All Forum Posts by: Tim Swierczek

@Peter Christensen several have stated that in their area, the water bill stays with the property. I can confirm as a 22-year MN landlord and 19-year resident of St Paul, you are in fact responsible for the bill in St Paul if they don't pay. @James Hamling made some good points. One issue is that this time of the year will be hard to replace them, so I don't know how hard I would push today. I would, however, find out the exact amount owed and try to get them to catch up. I would also see if your lease language speaks to you paying the bill and charging them, or imposing a late fee based on the water bill. If not, I would monitor it closely and make a big deal out of it in the Spring if they have not yet caught the bill up to current.

One thing I didn't hear mentioned is the comment that the wife made about a "Third Party" paying the bill. I've been in finance for 23 years, and I deal with hundreds of credit reports every year. It's safe to say I have reviewed more than 8,000 credit reports, and the only "third-party" payment systems I'm aware of are called Consumer Credit Counselors (CCC). If that is what this couple is using to pay their bills, they have hired a company that takes on and negotiates their debt and pays less than what is owed. In the meantime, they pay a set monthly payment to the CCC agency. That is not the type of arrangement you want for your water bill.

CCC acts like a private version of a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, but without any of the consumer protections. It would tell me they feel in over their head but didn't want to do a BK. They may end up good, but I wouldn't give them a long leash, or you may be the one left holding the bag, and it will be a smelly bag.

Please RSVP at the link

How do you go from flipping houses to owning over 1,000+ units across multiple states? At this month’s meetup, we’re bringing in Todd Dexheimer to share exactly how he did it.

Todd went from being a Minnesota schoolteacher to becoming a full-time real estate investor, syndicator, and educator. He started with single-family flips and steadily scaled into large multifamily and commercial real estate. Today, as the founder of Venture D Properties, he focuses on value-add multifamily, commercial, and impact-driven investing.

In this session, Todd will break down:

• How to transition from small properties into apartments and commercial real estate.
• Syndication strategies and building partnerships that fuel scale.
• Finding deals in competitive markets (even out of state).
• The mindset shifts required to grow like Monopoly — trading up from houses into hotels.
• Lessons learned from scaling to over 1,000 units while staying true to impact-focused investing.

This is more than a presentation — it’s a chance to connect with other active and aspiring investors in the Twin Cities. Bring your questions, share your experiences, and expand your network with people serious about building wealth through real estate.

Whether you’re just getting started or already own rentals, you’ll walk away with actionable strategies to move toward apartments, syndication, and scaling your portfolio like Monopoly.

@Anthony Silva I know of a few local Twin Cities investors who have moved to SW Florida. Most are my clients so I can connect you for advice.  It's possible to mention loans to you, but what I think you really want to know is, "What is the best loan for me?" That answer can only be given after going through the loan process with a professional lender.  

There are a few similar but slightly different conventional loan options. Conventional loans are preferred by seller's so they have a benefit when in a competitive offer situation. They are much more credit score dependent than an FHA loan, so while they tend to be cheaper than FHA, they are really only cheaper if your situation fits; otherwise, they can be a lot more expensive if you are not a good fit for that loan type. A professional loan officer will be able to tell you that. They have down payments that range from 3-5% and they work on all residential types of properties, although some Florida condos can be very difficult to finance. Some conventional loans have lower pricing if you make 80% or less of the area median income. It looks like you might be looking in Cape Coral, if so, you would need to have income at or below $74,000. That number will increase next Spring.

Another option is an FHA loan. They are easier to qualify for and offer a 3.5% down payment. They also allow you to qualify for a larger price with the same income. If you have great credit, the conventional loan will be cheaper; if you have average or below credit, the FHA will be superior. This loan is less favored by Sellers so it can make winning an offer harder to do. They also have minimum property standards that sometimes require repairs to a property before you close. This is also an excellent loan if you do find a duplex to house hack.

