All Forum Posts by: Tim Johnson

I'd like to recommend this for a future enhancement.  I don't necessarily care to be notified every time a Pro Perk is added. 

@Lauren Hogan

@John Woodrich, yes true.  The personal property portion would not apply to a rental.  I was comparing the insurance cost for a rental unit compared to the "structure only" part of a primary residence.  

@Isaac Braun, one other note.  Don't be tempted to "forget" to metioned the fact that this is a rental.  In the event of a claim I'm sure that would invalidate your policy.

Best of luck!

I'm not sure what impact the Northstar line would have.  Right now, the train from Big Lake to downtown Minneapolis takes 55 minutes.  I'm sure from the East side of St. Cloud it would be close to 90 minutes one way.  I can't imagine too many people would put up with that long of a daily commute.  

It might be an option for people living in St. Cloud and working in Elk River or Ramsey.

From my experience, insurance rates on rental properties are higher than primary residence.   That being said, I would expect you would be between $600 and $900.

Thanks for your replies everyone!

Hi BP!

I'm considering remodeling my 10 unit apartment building in Minnesota.  Rents are currently affordable.  The building has been 100 percent occupied since we purchased it 2.5 years ago.  The units and common areas are definitely showing their age.

I'm wondering if anyone has advice in how to compare 2 options: Rehab the 10 units & common area, vs purchasing an additional rental home/duplex or quad.  I could put $100K toward either option.  I currently own 2 other quads and 2 other SFHs.

Some things I'm thinking about:

- Current tenants might like rehabbed units, but may not like higher rents.  

- I'd feel good about having nicer units.  Current units remind me of the 1980's. 

- Is one option better short vs long term?

How do I go about taking the emotion out of this decision and choosing the alternative that makes the most business sense?

Hi Isaac.  Fellow landlord in the St. Cloud /Minneapolis corridor here.  Congrats on your first property!

We use Buildium for managing our rentals.  It works really well for us.  

Yes, I would recommend a property management class.  The bigger pockets community is super helpful if you're looking for advice.  

Best of luck to you!

Hello BP.

I have a question.  I've searched the forums and google and did not find the answer.  I'm hoping someone can help.

We require tenants to prepay the last month's rent when they move in.  When providing tenants with a Certificate of Rent paid, should I include this prepaid rent?  It was PAID when they moved in, but not USED until their last month.

Any help is appreciated.  Thanks in advance!

Hi BP!  I'm looking for a better option for back ground checks.  We currently use Buildium and use their $15 tenant screening.  We enter the information, the tenant gets an email, approves the application, and then we get the result.

We sometimes have applicants (e.g. the elderly) who do not have an email address. Or, more commonly, they have only one email address for a couple.  Our policy requires us to screen all adults living in the unit.

For example, we currently have a couple that have applied. She has an email address, but he hates computers. So we are using his son's email address, having him go there to approve the process.  It's turning into an ugly mess and left a sour taste in his mouth.   We're definitely getting started on the wrong foot with this couple.

It seems like there must be a better way to do background checks? I don't want to create bogus email addresses (that come to myself to subvert the system) as someone suggested. Is there some kind of authorization that my LLC can get to enable me to run background checks without explicit approval? Or some site that doesn't require email approval? Or some other less painful method?

I only run under 5 checks per month, so the volume isn't huge.  Thanks in advance for your advice!

I am a resident of Minnesota.  Adding my other favorite states for visibility: Wisconsin, Michigan, Florida, Georgia, Texas, California, Washington, Iowa, Ohio, Contentment, New York, Carolina.

Hi BP!  I ran into a situation I hadn't encountered before.  I'm looking for a little advice.

A long-term tenant (and decent fellow) contact me to say he wanted to get a roommate.  I explained that the new roommate would have to apply ($30) as we needed to do a criminal background check.  Everyone was fine with that...the background and credit check came back clean.

I was going to add him to the year lease, but the current tenant didn't want that.  He wanted the ability to kick the guy out if it wasn't working out (or if the guy turned out to be a crappy roommate).

So, in this case, would you:

1. Add him to the year lease and tell long-term tenant that's how it has to be?

2. Leave the new guy off the lease.

3. Switch them to month-to-month for some reason?

4. Amend the year lease to convey "kick out" powers to tenant #1?  I doubt this is even a thing?

The apartments are in Minnesota if that matters...

Thanks in advance!