All Forum Posts by: Kim Feldkamp

 I’m not a house flipper and don’t like to provide guidance on things I’m not well versed in. I buy multi family properties in Minneapolis/St Paul in good areas that need work and fix them up to rent long term. I’ve also done live and flips. I think if you’re starting out, that’s a good option to look into. Either buy a small multi family that needs work and move in and fix up each unit OR buy a single family home and improve it and sell it. As long as you live in it 2 of the last 5 years, you can avoid taxes on the gains. I think this is realistically a way for someone just starting out to make money on a flip in Minneapolis. $100k houses just aren’t a thing here. Buy a house in a good area that needs work and fix it up over 2 years and sell it. My 2 cents. 

The median home price is lower than the national average but definitely not decreasing. Definitely nowhere near $100k unfortunately. 

I live across the street from a new apartment building in Minneapolis, MN that didn't have to provide parking as part of the build.  We live close to the light rail so I guess the City thought people wouldn't have cars.  The amount of cars parked on the street has increased significantly - go figure.  Winter here can be pretty brutal and parking on the street gets tough.  I have an extra spot in my driveway and am considering offering it for rent to one of these apartment dwellers.    Has anyone done this?  What do I need to consider?  Thoughts on pricing?

Looking for recommendations for snow removal in the Twin Cities.  Who are you all using?

@Samuel Lindgren 

I think it's really up to your personal needs - if you can set something up that's easy for you to manage and allows you to recoup some of your costs, do it. I have spoken to landlords with 100+ units that use the RUBS system to help increase the NOI to make their properties "worth more." Personally, we have a property under construction where each unit is sub metered because we plan to offer in unit laundry. We also have a triplex where we pay the water bill for the tenants and include it in the rent. That building has coin laundry so we haven't considered added meters. I take into account the location of the property along with amenities.

Also, if you're considering scale, how many units do you really think you're going to have?  Will you be self managing?  Can you set up something efficient and easy to allow you to recoup your expenses?  I generally think if you can reduce variable expenses, that's a good thing.

We used a company called Home Avenue to list our place on the MLS. They have a bunch of a la carte add ons for you and we paid the buyers agent 2.5%. We took our own photos but that's my husband's hobby - you need good photos.
Saved us over $10K on the sale of our house and it was worth the savings for the effort.

@Account Closed  This is great stuff - I was still geeking out over your last post.  Thanks for sharing.

Thanks to you all for your responses.  I kind of figured I'd be limited to the time between turns.  I've had a couple of investors interested and that's how I showed it to them.  I don't want to disrupt my guests so I think I'll just continue to do that.

I'm looking to sell one of my vacation rentals on the North Shore of Lake Superior in Minnesota. This place is a moneymaker for me but I'm looking to move more toward long term rentals in the Minneapolis - Saint Paul area. We are currently in the middle of the peak season for this place and my question is: how do you go about doing showings when you're booked up? I have a few open days here and there but for the most part, I'm booked out until Mid-October. What have you other STR owners/managers done in this situation?

John and Bruce are right.  You need to be ready to jump on something when it comes up - like same day with an offer.  You also need to work with people who know about investing - agent, lending, etc.  You can't over think things and get too bogged down in the details of each property either.  A cashflowing property in MPLS in a decent neighborhood requires being creative and seeing potential. 5 weeks is not very long to be searching in today's market, depending on your criteria, it could take months or years - it really depends what you're looking for.  Don't get discouraged and keep on learning.