All Forum Posts by: Shane Hedeen

Congrats on running that group @Heather Foss! That's awesome. Great of you to get linked into BP here and join the community, it's another great place to contribute! 

@Nicholas TenBrink - always good to network with other folks looking to do similar things as @Amy Ranae mentioned. Would love to connect and chat about your goals, how you want to best get there! It's an awesome dream! Shoot me a DM if you ever want to go grab a cup of coffee! 

Hey Nicholas, 

I would say I would agree with most that 3/2/2 seems to be a pretty good home for maximizing cash flow and return in most areas. That said, I wouldn't necessarily limit yourself to only searching for that specific home. A lot of investors on BP and other places focus on homes that may have a "value add" in terms of a bedroom or bathroom that could be added somewhere in the home to maximize rental opportunity. Just depends on personal preference and what you're looking for in a rental as you begin. 

The other thing I would say to consider is to look up rental restrictions and rules in the municipalities where you are looking to rent. I used to live in Winona, MN and they have a city restriction to any rental to not allow any home that wasn't 'grandfathered' in around the college campus to be rented to more than 3 unrelated occupants. 

Buying a 4 bedroom home in an area where legally you can only rent to 3 unrelated people will slightly limit your pool of applicants. Certainly doesn't make it a bad deal necessarily, just something to consider. You wouldn't want to own a rental near a college campus that was 6 beds, when city rules regulated you to rent to only 3 unrelated tenants, would you? It would make it tough to do that legally. Just all depends on the area and typical rental client. If the norm is a married couple with kids, not quite ready to buy, then may not be as big of factor. 

Hope that helps give an extra two cents to your question! Good luck as you start to learn, this is a fantastic place! 

Lots of good information here already posted to your question @Jake Gratzer. Thought I'd throw in one more link for you to check out, which I was just going through with a client the other day in another neighborhood. Lots of good stuff within this page if you haven't already found this. 

Best of luck! 

http://www.minneapolismn.gov/mdr/exterior/mdr_exte...

Hey Tim, 

To me, it depends on how much you have going on to organize. If you are just talking about putting one rental into a system like Pulse, it hardly seems worthwhile to me. You could track everything manually in a spreadsheet with a small portfolio. That said, everyone has their point where they are overwhelmed with financial organization. I like Quickbooks, just because of familiarity myself, but just checked out Pulse and it looks pretty similar in its basic capabilities. I just like the different pricing options and more flexibility you are allowed to create depending on what you need with quickbooks. 

Congrats @Account Closed mentioned. 

@David Hunter - who are you typically sending this type of mailing to that you are referencing? Are you sending out to some selected geographic farm areas, or past clients/SOI/etc.? Would be curious to hear who you send it to, and what you have seen as your ROI on those mailings if you track any incoming business from it.

@Andy Fulton - great topic to start. I'm hoping to learn from a few folks who will share some ideas to your post. 

Welcome @Kerry O'Neill! 

Great to hear you are looking to do a little house hacking to start with a Duplex. You are looking in possibly the two of the hottest areas (South and NE Mpls) in the city right now, as you and many other people are looking for exactly what you are looking for, in those areas. Depending on the neighborhoods of Saint Paul, some are very tight on cash flow right now as well. People are stretching to make deals work, and with interest rates, unemployment and the job market where it is, people are feeling very comfortable getting into bed with a deal that is far from great. To each their own I suppose. 

From all looks of it, winter isn't going to give you a much better deal, and there are plenty of stats to de-bunk the whole idea that things are drastically cheaper and everyone is desperate in the winter. Sometimes happens, but not enough to bank on in my opinion. 

Hopefully your agent is investor friendly, or is one. Hopefully they made the suggestion that @Andrew Mayamba already made to possibly consider moving outwards a bit for a deal more fitting to what you're looking for. There are way too many agents who frankly don't work too hard, so hopefully you have found a good one you like and trust. If you are set on those areas, then just keep on looking and be ready to jump in when the right one comes by. 

Best of luck searching! Keep on learning and contributing to the forums here on BP. It's a great place to learn more about what you're seeking. 

Welcome @Kim Feldkamp! You are steps ahead of most people out there looking to invest, as you have already took the plunge and have a property you rent! Thanks for posting and sharing. If you and your husband ever want to go grab a coffee and chat investing, I'd love to do that. This is a great resource for digging around and learning, hard to find a better site for the niche. 

Awesome job to you and your group @Nick Mertens! Thanks for sharing! What a happy owner of that building you must have on hand.