All Forum Posts by: Amber Gonion

@Mike Holman welcome, to BP. If you investing with a turn key company like ours your involvement is minimal. Doing brrr by yourself is time consuming with all the factors and the experience needed is tough for first timers.

@Benjamin Barnard mn is a bit tenant friendly, but the rental market has always been historically good. I see the major drawbacks in cities like Mpls is the inspection system. At times they can be too picky about preexisting conditions that have worked well for years (plumbing, electrical, hvac). Most cities simply want you to maintain your property in a reasonable condition that is safe.

Other than that most laws that are not too bad to work with. We have properties within the metro that do not require rental licenses. The caution for Mpls and St Paul is not what on the books, but what they might do in the future.

@Davey McLaughlin welcome Davey. Lots of great advice here.

@Wendy Man. We manage properties all around the twin Cities and the rent drops seem to be based on neighborhoods, not a metro area wide drop. I would assume that a metro wide report would be skewed by some neighborhoods within Mpls and St. Paul more than an overall drop in rents.

@Forrest Holden prices vary here in Mn, larger companies charge more and you may get a great PM or a crappy one as they have dozens. Our prices are $75/unit per month and 1/2 month rent for placement.

What you are paying for is #1 ensuring you are not sued for unknowingly violating fair housing laws, #2 ensuring your property is priced correctly according to comps, the best property manager cannot fill a unit with good tenants if it is $300 over market rate. #3 properly market your property accentuating the positives of the property. Peace of mind knowing that maintenance, both preventative and emergency maintenance are taken care of.

Questions to ask your prospective PM are what is your fair housing training besides the CE credits for your RE license, what certificates do you hold, how much experience do you have, what is you maintenance crew like (what kind of experience, how many, after hours?)

@Chris John while I don’t agree with the proposal. The effects so far have not been too bad. We manage properties in both Mpls and St. Paul. and have done remodeling and raised rents, and obviously have raised rents in St Paul to the max every year and will continue. After a dozen years remodeling and appeal for a rent increase and start raising again.

Neither Mpls or St Paul are on our preferred list for areas to invest in they are just like everything else it depends on the location and deal for our investors.

We have always said for the last few years that it is not what those city councils have done, it is what they might do that scares us from recommending investment in those cities.

@Tyler Andrews welcome to bp, lots of great people here. I like your househacking plan, my husband did this in 1999 and it worked out very well. If you need any assistance send us a message and we will give you any advice we can. We have experience in purchasing, owning, maintenance, and management.

@Jeremy Host just to add to the discussion, I have seen people put in cyclone fence enclosures or other types that people can see in. I would advise to make sure no one can see inside (they may see what they want to steal) be sure that the floor doesn’t get wet (or provide a floor spacer above the slab), natural ventilation, a few shelves and hooks, and spend a little more on the locking mechanism.

@Hogan Underhill while the cost of turns for new tenants is quite high, setting the expectation for on time payments is also needed to make sure tenants don’t look to you as the last person they need to pay.

Sometimes during winter months when the likelihood of finding another good tenant is low we will give tenants more time if they communicate and have a valid excuse. During prime summer months when we can get premium rents we will give them less leeway.

It is all about getting the most dollars you can, I used to work in class A buildings downtown and the owners loved late payments as an additional source of income since they knew they would get paid in the end, meanwhile in low income properties evictions happened much quicker as the chances of collection was less.

In general we will charge the 8% late fee after 5 days (we will waive the first one if they communicate, but only one per year), once they fall an additional month behind they need to be in contact with us and have a repayment plan or we file for eviction on the 6th of the next month. It is a compromise between getting rid of tenants too soon and giving them too much leeway. If a tenant is 6 days late and we cannot get ahold of them by the 10th we will put a pay or quit notice on their door, by the time the next months rent is due we already have a good idea that they will be evicted.

@Jon Davis there a dozen modular home places in the state, but they are not cheap you are looking at $120/sf, not including slab or basement utility connections, or demo of the old house/site. My concern would be spending that amount of money in St Paul, it would need to be in a premium area to make it worth it.