All Forum Posts by: TJ Sinn

@Mike Smith that was my exact thought for the layout. The issue is that we would probably need to install a spiral staircase to save space for the kitchen. If we did a standard staircase there would be zero counter space left.

I just don’t know how tenants would like having a spiral staircase

My wife and I are purchasing a side by side duplex right now that is three beds and 1 1/2 bath on each side. The top of each unit is 2 bedrooms and a bathroom with kitchen. The units have separate entryways but in the back they have a shared exit along with a shared stairwell to the basement.

When you get to the bottom of the stairs each side has its own door to go into that brings them to their third bedroom and 1/2 bathroom, along with their own laundry and basement living room.

Has anyone dealt with this before where there is a shared stairway and you would have to use it to get to your lower bedroom and laundry area? My wife and I are wondering if it makes sense to add a spiral staircase to one unit so they have a fully private unit top and bottom and no shared area. We would leave the entry doors at the bottom of the stairs so for move in and move out they could access a door from the main staircase to move items in and out.

Does it make sense to try to add a separate stairway? Or have people noticed no change in rents for tenants to have the shared stairwell area?

I think there are a few questions to answer before getting to the end issue you have right now. 1) Are these tenants month to month or in a signed lease? You wont be able to evict unless the lease is up or they are month to month. 2) I am not sure of your local laws, but in MN we cannot evict right now unless there are unlawful reasons and they are a danger to others (this at least was the last I heard for our laws). 

If both of those check out, the first thing I would ask myself is, do I have the cash on hand right now to renovate both units and still have a good reserve? If so and you want to make the move to get the market rents up, then could you add a contingency to closing that the seller will have the property vacant by the closing date? That would put the current owner responsible to remove the tenants instead of you being the bad guy. 

I just went through this same scenario - with a family though and not older individuals. We are house hacking the duplex and talked to the tenants about the increase in rent. As others have said - talking in person will not help much as the tenant will not see the previous landlord as the bad guy for letting them think the unit is priced fairly..you are just charging a fair market rent for what you have paid for the home, but to the tenant you are just looking to make money off of them. 

What we did was we pulled comparable rents for their units in the area to provide evidence to them of the increases in the rent, and how they were well below the rate (note that we always charge a little below market anyway so it would show them we still would be a better deal).

Long story short the tenant did not want to have their rates increased - we checked their rent roll before closing day and were confident they could pay the rent they were at now. So what we did is have them sign a 6 month lease (they were month to month at the time) to give us time for our first property to build up its own reserves, and build our liquidity to build up for updates to their unit.

We just sent them the renewal agreement which increases their rent to market rate. We are expecting they will not stay as they do not want to pay that amount. What this did though is let us build reserves while they had six months to understand that we were going to push the rent up in a few months. 

I hope you are able to find a good solution to this issue, but just remember that if they do not want to pay market rates now, every single time renewal periods come up you will be in this exact same issue. So the question is, do you rip the band aid off now or later after you have foot the bill for the below market rents for an extended period of time?

Thank you! I wasnt sure if it would work, but thought I would ask to see

I am curious to see what everyone thinks about using a solo 401(k) to fund future deals? Right now I have one rental property and one residence. I am looking at using a solo 401(k) to invest into for tax savings - and reap the benefit to have every dollar earned go back into future deals. 

Am I able to max out my solo 401(k) even if my rental shows net $0 taxable income? I ask because when I factor in my w2 income I would be cash positive - so I am wondering if I would be able to invest into my company 401(k) still, invest into my solo 401(k) as well, and use that to fund new deals. 

Looking for an idea I have for an update to a rental. I could get a good deal on the vinyl flooring pictured below on the left. I was thinking that I could replace the carpet in the hallway of my rental (shown below on the right).

I am somewhat unsure if this would flow well since I already have a type of vinyl flooring, and tile in the kitchen. Would it look better to add the vinyl flooring in place of the carpet? Wondering the groups thoughts and if it could help increase rent in the future (as I make cosmetic updates to the unit).

Also, the bedrooms are carpet as well and I might have enough of the new flooring to replace that carpet. Would you put vinyl flooring in bedrooms as well? Or leave the carpet? Thanks for the help!

Thank you everyone for your help! I will be sure to reach out and start looking for events.

My plan right now is to house hack and purchase a duplex early summer 2019.

@Tou Fang that is my exact plan! I am really trying to learn more about valuation of the property so that I can find that diamond in the rough.

My plan is to purchase the house, rent out the other half and actually rent out the other room in my unit to a friend as well. I am looking to put 3-3.5% down on the house. Was curious about the FHA 203(k) loan to get extra cash factored into the loan for repairs on the house? Not sure if that would be the smartest attack or not.

@John Woodrich thanks for the advice! I have been interviewing various realtors to find the right one.

Do you know where I could find the events for networking in the are? That would be great to have a chance to go to some of the seminars or meet ups! Thanks for your input!

Hi all, 

I am a new member to biggerpockets and extremely excited to join the team! As the subject line says, right now I am looking to start investing in the Minneapolis/Saint Paul area in Minnesota. 

A little background of myself, I am a public accountant who works in Transfer Pricing in downtown Minneapolis. I finished school at the University of St. Thomas last fall, and completed my CPA exams last spring. Right now I have been working and saving money for a down payment on my first house. I am looking at purchasing a multi-family house in the Saint Paul or Minneapolis area. I am looking more so anywhere south of 94. 

I was curious if there are any investors who would have advice for me starting out, what to look for in the Minnesota market, and how to make sure that I am finding a good deal in the house I purchase. I have read a few real estate books, and am actually reading Brandon's book "The Book on Rental Property Investing: How to Create Wealth and Passive Income Through Smart Buy & Hold Real Estate Investing" right now. 

If anyone who has experience in the area would have time to talk and give me insight for what they have learned that would be great! Thanks for taking the time to read my post, and hopefully we will connect sometime soon!