All Forum Posts by: Amber Gonion

@Danny Aguirre we would be happy to meet with you. We work with all type of investors new and well established.

@Matt Higgins I think what a deal is depends on what you bring to the table. Different investors can make money money in different areas. In North Mpls a seasoned management professional can handle issues that come up, in other neighborhoods contractors can do well etc. There is no cookie cutter best neighborhood.

@Stephen Brown I would be cautious of step 5 “buying at an auction. They can be risky at times and your first rehab could be a little more than you want the first one.

You may want to consider house hacking first to lower your expenses and be able to utilize your cash better.

The fact that you are setting goals and are planning are great indicators that you will be successful.

@Richard Douglass. Welcome to BP. House hacking is a great way to get started. My husband started that way 20 years ago. You have time to read learn and meet with people to be fully prepared. Good luck on your path.

@Gus Muller. I like that area for investing. I would keep it.

@Marcus Johnson I believe that there are ways to set criteria in order to filter out most while still being in compliance with fair housing. I wish there was more freedom to determine if someone is a reasonable risk.

We have cautioned investors about Minneapolis for the past couple years. There is great opportunity in Minneapolis, but investors need to know the potential risks in the city when purchasing.

@Matthew Mckibben it is Minneapolis not Minnesota. They have some restrictions, but it sounds worse than it is in practice. Don’t get me wrong, we don’t like it, but it isn’t a blanket ban on the use of background checks. See more here

https://www.google.com/amp/s/reason.com/2019/09/17/minneapolis-doesnt-want-landlords-to-check-tenants-criminal-history-credit-score-past-evictions/%3famp

@Sean King. Learn as much as you can fron BP and others at meetups. Then get a good team together. I would start with @Tim Swierczek for your loan needs. Minneapolis is a great place to invest and has historically done well during recession.

Nice job in finding a way to make things work.

I worked as a regional manager for a couple of the bigger companies in MN and while I don't recall a law prohibiting landlords accepting checks all the companies had a policy of allowing payment by mail.  I recall an attorney telling us that in court we would be seen as unreasonable and likely lose if we didn't accept mailed payments.  

We haven't had it go to court, but we charge a fee for non-cozy payments.  We think that it is reasonable to charge extra for credit cards, so is the extra time to process mailed payments.  It is in our lease, be sure to check your current lease for payment methods.