All Forum Posts by: Noah Chappell

@Ese A. O'Diah welcome. I'm a buy & hold investor in the Twin Cities, not an agent or a lender. 

I'm assuming you're looking for a residential mortgage. Leaderone financial corp is know in this area for work well with investors. Myself, my twin bro & many investors I've talked to have used them. Reach out to Mike Ouverson or Kim Burk. 

For a realtor, I've had a great experience with Alan Burgquist - great no pressure agent who understands investing, I've bought a house with him & my brother has bought several. 

Reach out with any more questions. 

@Brandon P. welcome. Moving to a new country, even your country of origin, can be difficult, & especially if you're taking on a new challenge like RE, as George alluded to it can be grind. 

I'd say move to an area you're comfortable living first, & second try to pick a place w/ a good market. Indianapolis may be a good market, but if you're suffering house hacking there probably not sustainable. 

I'm biased but objectively MN is a great place to live & invest, thriving economy, several strong rental markets including the Twin Cities, considered to be one of the strongest in the country. 

Best of luck! 

Interesting perspectives on a topic I've thought about a lot. I've heard of averaging & charging a flat fee, & using RUBS, but never met anyone who's actually done it successfully, seems theoretical, my prop manager has told me it gets messy when tenants don't pay & you decide whether or not to evict based upon that alone, & if it would hold up in court, etc. Also, if they don't pay, you'd likely be stuck paying to keep utilities on since account is in your name, would be difficult to collect back payments - a headache. 

Here in MN its either landlord covers common utilities & increases rent, or sub-meter. I have 2 properties with common gas (furnace & water heater) which can be brutal in winter. Best thing I can come up with is to keep costs low (insulate, energy efficient appliances, landlord thermostats - tenants always mess with normal ones) and keep rents market until I it makes economic sense to sub-meter. 

Appreciate other input. 

I'd probably tell her that unless she can meet or beat the seller in terms of response time, you're going right to the seller. The fact that the seller responds to you directly would suggest he/she feels the seller's agent is too slow as well, if she were quick the seller wouldn't need to do this. I'd consider speaking to the seller about breaking the contract with the agent, negotiating the deal directly, then bringing in another realtor as a dual agent or an attorney at the end to draw up the paperwork. I don't really see this seller agent's place in the equation. 

@BRIAN CUBERO Not much to add here that hasn't been said. It really comes down to local knowledge & hustle. If you move to the twin cities & are as serious about RE as you state, grind away at your marketing & prospecting, I'm sure you'll find a quality duplex in the 140-160k range requiring light rehab in the Midtown-Phillips, Near North, North End along the river areas of Minneapolis or North End, Frog Town, Payne Phalen St Paul, etc. My 1st deal was a 2 2br unit duplex in North End St Paul for 160k, purchased with a contract for deed & then after rehab & putting in section 8 tenants refinanced into a commercial loan with a local credit union. My point is if you put your feelers out there, you'll get it done. 

@Steve Bauer sounds like a solid plan, best of luck and cheers! 

Hi Steve & welcome, also hope we bump into each other, what type of project are you looking to get into? 

Yeahh North Minne can be a little patchy in terms of crime, etc. I wouldn't say stay away, because you'll likely get the best rent/price ratio in Minneapolis, but I'd definitely walk the neighborhood (during the day) first, & pay close attention to the Trulia heat map. 

I personally prefer North End Neighborhood St Paul or parts of Frog Town St Paul, likely similar return as compared to N Minne, but to me somehow seems a little more calm & blue-collar, but I admit I haven't compared the crime stats... 

Twin Cities has a lot going for it, up there with some of the best US cities, though comparatively prices are accessible even when rents are high. I think in a hot market local knowledge becomes especially important. A turnkey duplex with units renting for 1300 apiece could go for 350-400k & up in North East/Uptown/Seward, etc, while one with mild cosmetic distress in a continuous but improving neighborhood can go for 1200 apiece and $200k, thus hitting 1.2% or better. 

If you are seriously considering a house hack, I'd move here & rent month to month for a few wks-months, then make offers when you find a neighborhood in path of progress close to jobs & downtown, on transit line, low crime, etc. I wouldn't try to throw a dart at the city & buy from far away, you'll like overpay or end up in a really rough neighborhood. 

@John Woodrich I'll reach out, many thanks.