All Forum Posts by: Kelly Conrad

@Oscar Brooks I booked Jeramy from Mid Wess Gutters, LLC, and he quoted me 1400 (he doesn't to crickets), so less than half for the same thing. He was also able to book me on November 8th (other folks were saying they were booking a month out currently). I can let you know once it's done if we are happy with the installation, but here is his Home Advisor's page: https://www.homeadvisor.com/myhomeadvisor/myprojects/102571008/profile/55173272/?template_id=80017&todo_id=1802344924&entry_point_id=31109931&entityID=69587273&comm_auth_dt=201710241619&comm_auth_id=homeadv&comm_auth_hash=bdd51c7532e73d05d857ba86a3d606e5#ratings

Hello!

So we have to replace a gutter on the home we purchased since water can overflow right down a wall. The wood facia is completely rotted and has to be torn off and replaced. We also have to get a cricket installed since water is coming down where the chimney is. We also need to have the drip skirt so water won't overflow and come back into the house again, and extra large downspouts since apparently they could clog when they shouldn't.

Anyways, I know gutter installation is expensive, but I'm not totally sure if the price I was given is reasonable. We had our own gutters and roof completely replaced on our own home and it was a little over 13k, but I am not home to see if we had a copy of the itemized receipt. Does this seem reasonable (Twin Cities, MN)?:

DESCRIPTION QTY REMOVE REPLACE TAX O&P TOTAL

1. R&R Gutter / downspout (aluminum - 6") - 88.00 LF  $1,294.30 

2. Fascia - 1" x 8" - # 55.00 LF   $577.85

3. Fascia - metal - 8" 55.00 LF $386.29

4. Siding Installer - per hour 3.50 HR $469.70

5. Saddle or cricket - 26 to 50 SF 1.00 EA $335.83

6. Drip edge/gutter apron 55.00 LF $162.13

Totals: Repair Fascia/Gutter $3,226.10 (including P&O and tax)

Thanks for your thoughts!

@Dustin S. Will you be in the Saturday class? If so, I'll be seeing you there! At least the course is free, right? :| 

Alright, so I called the city and figured I'd post my findings so if others were trying to find out what they have to do, someone has already checked (as of October 2017).

So, to begin, the City of St Paul does NOT have landlord licenses. So if you were confused about that as well, that's why.

Next, if you've purchased a property that has a Fire Certificate of Occupancy already, you'll need to submit a "Change of Ownership" form found here: https://www.stpaul.gov/departments/safety-inspecti...

If you've purchased a property that was owner occupied or wasn't a rental before, you'll need to submit the "Provisional Fire Occupancy Application" also found on the link above. I was told that as soon as the city clears the payment, you can then legally collect rent. She said that the Provisional Fire Occupancy Application MUST be renewed yearly until you've completed your Fire Certificate of Occupancy inspection. At the time I called, she said those inspections should happen within 1 year now, but before, they had to be scheduled out 3-4 years (ouch!).

As for the Landlord 101 class, it looks like you'll need to complete that as well for your Fire Certificate of Occupancy: https://www.stpaul.gov/departments/safety-inspecti...

Depending on the grade you received during your inspection, your property could be inspected every 6 years, or potentially every year if it's really rough.

TL;DR- City of St Paul doesn't have a landlord license. Properties are registered, not the owners. Must complete Provisional Fire Certificate of Occupancy and have payment cleared before you can legally rent (can do immediately). Then complete Landlord 101 class to meet requirement for getting Fire Certificate of Occupancy.

Hey!

So I am wanting to make sure I am being proper, but the City of St. Paul's website is not clear on this. I need to make sure I've covered my bases with regards to being licensed, but I'm not sure if the Landlord 101 class is what gets you your Landlord license. Is it just so you can apply for your Fire Certificate of Occupancy? Is that your license? Or is the license NOT included in either of those things? I'm signed up for the January Landlord 101 class, but I have to rent before then, and I heard from another investor (not investing in St Paul, but Coon Rapids), that as long as he was signed up for the class, he can apply for his Landlord license. 

Can someone who is a landlord in St. Paul please help clarify on what I need to get my license? We plan to start renting in November and I need to have something in place by then.

Thank you!!

@Christopher Phillips He did open up the boiler, we have the picture in our report

Also, see under General Condition that there are "no problems visible". 

@Mike Cumbie Yeah, they have that verbiage as well, but our boiler guy said it is so blatantly obvious that to not have anything marked down is an extreme oversight as an inspector.

@Christopher Phillips Yes, we turned the heat on and it worked during the inspection. 

Hello! So long story short, I had a boiler specialist out to our property (closed last Thursday) to see why it wasn't getting warm. They opened it and said it's very, very obviously a hack job and they even had speaker wires in there to make certain connections. They bypassed a variety safety items, and so while we can get the boiler to turn on and heat if needed, it absolutely would NOT pass a city inspection, and I would 100% not be comfortable with it the way it is for tenants living in both my units.

So, we DID have the home inspected before we purchased and the inspector didn't say anything about the boiler. They took a picture of it, and had no notes or anything about the boiler being a problem (and we were present as well, he didn't say anything personally either). He took a picture of the front plate being off so you can see the wires and that was it.

The picture itself clearly shows that the boiler is not up to code, and our specialist is going to get a letterhead explaining this. Once we have that, our agent is going to be calling the inspection company.

My question is, because their inspector absolutely neglected to properly mark that boiler as being a problem, could we hold the inspection company liable for not inspecting it properly? The parts for the boiler will likely end up costing more than buying a completely new boiler, and that was absolutely not something we were expecting when our inspector said the boiler is completely fine. Ideally, we would want them to pay for the fix or a new one, but what would be realistic in a situation when we have proof that the inspector didn't inspect something properly?

@Account Closed It's going to be rented before I can get the license it seems...it looks like you have to complete the class before you can schedule the inspection, which sucks. I can't wait that long as it's completely unreasonable to do so :-\

In case anyone is curious, here is the info from the City of St. Paul: https://www.stpaul.gov/departments/safety-inspecti...

It also looks like there is a Crime-Free class which when completed, apparently if your tenants are causing problems an officer will come out and completely remove the tenant? It was required in Coon Rapids and they thought St. Paul required it too (not seeing that anywhere, maybe it's a chance coming soon?). It looked interesting either way, but definitely not major like this Fire certificate... https://www.stpaul.gov/departments/police/crime-free-multi-housing-program/crime-free-multi-housing-training