All Forum Posts by: Joe Schaak

@Robin Boyer The young couple and their infant girl have been great tenants and seem happy! They pay their rent on time through an online portal. All good!

I recently used Mike Schrader @ All Season Remodeling out of Ramsey, MN and had a good experience at a reasonable price.

@Deanna McCormick Thanks for the feedback.

I have a duplex with laundry in an unheated unfinished block basement - in Minnesota. There's also some good storage areas down there that I'll rent to the tenants. 

Does anyone have some suggestions of if/how I should heat the area? I'm replacing the boiler systems (one for each unit) and also updating the electrical so now is the time to do something if I'm going to do it.

Thanks in advance!

I've had good luck with 651-Carpets, actually. I deal with Darion there for granite. Quick turnaround if needed, quality installation, and very competitive pricing.

@Jackson Barr I applaud you for your drive and determination in figuring out how to pay down your debt and start saving responsibly. You should be commended. Credit card companies prey on college-aged adults knowing that a situation like yours will more than likely result. They have no problem charging 20%+ APR for overdue balances plus late fees, etc.. Its hard to portray banks as victims in my mind. I completely agree with @Jay Hinrichs about the importance of financial education in high school. Its an incredibly important subject that's ignored. Anyway, more power to you! Congrats and I look forward to hearing about your future successes. With your drive, you will no doubt have many.

Just rented out this rehabbed 2-bed / 1-bath townhome for $1195/month! Its a great return and a great home for a young family. Purchased early Feb for $78k, Repairs came in around $8k. On to the next one!

Just wanted to share : I purchased and started renovations on this home in late 2016. We finished the rehab in early February and put it on the market at noon on Monday, Feb 13th. We had (2) showings that evening and (2) offers. We called highest and best for Friday at 10am and ended up with over 40 showings and (9) offers. In the end, it sold for $11k over list with no seller concessions. I wish every deal were like this (they aren't) and I'm thankful for the success.

@Frank Jiang, I just stumbled on to your excellent ProForma calculator. Thank you for posting such a tremendous resource. Is there a way to adapt the loan information to an interest-only loan?

Purchased a vacant Cat-2 home in the South Como area of St Paul. The home had been vacant for a while and, per city code, needed to be brought up to code completely during the remodel. No problem. In addition to bringing the plumbing, electric, and HVAC up to code, I also removed a wall between the kitchen and living room, expanded the bathroom, replaced the remaining old windows, repaired stucco, rebuilt the entry steps, replaced all lighting fixtures, refinished all hardwood floors, and repainted. Sycamore Property Solutions just closed on the sale to a young couple, first-time home buyers. They were so appreciative of the quality and style. And we are so happy to have rescued a house and to enable a young couple to have a beautiful home.