All Forum Posts by: James Gilson

 Thank you, much appreciated

 Hi Erica, 

Thank you for your response. Yes, I could do that, or utilize my HELOC. Was just wondering what it would look like if I stopped doing rentals for the time being and bought a single-family home for myself.

Thank you

Good afternoon,

I have a single-family home that I am looking to sell. It is paid off and I have owned it for 2.5 years. I want to sell it and use the money to buy a primary residence.

I am wondering what the tax implications will be, such as capital gains, paying taxes on items that I have written off/deferred, etc. 

Any input is appreciated. 

Good afternoon,

I am hoping to get some direction regarding foundation repairs. The foundation company says that I have differential settlement and that I need to install push piers. To me though, this seems like a reactive solution. Also, they have not explained to me what caused this issue in the first place other than saying the soil quality is probably bad.

I am wondering if anyone out there has hired a structural or geotechnical engineer for a single family home and what their experience was.

The property appears to be in an area that might have an elevated water table (not sure though), so from doing some googling, I am wondering if I need to install a sump pump and underground drainage in addition to fixing the current foundation issues. I want to hire an engineer that can look at my property, analyze the current issue, provide reasons for the issues, and suggest plans to remediate. Also hoping the engineer can see other issues that might arise so I can take care of them before. The foundation companies just give me a proposal for the work and it is really frustrating to be given a $27,000.00 proposal with little explanation.

The property is in St. Paul MN, so if anyone reading this has experience or has a company they would suggest, I would really appreciate any input.

Thank you

Hi,

Hoping this thread will be a good place for my question.

I own a single family rental in Minnesota. The garage is in bad shop but functional. However, the recent storm they had has caused so much snow on the roof that the structure has shifted and the door won't open. 

I have landlord insurance on the property and the garage is insured. Will the insurance pay for me to get a new garage? I am new to real estate investing and this is the first big issue I have encountered.

Good afternoon,

I looked at the City of Saint Paul website, and read over the following page:
Rent Stabilization Rules and Processes | Saint Paul Minnesota (stpaul.gov)

Based on what I see, landlords can raise rent 3% every year no questions asked. However, landlords also have the option to "Self-Certify" a rent increase greater than 3% but less than 8%. Self-certifications are subject to an audit by the city. Landlords who want to go this route have to fill out the following forms (the second is not mandatory but suggested):
Request for Rent Increase Greater Than 3% - Landlord Application (office.com)
Landlord MNOI - Cap Improvement Worksheet.pdf (stpaul.gov)

Additionally, landlords can raise rent by greater than 8% by submitting a request which is then reviewed by the city.

Has anyone successfully increased rent greater than 3% but less than 8% by using the self-certification process? Is inflation/CPI increases valid justification to increase the rent greater than 3%? On page 15 of this worksheet Landlord MNOI - Cap Improvement Worksheet.pdf (stpaul.gov) it gives a line for Percent Annual Increase CPI. I need to go through the whole worksheet for my property but am hoping someone already has experience with this process.

Thank you

Good afternoon,

I looked at the City of Saint Paul website, and read over the following page:
Rent Stabilization Rules and Processes | Saint Paul Minnesota (stpaul.gov)

Based on what I see, landlords can raise rent 3% every year no questions asked. However, landlords also have the option to "Self-Certify" a rent increase greater than 3% but less than 8%. Self-certifications are subject to an audit by the city. Landlords who want to go this route have to fill out the following forms (the second is not mandatory but suggested):
Request for Rent Increase Greater Than 3% - Landlord Application (office.com)
Landlord MNOI - Cap Improvement Worksheet.pdf (stpaul.gov)

Additionally, landlords can raise rent by greater than 8% by submitting a request which is then reviewed by the city.

Has anyone successfully increased rent greater than 3% but less than 8% by using the self-certification process? Is inflation/CPI increases valid justification to increase the rent greater than 3%? On page 15 of this worksheet Landlord MNOI - Cap Improvement Worksheet.pdf (stpaul.gov) it gives a line for Percent Annual Increase CPI. I need to go through the whole worksheet for my property but am hoping someone already has experience with this process.

Thank you

Good afternoon,

I looked at the City of Saint Paul website, and read over the following page: 
Rent Stabilization Rules and Processes | Saint Paul Minnesota (stpaul.gov)

Based on what I see, landlords can raise rent 3% every year no questions asked. However, landlords also have the option to "Self-Certify" a rent increase greater than 3% but less than 8%. Self-certifications are subject to an audit by the city. Landlords who want to go this route have to fill out the following forms (the second is not mandatory but suggested):
Request for Rent Increase Greater Than 3% - Landlord Application (office.com)
Landlord MNOI - Cap Improvement Worksheet.pdf (stpaul.gov)

Additionally, landlords can raise rent by greater than 8% by submitting a request which is then reviewed by the city.

Has anyone successfully increased rent greater than 3% but less than 8% by using the self-certification process? Is inflation/CPI increases valid justification to increase the rent greater than 3%? On page 15 of this worksheet Landlord MNOI - Cap Improvement Worksheet.pdf (stpaul.gov) it gives a line for Percent Annual Increase CPI. I need to go through the whole worksheet for my property but am hoping someone already has experience with this process.

Thank you 

@Daniel Anshus @James Hamling @Anthoney Hanks @Tim Swierczek 

Good evening,

Thank you very much for everyone's responses. I really appreciate it.

I forgot to mention that I am doing the long distance real estate investing. I live in Los Angeles, so I will not be renting rooms/living in my rental property. Just looking for a house in a good area that can produce passive income, that perhaps one day I might live in, but who knows.

Yes, it does seem that the higher number bedroom properties are producing higher passive income. I have noticed that even in areas with good school districts, it is hard to get close to the 1% ideal. My sister just bought a place in Minnetonka which has great schools, so I started looking in that area, but it seems that properties don't rent for quite as much, compared to somewhere like Saint Louis Park.

I really like the Minneapolis area for purchasing rental properties. Every time I go visit I find myself wanting to live there. There are a lot of different areas that are great, and with the light rail extension, I believe the suburbs are going to be even in more demand.

Forgot to tag people, see post below.