All Forum Posts by: Jennifer Rysdam

When you take out a HELOC on property #1 to purchase property #2, which do you have pay the payment? I was thinking of making it like a loan to from #1 to #2 and making #2 pay it back to #1 to cover the monthly HELOC payment. They are both LLC's that will trickle down to my taxes, but I just want other people's experiences. Thanks!

I use Zillow, Apartments.com, Craigslist, and Facebook to market. I also have a website with pics, info., and virtual tours. I do my own background/credit check through TransUnion SmartMove after approving their application first. I've been doing it this way for 3 years and it has worked well so far.

One location, one roof, one yard, one parking lot, one mortgage, one tax/electric/water/sewer/garbage bill.

Multiple income streams to cover vacancies. Quicker sales when you want to get out of it. Less square footage destroyed by a bad tenant or their pet.

Some of those same things are the negatives as well. Common areas, yards, and parking lots have to be cared for and kept up. Dealing with tenant issues between themselves. 

It's worth it though. I have an 8 unit and a 12 unit. My 8 has a tenant that does all the inside/outside care and maintenance for a break on rent. The 12 has full property management.

@James Hamling Deposit is $500 because rent is $500. Pet deposit is 1/2 of regular deposit.

Our MN State landlord and tenant brochure states the following:
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Landlord Disclosure

Landlords must provide their tenants, in writing, with the name and address of:

1. The person authorized to manage the premises.(235)
2. The owner of the premises or the owner’s authorized agent (the person or entity that will be receiving any notices or demands).(236)

The addresses given must be a street address, not a post office box number, because it must be an address at which papers can be served (handed to the recipient). The disclosure can be inserted in the lease or can be put in some other written form. It must also be printed or typed and posted by the landlord in some clearly visible place on the premises.(237)

The disclosure is important because the tenant must be able to contact the landlord or agent when repairs are needed or other problems arise. Also, a landlord cannot take any legal action against a tenant to recover rent or to evict the tenant unless the disclosure has been given.(238)

Tenants who move out of a rental unit, or sublet their unit without giving the owner 30 days’ written notice, lose the protection of the disclosure law. (239)

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How do you deal with that? I'm not so sure I want to give out my address on the wall of my apartment building, or hand it out to my tenants. I self-manage.

So frustrated! I have a tenant that melted the new countertops, melted inside the FREEZER, burned a hole in the carpet, hole in a door and a wall. Didn't give a 30 day notice and just moved out! She won't get her $500 deposit back, but I think I still have to give her the $250 pet deposit back for her cat! Frustrating to give money back to someone who will now owe me for damages!! Do you ever keep the pet deposit when they owe you for other damages?? I can't find anything about it in MN laws.

I just made my application on Word and put it on my website so that they can download it. Some print, fill out, take pics, and text it to me. Others will open it in Word or Google Docs, fill it out online, and email it to me. I have always used TransUnion SmartMove for my credit/background checks. I don't like that they have several states that are excluded though. One of them is SD, which bothers me because I'm on the MN/SD border. Usually a simple Google check can find anything major that anyone has done though.

I send my tenants an automatic QuickBooks invoice every month. They can either click it and pay online, set up recurring payments, or drop payment at my bank. The bank just writes their name on the deposit slip and I see it online. Small town bank. They don't even need the account number. They just tell the teller it's for Hardwick Place. The tenants like this option a lot because they can pay cash and don't have to mess with money orders.

I would deny them based on the collection accounts. I just tell people that if their wages start getting garnished it's going to be hard to pay rent. The credit cards are a big red flag. I rented to someone like that an it turned out bad. They are obviously living beyond their means, and I cannot imagine that's going to change anytime soon. 

If you can swing it, and your wife agrees to it, I think it would work great! When I think of the apartments in my building, I could break a doorway through the wall and combine the 2 kitchens into one, and then break through the hall area outside the bedrooms and combine the bedroom areas. It all just depends on your layout. Maybe if you find a building and show your wife how it would look, she'd feel more comfortable about it. In the end though, if she's not on-board, I wouldn't do it. I think your biggest obstacle would be selling both of your properties at the same time to reinvest in the other one. Good luck!