All Forum Posts by: Brian R.

I don't have, and won't buy anything in Minneapolis or Saint Paul, but a lot of people do.  I just read this from the KSTP news website:

https://kstp.com/news/proposed-changes-to-minneapo...

You need to get a definite answer, but my guess is a pending road construction project with assessments to the property.  Call the city and see if they are planning something for this summer.

I bought a duplex in a small town the end of March. (population was 2,308 in 2010)  I closed on Thursday, and the tenants in the larger side (3 bedroom) moved out a week later.  My property manager put the smaller unit (1 bedroom) up for rent right away.  It took two weeks to fill.  I had a lot of work to do on the 3 bedroom unit. My manger put it up for rent the last week of April, and had a tenant within the week.

The nearest "large" towns are a 30 minute drive in either direction, (population 13,238 and 39,528) and that is where both tenants work.  I am receiving about 150 dollars a month more for the one bedroom than I had projected, and exactly what I had projected for the 3 bedroom.  

As for work in the town I bought in, it has three gas stations, a hotel and a bunch of mom and pop stores.  

I am meeting with my banker tomorrow because I found two more duplexes next to each other in another small town, with the nearest large towns 26 and 27 minutes away, that I am interested in.  

I bought the one I did because of the cost.  I paid $113,000 for it.  The same place 30 minutes away would have been over $200,000.

I have three units with w/d in the kitchen.  One unit is a stackable in a closet, so it is completely hidden.  The other two units have a washer and dryer  next to each other along a wall in the kitchen.  One unit, the tenants put a shower curtain up in front of it.  The other unit it is just sitting in the room, part of the appliances.  The tenants actually like that they don't have to go into the basement, and can access them easily.

The other thing to think about, some areas I work in, unless it is my owner occupied house, I can't do any work that requires a permit unless I am a licensed contractor, and if it involves electrical or HVAC, I have to bring in a licensed electrical or HVAC contractor, and they have to pull the permits.   I don't know what the rules are in your area, but that could also be an issue.

You are going to have to meet with the inspector, ask for details on what he is going to require of you, and do it, or you could run into a lot more legal problems.

Since you did not get permits and do the work, how you interact with the inspector can go a long way.  They could say, what we can see looks ok, and leave it at that.  They could make you remove everything you have done, and start over with proper permits.  They could say, we want to see this that this exists, for instance, you said you put a new roof on, they could make you take a row of shingles off to see the ice and water shield meet code.  It could go a whole lot of ways, depending on the inspector, and how respectful you are with them.  

I know someone who replaced a picture window in a house without a permit.  The inspector drove by and saw the work being done.  That person had to get a permit for the work, the fine was double the cost of what it would have been had he got the permit.

I just read an article about someone who put a new metal roof on a house, and did not get a permit.  The inspector showed up, and according to city code, you can't have the fasteners for the roof showing, which his were.  He went to the city council to get a variance to keep his roof.  They turned down the variance request.  He had to get a permit for the roof he had just put on, remove that roof,  and put a new roof on that the fasteners weren't showing.

The class that John mentioned above is the class I took.

I went through the process to get my builders license about 12 years ago, so things may have changed since then. (I don't have it anymore)  

I took a two day class at a school in Brooklyn Park/Brooklyn Center area.  They went through everything that would need to know for the test, with a copy of the code book included as part of the class.  The instructor had taken the class, and asked us actual questions from the test at the end of the class.  

About two weeks after the class, I took the actual test at a place in Maplewood.  It was an open book test on the computer, but I think, don't remember for sure though, that it was a timed test, and it was a pass/fail test.  The majority of the questions had to do with laws regarding having your license, do your employees each have to have a license to work for you, how many hours of continuing ed classes do you have to have each year to renew your license, more so than actual building codes.  I remember saying to myself after, you don't know how to pick up a hammer to pass this test.

I passed the test, but what I was going to do that required the license didn't work out, so I didn't renew it.  I can look tonight and see if I have the information for the class I took, and get back to you tonight if you want.  The class I thought, was extremely helpful, and I would recommend it.

When I was running numbers on the property, I found some older listings from a couple of the other rentals in the city, and used them, as well as what rent was in the cities 30 minutes away.  I had planned about 500 a month for the 1 bedroom, as well as paying the water, sewer, and trash.   The property manager I hired ended up getting $650 a month, plus the tenant is paying all utilities, so I am getting about $200 a month more than I had planned.  The 3 bedroom unit will be going up for rent in a few weeks when I get the new carpet installed, and she is going to advertise that for about $950-1000 with the tenant paying water, sewer, and garbage. I had planned about $800, as well as me paying the water, sewer, and garbage.  (each unit is metered separately for water)

I just purchased a duplex in a small town of Minnesota.  Population of 2200 people.  I found out that a lack of rentals is hurting the town, people aren't moving into town because of it.  

I actually got a phone call from the police chief in the city because he has a new officer starting the end of April, and she needs to live in the city, but can't find anyplace to move, so he was asking about the property for her.

I chose the property though because 30 minutes east is a state collage, and 30 minutes west is a private collage.  I know someone that went to the private collage, and said they had a lack of dorms and places for the students to live.