIT issues is the best route. 

Short of the property landlord evicting/non-renewing their renters, you are stuck with them. Or your renters are stuck with them...

Best of luck. 

Derek 

Hey Landon, there are many options out there for financing. Your FHA mortgage approval will be based on your debt to income, among other factors. I think you have good odds at approval for a $100k-$130k mortgage, but it doesn't take much time and $ to talk to a few mortgage companies in GF.

#2 is tough, short answer is that it's risky, but it's also the easiest way to get roommates and arguably less risky than advertising rooms for rent. I would at least try to find roommates that are "acquaintances" or friends of friends. You can be picky. Don't just go with the first couple of people who are interested and please, whatever you do, have them sign a lease. Even a month-to-month lease is fine, just something so that if the worst-case scenario happens, you have the leverage to do what you need. 

#3: your local research will be better than any online calculator. Email me and I'll help however I can. I own a property management company in grand forks and have been in the industry for 16 years. 

#4: hard yes. Either add on a flat fee for monthly utilities for each occupant, or do it the hard way and divide each bill up equally (internet, gas, electric, and WSG (water/sewer/garbage). I would say the flat fee is the easiest. For instance, if you charge $400 per person per month rent, add a $50/month utility fee and keep it simple. Everyone pays $450/month. Also, if you have a double garage, you can use half and charge another $50 for whoever wants to pay for indoor parking. Just a little tip to make a couple of extra bucks. Give perks for larger bedrooms or other "amenities" that you can give to certain roommates. 

Good luck! 

Reach out anytime. 

Hey Dock! Welcome. I’m pretty sure they still have a meet up. There used to be one years ago that dissolves when the organizer moved on. https://meetu.ps/c/2B8bL/Fm5T1...

Then another one started up but not sure if they’re still meeting. It was hosted at Greenberg Realty and hosted by a couple of guys from Fargo. https://www.facebook.com/group...

Hey guys, I own a property management company in GF, TruHome Property Solutions. We currently manage around 800 doors. I’m a lifelong resident of the region and have 10 doors myself that I own. Happy to discuss strategy or market conditions anytime. Have a good weekend! 

www.truhomeproperties.com 

I have always heard the 35% rule is the rule to use for lead conversion to lease signing but nowadays with so much click traffic and garbage leads (for us anyway), it is hard to use any set rule. We run most of our leads through our software via text and email and the vast majority of leads do not produce anything. 

I manage about 460 doors and it includes anything/everything. Single-family, multi-family, new, old and everything in between so it varies greatly depending on the property and time of year. 

What I have been using as more of a guideline is our move in ratio and overall vacancy percentage. We are averaging almost 17 new move-in's per month so far this year. Personally I think it is more important to follow local vacancy which we provide through the apartment association. It is broken down by area of town and produced 4 times per year. 

Current vacancy rates city-wide are approximately 7.8% vacancy, but some areas of GF are as high as 11.4% vacant. 

Best of luck! 

Hey Adam! Good to hear from another local. Not many around here that I have found. Sounds like you have a great plan in place to get a really good sized portfolio. Great point on the property management need around here. One of the reasons I ventured out on my own. Do you typically find most of your investment properties on the MLS or word of mouth pocket listings? Being in the property management industry and managing for many local investors I have the luxury of having a wealth of properties that hopefully I am the first or second to find out of the owner wants to sell. That way I can have the option to purchase or find another one of my clients to purchase in the hopes of continued management. If all else fails, I obtained my real estate license so that a property can always be listed on the MLS if the owner chooses and other options fall through. Good to hear from you!

Hi All, 

Derek Nolte here from Grand Forks, ND. I specialize in residential and commercial property management. After 10+ years in the industry in my market I ventured out and opened my own management company (TruHome Property Solutions). 

I started in November 2016 with 120 units and as of today manage 437 doors with myself and 1 full time leasing agent. We are a full service management company and currently vendor out all day-to-day maintenance to a small contractor who handles the majority of our maintenance full time (3 maintenance techs). 

Business growth has been successful way beyond what I imagined but word spreads quick in a small market like ours. I try to be as selective as possible and ensure both myself, my company policies and procedures and the investors all have similar mindsets when it comes to managing their portfolios. I have had an inner battle since day one when planning/projecting future business growth. I held out as long as possible before I hired on help but I was well past trying to do everything myself. I handle all accounts payable, rent collecting, maintenance coordination, leasing, etc. and was doing it all myself up until about 300-350 units. 

I should probably have at least 1 more full time employee (receptionist/bookkeeper) but my management software makes it extremely efficient when it comes to daily activities. It handles marketing, tenant and owner portals, bill pay for accounts payable, and now they also have maintenance and leasing call centers to pre-screen nearly every single call that comes into our office. It is pretty amazing stuff. 80+% of our leads/rentals come from online lead generation so it is very efficient and we text message the vast majority of leads which saves tons of time. 

I obtained my real estate license almost a year ago (ND does not require this for property management). The main reason to get my license is to be able to offer another service to my investor clients when they wish to buy/sell a property, if they need it. 

I am in the process of acquiring my first investment property (4 plex) via a current investor/client who is seller-financing to me. I have been managing his portfolio since mid-2017 and it was an ideal situation for me to be in. Hopefully it will be the first of many to come. 

I have partnered up with friend/realtor in the hopes of creatively acquiring many more flips/rentals, both single and multi-family. As long as the numbers look good and the property is B-C class property, we're interested. Bigger Pockets Podcasts have gotten me very anxious to try all sorts of creative ways to acquire investment property. 

Anyways, short-story-long, I am pretty obsessed with real estate in general and look forward to absorbing as much as possible. After over 12 years in the property management industry it is refreshing to break through the long-term plateau I was at and become an entrepreneur/business owner/investor. 

Derek Nolte