All Forum Posts by: Rebecca Sabot

Nespresso is the way to go! Pods are recyclable, easy clean up, use and great tasting.

The Minneapolis city council is also developing a proposal that would require landlords who want to sell rental homes to give tenants the first right of refusal on any property they are renting - from single family to multi-family. This is similar to D.C.’s Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act, or TOPA which became a way for D.C. renters to hold some homes hostage for high-dollar payouts and enabled renters to block sales until the law was reformed. 

In my opinion, more and more restrictions on landlords makes for a hostile environment.  I guess the flip side is most likely home values will skyrocket similar to other cities that have enacted rent control...so maybe buy and hold is the way to go.

The current Minneapolis city council is very anti landlord. They have now contracted to do a study on rent control with the intention of making it happen in the city. They will find a way around the state law. Anyone remember the tax increase for the Twins stadium? Was there a vote as required by state law???  NO, there was not and yet the tax is being collected.  As a 15 year resident of North Minneapolis and a landlord in the city, I am starting to get nervous and keeping a close eye on the actions of the council. I still live in the city but have started to consider selling and also moving.   Other areas of the metro have a LOT more appeal right now. However, if you buy in Minneapolis, I would buy knowing that rent control could happen (and probably will happen at some point) and build in some type of risk management strategy. It's time for me to do more research on how investors deal with the risk in areas where rent control is in existence. 

When you look at our rental vacancy rate, the number of people moving to the area and compare that with units being built all signs point to it being a great time to invest in rental property. 

Hi Joanne,

That first rental property is the scariest. And the hardest to get!  It gets much easier after that!  Always remember, you are running a business and your decisions have to be business decisions.

What I learned after my first experience was don't let Fair Housing Laws scare you into taking bad tenants!! Like many others have said..... ALWAYS do a credit and background check, even if it is a referral from a friend. Screen prospective tenants very well. You can legally require things like credit score and an income ratio. 

You can check anyone on MN Court Records for free to see if they have judgements or evictions. I do that first, then I use a service to check for credit score and financials. Cost is under $20. ( http://pa.courts.state.mn.us/default.aspx )

When adversing the rental, ONLY discuss the actual characteristics of the home...never the type of person you might see or want living there. That is illegal. 

I also recommend Mike Butler's book and found it very helpful for a first time landlord. 

Rebecca

I've lived in North Minneapolis for 14 years and I have one rental property there. As Armin mentioned, you will definitely want to pay close attention to the crime maps and shot spotter maps. Duplexes under 200 will need significant repairs and/or be in high crime areas. If you can get your budget up to 225 or 250 you will be able to get something livable but still needing repairs in a slightly better high crime area. In those slightly better areas know that you will be competing against investors that are buying with cash and no contingencies. Do most of your underwriting ahead of time so you can close within 30 days.  If you want to reach out directly I can tell you a lot more about how I evaluate properties in North Mpls and share some offer strategies that have worked for me. 

Even though Minneapolis says they are 'welcoming' of duplex to triplex conversion my friends that have tried to do this have had to work through major hurdles with the zoning commission...even in North. They were initially denied zoning to convert to a triplex and then after rounding up some neighborhood support they were able to change the decision. This was just a few months ago. You might want to get to know the neighbors in case you need letters of support and prepare a good case if you need to work through the zoning commission. Good luck.

This is also a topic of interest to me. @Amy Ranae if you don't know about the City of Mpls small developers class check it out. It's great I attended last year. http://www.minneapolismn.gov/cped/D-TAP  

Ian where are you in ND? I am from Bismarck and am thinking about investing in there. My sis in law might know someone as she is an accountant there.

I live in Mpls and had Sedgwick Heating & Air Conditioning replace the AC in my home. They did a great job and I will use them again. Centerpoint can also do AC but I've had bad experiences with their techs and will not work with them anymore. 

Also, I am glad you asked this questions as I am considering adding AC at one of my rental properties. I don't expect a boost in rent but I know for re sale it will be a plus.  I also haven't had any expense this year at that one so a write off would be nice. lol