All Forum Posts by: Heidi Pliam

I'm no expert on the numbers, but what I've been told is pricing for materials and site prep, etc. makes modular comparable to stick, but it's in the labor that you make up the margins.  Sounds logical, but maybe someone else can confirm/deny.

Lakes Area Bank also.  Not crazy about US Bank myself but my many years old experience probably isn't as valuable as Todd more recent one. I have a client working with Northeast Bank and so far they sound pretty good. Anybody have any experience with them?

@David Moore I hope I am wrong too...but really, the thing that needs to happen is investors and small business owners statewide ought to lobby to eliminate use of the unauthorized practice of law statute when a company principal, authorized by company bylaws and resolutions, chooses to represent the company instead of hiring a lawyer!!!!!!!!!!!   (can you tell it's a pet peeve.)  

Call the county immediately for verification of their story.  I've worked with Hennepin to get our tenants emergency assistance, and yes, tenants are disorganized oftentimes so need to go back a couple times.  (But like a prior poster am suspicious of 2-county involvement and excessive delays).   

Seems like a lot of folks on BP are trigger-happy on evictions, which can make it harder for your tenant to move out without a fight (left with no other options).  Personally, I prefer move-out agreements that are clear & firm but reasonable, rehabilitating tenants whenever possible -- and for critics of move-out agreements, I contend they don't have to put you in a worse-off position than eviction if you know what you're doing.    

Also, contrary to an earlier post, filing eviction is not necessary for the county to pay -at least not in Hennepin.  They've only required us to sign a formal notice of termination for non-payment, with the amount claimed due.  

Like many, I see you have a huge learning curve ahead. Probably good to get an attorney involved. You can try it yourself, but I'd give the average person a 50% chance of getting through a successful eviction their first time. The other 50% lose their filing fees and start over, but even then tenants most likely pay-up immediately or else you can correct the paperwork or other deficiency and re-do the eviction...only rarely does a defense and counterclaim get raised that cleans your clock, and then you'll wish you had an attorney. Read the rules carefully and follow them to the letter, then you odds of success increase to about 80-90%. You'll certainly learn a lot, if you want to look at it that way. Oh, and by the way, if your property is owned by your LLC find out if Anoka allows you to represent your LLC. I believe Hennepin is the only county in the state that still permits such representation without an attorney (and that may change soon too I hear).

Good luck Kyle!!!   

It partly depends on what kind of investors you want to hang out with...newbies, intermediate or experts?  And it matters what kind of deals you are interested in doing.  

Some of the better ones are: MNREIA and TWINREIA -both great for a sweeping mix of experienced and newbie investors and a variety of topics, however MNREIA is huge with national speakers, while TWINREIA is a small but usually excellent discussion group.  MNREIA also has specialty groups, which are my favorite parts of MNREIA.  Pine Financial events usually have a good speaker and great networking, and their soft sell is palatable.  MREE is one I plan to start attending, as I move more into apartment syndication.  It appears to have more commercial and professional members, with lots of brokers I hear.  

Here are links to the above:

www.mnreia.com  

(TWINREIA) https://www.facebook.com/groups/1628179857491601/?...

www.pinefinancialgroup.com/free-events/

http://www.mree1031.com

BP has a bi-monthly meetup that seems good, but meets too infrequently to gel IMHO. There are also a handful of meetup.com groups, but most of those seem to me to suffer various problems. Some have leaders who either soft- or hard-sells their services, others have inconsistent meeting times and still others are simply uninspiring.  

Finally, my own plug is I've been running my own mastermind group with such great success I had to take a brief hiatus so that several of us can go buy an apartment or several together. I'm going to re-launch another mastermind group again soon, so if you're interested, please pm me.  I'm calling it ActionREIA because it's all about taking action and learning by doing.

But alas, the problem with this post is that my experiences are merely just my own. You really ought to go out there and try everything that appeals and arrive at your own favorites.

Please don't waste money on LegalZoom when you can get the same form here, and are more likely going to have a better result:  https://mn.gov/commerce/consumers/tips-tools/unifo...

Yes, our great state of MN puts these forms out there for FREE!  I'm not saying they substitute for legal advice; but they sure beat the non-lawyer form peddlers out there who sometimes mislead folks into thinking they are getting legal advice when they are not, in my humble opinion.

BTW: Thanks for the nod my way @John Woodrich!  

This is not my area of practice, but I hear from colleagues there are some streamlined options for getting through probate if there is no dispute between possible heirs.   If money is an issue, they could start by contacting the Hennepin County Court's self-help legal center and see if they can give you the right forms. However, risk without going through an  attorney is there may be unforeseen consequences.   I think probate attorneys will sometimes take their fee out of the liquidation of assets, so there is no need to be penny wise and pound foolish.  That said, being the potential buyer, you might encourage them to do this with an attorney so it gets done correctly and doesn't come back to haunt you later. And of course, getting owners policy of title insurance is a must for the future buyers (probably should be for anyone, but especially after non-deeded transfers such as foreclosures and probate.)

Check out @John Woodrich who is a frequent poster on BiggerPockets.

Welcome @Chris Baker!  There's plenty of attractive middle ground between syndication and DIY flipping. For example, you might lend to experienced investors and have your investment secured by a mortgage and personal guarantee.  Or, perhaps you could joint venture with a rehabber and get involved with the high-level decisions and budgets, etc., while they do all the heavy lifting.   

Know the pros/cons, including the risks associated with each. It may even be worth hiring someone like myself or doing the reading here on BP (ideally, both). For instance, I'm often surprised people don't think through the ramifications of owning a good mortgage versus owning a share of a syndication (ie debt versus equity interests).  Both are hands off, but owning debt with personal guarantees and rights to foreclose provides a significant advantage to owning a share of a syndication in which the company itself could go bankrupt and your investment becomes greatly diminished if not destroyed altogether.     

Syndications have the advantage of scale and returns are crazy good if you're in the right deal with the right team.  Funds can add diversification of portfolio to the advantages column.  But great track records from the recent past definitely do not mean great future returns; markets are all different now, and many syndicators haven't been tested.  You also pay more in fees to the deal sponsors & fund managers than you might realize.  Minimally, you'll want  to learn how to evaluate a syndicator's deal structure and legal "get out of jail free" cards.   

IMHO, you will learn more (and faster), have more fun (or fear depending on how you're wired) and have less risk, by pumping a small amount into several different flippers than a bigger chunk into a syndicator.

Happy Investing!
Heidi 

Yes! Back in 2008-2009 when prior rapid appreciation had resulted in tax increases, many of us experienced severe hardship, and a family member ended up in foreclosure. The appreciation preceding the bubble burst meant that taxes were at their peak when nobody wanted to buy and renters scurried to move in with family and friends, gutting the rental market. So @Marcus Johnson  you are exactly right. $100/door is only good if you have a LOT in reserve. And I don’t mean large equity or lines of credit; I mean liquid reserves you can tap no matter if credit freezes over again.