All Forum Posts by: Jacob Seaquist

Hi Adrienne,

I would look for duplexes/triplexes in your area on the mls to rent being a owner occupant...using redfin, realtor.com, or zillow. Start running numbers on what you think you can afford and what you want to get for a return. Use the biggerpockets investor calculator to start running numbers or I just use excel. You can also see if there are any realtors/brokers listing a bunch on the mls; call them up to let them know what you are looking for and how you want to grow in the future they may give you advice or deals down the road. I also like to deal with the sellers agent when placing an offer even if I low ball them because they have an incentive to go to bat for you too! 

Then start calling lenders in your area I'd try small local banks, national banks, and mortgage brokers that could offer different terms and lending standards. After which, you will either know who meets your needs or what you need to do to get a loan that meets your investing goals.

Further... Starting with an owner occupancy rental it gives you more options down the road and better terms/lower costs up front. You can also move out a few months/year after saving up some money to buy a SFR for your self or rinse and repeat with the live in duplex/triplex.

This would be my route if I was in your position starting out again! Good luck! 

-Jake

Hey Hayden,

It sounds like you have quite the decision ahead of you. I am former military myself and purchased a home while still in Iraq back in 08'. I house hacked until 12', then grappled with a similar decision to sell or rent when I moved about an hour away. (No where near the distance your talking about...) I decided to rent and now have 4 SFRs in the same market.

Being that you wouldn't be managing it yourself and the distance involved your in a tougher position. If you have a friends or family in Georgia you could hire PM and have them keep an eye on it? Having that ability to not pay a down payment due to the VA loan, using that leverage is a great start! Now depending on how much you can sell it for it may just be easier to take whatever gain you can get and start closer to where your moving. Use the VA loan to buy a duplex, triplex or fourplex and not have to put a down payment again. Maybe use the gains from the previous sale to start a savings fund or improve a property in need of repairs?

I feel like a may not have helped much but I'll leave you with this. Expenses go up and if your numbers aren't on the low side you may not have left yourself much room to even break EVEN if something does break (Furnance, AC...other appliance) then your a 1000 miles away and not able to make hard situations easier due to proximity. If it were me I'd sell and take my talents to the longhorn state. Good luck. Let me know if I can be of any further help down the road! 

-Jake

Welcome Dan. I also invest in Saint Cloud, currently with 4 SFRs. I love the owner occupied route and if I could start all over again I would definitely start by getting into a duplex, tri, or 4 plex in the Cloud area. But my wife won't go for that these days! Let me know if I can be of any assistance towards your start in real estate. 

Hello fellow Central Minnesota real estate investors. 

Tomorrow night the City of St. Cloud, MN will have a meeting to discuss and vote on increasing the conversion fee for the second time in two years. In 2014 the fee went from $125 to $500. If you don't know what a conversion fee is, it is a fee you must pay when taking a previously non rented single family residence and making it a rental property. Now the city is going to raise the fee from $500 to $2000. Keep reading if interested in investing in St. Cloud or if you already are an investor. 

Some other facts that show this increase is not the solution to the problem. 

St. Cloud's homes are currently 48% rental properties or around 14,500 (A mix of multi family and SFR)

St. Cloud Times reports (citied at bottom of post)

"A common perception is that rentals bring more blight to neighborhoods. Because tenants don't own the property, they don't care to maintain it. And landlords are only out to make a buck.

But a Times analysis of city data reveals only about 18 percent of all property maintenance violations and about 20 percent of all nuisance violations recorded in 2015 were at rental properties."

Monday, June 6, 2016
6:00 P.M. Regular Meeting
City Council Chambers

400 Second ST. S

St. Cloud, MN

Below is an excerpt from the city council agenda. 

Background: The Neighborhood Best Practices 2016 Action Plan presents numerous recommendations to enhance neighborhood quality of life with particular emphasis on code enforcement activities. Implementation of the task force's recommendations will continue in the coming months. A number of implementation activities are currently underway. The City Council has approved CDBG funding for two additional code enforcement positions during Program Year 2016. Staff and consultants are well into customization of the Community Development functions of the enterprise software upgrade. Go-live date is scheduled for late 2016. Several best practice recommendations require no action of City Council, but call for changes to staff practice and policy. Staff is increasing utilization of administrative citations for repeat offenders and criminal charges for unresponsive property owners. The following is a summary of the City Code revisions proposed for consideration on June 6, 2016: --Vacant Building Registration - The attached ordinance requires registration of vacant residential buildings and establishes related property maintenance standards. The vacant building registration fee is proposed as $2,000. --Provisional License - The attached ordinance adds violations of Section 680, Weed, Rubbish, Snow, and Ice Removal, to the list of "strikes" leading to a provisional rental license. --Habitual Non-Compliance - The attached ordinance requires a provisional rental license for properties consistently violating city code, but bringing the property into compliance prior to citation. --Rental Conversion Fee: The conversion fee for new rental properties will increase from $500 to $2,000. --Provisional License Fee: The provisional license fee would increase from $1,500 to $2,500. --Administrative Citation Fees: Administrative citations for minor and major offenses will increase as suggested by the draft ordinance.

