All Forum Posts by: Zack Klesch

@Mike Moe thanks a ton, I'll reply to your PM soon. Having someone else spell it out for me made the idea a little more digestible. 

@David Walbolt I have attached a more detailed image of my layout (Image 2), but essentially there is a space between Bedroom 1 and the Living room that is occupied by two closets that share a wall. I think I could bust through closet 1 and get a small hallway / door into Bedroom 1, but this could also be accomplished by doing the same thing with the Furnace closet, but I'd need to go through the hassel of moving my Furnace which seems like more of an ordeal. Let me know what you think with this updated information, I really appreciate the insight! 

Also, I failed to mention that I think it would be pretty easy to tie into the existing wall between the Living room and "Dining Room / Bedroom 2" (see Image 3). 

Image 2: 

Image 3: 

Hello Good People of BiggerPockets MN, 

I am in need of some advice on what to do as I leave my first house hack on move on to the second, the basic situation is that I currently live in a one bedroom (legally two but one is basically a small office) place that is likely a little too big for a single person and I'm wondering if I should convert it into a two bedroom before I leave. The details of my situation are as follows: 

1. I live in a good spot in NE Minneapolis with privacy and a yard that I would consider 10/10 

2. The lower unit is a 3 bedroom that currently rents for $1550 / month 

3. The upper unit has somewhere around 900+ sq feet and has a recently renovated kitchen which I was able to do while living here

4. A picture is attached of the current / proposed layout (I'm not artist)

My predicament is that I want to maximize my rent but I'm not sure if it will justify the addition of a wall with a door, the removal of a current door and the replacement of that door with some wall, the enlarging of window to make it meet egress standards (not positive on this one but I think I have to do this), and the removal of a closet to make a section for a door. My biggest issue is that I can't seem to find similar comps, since it seems like I'm finding places I would consider "better" than mine (on Craigslist) that are renting for a few hundred dollars less. So I'm wondering if I got lucky, if everyone else isn't keeping up with market rent, or if my yard is an "intangible" thing that really is bumping up the price. In essence I'm mulling over the decision on whether or not the work will increase the rent enough to justify it. I wanted to exit this place ASAP and start on the next, but I think this would delay my plans a little bit. 

Any expert insight on my situation would be greatly appreciated. 

@Daniel Anshus @Clem Foltz @Alyssa Strom @Avery Rustad

Thanks everyone, you've given me some things to think about going forward in terms of potential deals. We will see what actually happens as I can't imagine I'm the only person who found this place and I'm sure more experienced investors can properly evaluate the worth of the property and area. The feedback here makes me feel a bit more confident in the path forward. 

Thanks for the feedback Avery! 

The potential for the AirBnB and the forced appreciation and that is what excites me most, especially on top of the decent returns. However, I recognize that my excitement over the first deal and my optimism going in could taint a realistic evaluation of this deal, so it makes me feel a little more at ease hearing an outside opinion consider this an acceptable return. 

Hello BiggerPockets, 

I've been following the site and reading posts for some time but I figured it was finally try to post something and get some feedback from the good folks on this website. My girlfriend and I are trying analyze a house hack in NE Minneapolis. We've searched around quite a bit but a lot of the good deals go fast and and we are experiencing some analysis paralysis. However, we think we've found a decent deal in a up-down 2 bed 1 bath duplex with the following criteria: 

Purchase Price: $355K (increased price to cover closing costs so those are not factored) 

Loan: Conventional at 5% down and 3% interest

Estimated Income: 3K / month (about average for area but could possibly get more) 

Mortgage: 1421.86 / month

Taxes and Insurance: 300 + 449 = $ 749 / month 

Repairs and Maintenance: 5% @ 150  / month

Vacancy: 5% @ 150 / month

Cap Ex: 6% @ 180 / month (new roof and poured foundation, only concern is furnace and boilers) 

Management Fees: None 

Utilities: 145 / month (tenants pay gas and electric) 

Extra Variables: Lower unit has a room that could easily be turned into an additional bedroom and there is a attached office to the detached garage that has heating and AC hooked up to it but not water lines (possible Airbnb).

Cash Flow: $204 / month 

Coc ROI: 12.93% 

We did not include management fees as we intend to handle this ourselves and placed the cap ex at a lower rate due to recent renovations. Personally I am a bit nervous in having done this in my analysis, as I like to be a bit more conservative in my approach with these things, but agents found through BP tell me this is a pretty safe bet. Any feedback you could provide would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!