Budget/Fiscal Impact: Increases to fees and citations are proposed to off-set the cost of code enforcement activities.

Relationship to Overall Goals: Enhancement of neighborhood quality of life has been a consistent objective of the City Council's annual goals and strategic plans, Comprehensive Plan, and task force reports during the last 10 years.

Options: A public hearing is required to adopt the attached draft ordinances as presented or revised.

Necessary Action: The ordinances may be adopted by simple majority vote of the entire City Council (4 votes).

I discussed this with a local inspector last week when I had two of my properties inspected and they were under the impression that this increase would create more unlicensed properties in the city.  I do not believe this to benefit any parties involved besides the city bringing in more revenue. This possibly will decrease investor money in the area and definitely create a barrier to entry for all investors, especially new investors in real estate looking for SFRs.  Please feel free to leave any comments or feedback for my post.  ********Most of all if you invest in St. Cloud or are interested please join me tomorrow night in voicing your concerns and opinions. ******

Monday, June 6, 2016
6:00 P.M. Regular Meeting
City Council Chambers

All of my information cited in this post came from  SCTimes article Stakeholders at odds as St. Cloud home rentals double. Jenny Berg, March 12, 2016 StCloudCity.com (city counsel agenda)  Thanks!

Garrett, my neighbor Jeff does a great job with taping and mud work. I can give him a ring tomorrow to see if he is looking for jobs. He does it on the side. He finished my basement when it was owned by the previous owner and did work for me on my main floor when we moved in and remodeled. Let me know if your interested. We live near fox hollow and foster lake!

Thank you all for your kind words.

@Rashad Kennedy - I am investing solely in Saint Cloud, MN with the three current properties. It's where I grew up so I know neighborhood by neighborhood! I'm always looking on the MLS and through my realtor for deals throughout the 94 corridor from St. Cloud to St. Paul.

@Laura Thorne - Yes I've had a lot of quality interest in both my current properties. I have long term leases with both, 1 for 2 years and 1 for 2 yrs 3 months. All of my investing has been in SFRs. My first is a 5-2, my second is a 4-2, 3rd (pending) is a 3-1. All have been rehabbed to the top of the rent market for SFRs in St. Cloud.

Keep the questions coming! I love the Minnesnowtans coming out to post comments.... And everyone else :) 

Have a great night everyone!

BP,

Today marks one year since I created my bigger pockets account! I spent the next 365 days enveloped in growing my real estate business. 

This is just a short summary of my activities from the past year and my goals for next year! 

Upon joining BP I only owned one rental property. Since I have doubled this buying my second property with my Roth IRA (20% down, trad. financing) in July. I signed a great long term tenant and have been cash flowing over 300 dollars per month!

And now In the past two weeks I have a purchase agreement signed for our third rental that should close in February and will cash flow close to or better than our July purchase! Both of these rentals are in the central Minnesota market! 

That's the exciting stuff! 

Since, I've also listened to every podcast on BP, some several times. Josh and Brandon are so funny....  I've read, mostly, The one thing and J Scott's book on Estimating rehab costs. I've driven over 100 miles "for dollars", I've spoken to several lenders, using two. I've seen dozens of homes, I've ran almost hundred deals through paper math, on excel, and a few dozen through BPs rental calculator. 

I still have my full time job as a manager at a major retailer. I watched my daughter turn one and spent a ton of time with family. I've spent even more time explaining my plans and goals to my wife about real estate, p.s. she's just as excited!!

In the next year my goals are to close number 3, and buy two more at least!

I owe so much of my growth in real estate to BP and the countless resources provided here for free! Thank you BP. I hope others can use this to take steps to reach their goals!

Hey Kyle, 

I have taken the class for Saint Cloud. I self manage a couple of properties in SC, one on the North side and one on the South. If you manage real estate with in the city limits of SC you have to take the class. If you own a rental but use a property manager, the property manager needs to have taken the class. 

It is actually a very helpful class, as they provide a lot of detail and resources that specific to our city! If you have other questions about my experiences please feel free to reach out! 

- Jake 

Congrats! I posted it on all of my other social communities. Most of my friends have already heard my reasons for the site but another article is continued proof that this is the place to be for all real estate investors!!!