Of course, there are more considerations. One thing you will want to keep in mind is that any new loan you get in Florida must be supported by the income you make while living in Florida. Therefore, if your current employer allows work from home out of state, you should confirm you can keep your job when you move. If that's the case, your mortgage search can start whenever you want, but if not, you need a reasonable idea of how much you will make to be pre-qualified, and you will not be able to get pre-approved until you have an accepted offer with a start date. The start date is important. The rules around employment vary between Fannie Mae Conventional loans, Freddie Mac Conventional loans, and FHA loans.

I'd love to connect you with Dana, my MN friend who moved to that area. She's been there a few years and understands house hacks, real estate, and is a local Realtor.  PM me if you are intereted.

@Jeff Schemmel thank you for the mention

@Kevin Bristow There are several considerations. First, as you determined, SBA is not a great option to finance Real Estate. It is to finance a business that is not RE-related. You can buy a building to operate the business, but that is not what it appears you are doing here. It cannot be used to purchase a building you would rent to another, unless your SBA-financed company uses at least 51% of the building.

Second, your comment that the three properties are in different Midwest states complicates things and means you would either need to use a national lender or a different local lender in each state. 

Third, I do not specialize in office, but what I know of office is that as an asset class, it is the most risky class right now. That means even if there were lower-level programs they are not likely to exist now. The best I know with reasonable rates is 25% down. It's possible with some digging, you might find a higher-priced option with 20% down. I doubt it would go lower than that, with the exception that if the national tenant is a A or better credit rating and you have NNN leases, then maybe a bigger player would take that at a lower rate, but I highly doubt they would allow lower leverage on office right now.

Quote from @Lisa M.:

Thanks for all your replies so far! Very helpful! I'm trying to figure out how to "forum" (you can't quote multiple ppl in one post? cmon... haha)

@Aaron Zimmerman

Thank you! I'm somehow a bit biased about MN too, without substance however, haha. That's good to know, though. Yeah the pro landlord issue is something to potentially consider, but good screening hopefully helps to avoid issues there ideally.

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@Kiernan LaFaver

Thanks for your insight on that area Kiernan, that sounds pretty good! I was looking at Syracuse before already actually.. but it's still too early for me to fully know. Still not sure if I would opt for turn key or a fixer, but probably latter. The snow isn't that bad then? :) I'll need to do some more digging, but if I happen to choose NY, I'll reconnect! :)

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@Peter W.

Oh that's an interesting situation you got in Rochester. Thanks for your insight! I didn't understand though - did you mean the property taxes are very high? And that's why cash flow looks better? Or you mean since the other costs are not represented correctly when running the numbers the cash flow appears better than it actually is? Hope you only have angels as tenants! 
But that's very interesting regarding the lakes.. Florida like beaches? Wow! But waterfalls are also gorgeous. So good to hear that you think there's not a huge difference, because, yes, in the end I want to enjoy where I live and invest, too. I'm already doing a cross country roadtrip from WA, checking out these 4 states will be a big endeavor, and impossible before winter hits. But I guess there's no way around paying actual rent instead of mortgage first. :)

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@Drew Sygit
Wow, thank you for bringing up property classes! Yes, very important. I just heard about these on the podcast but not with these exact guidelines on how to categorize them. I'll definitely go back to that when zooming in on what/where/how.

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@Tim Swierczek
Another vote for MN, haha, thank you! No cash flow on a house hack is not too bad I guess, at least you're not spending on housing whilst holding the investment. :) The long term stability sounds very promising, too. Either way MN will be my first destination anyways, so yay. And thanks for offering the zoom - I'll PM you soon.

 There is a Twin Cities Real Estate Investing Show. I think we can't post, but if you search for any podcast on YouTube, you can find it. That will give you local insight. If you can't find it PM me and I will send you the link.

Quote from @Patrick Shipway:

Hello all, 

My wife and I just bought our first small multi-family home in Minneapolis. Upon digging into making some repairs before renting it out it appears that the 3 season porch is in need of more work than I thought (and can handle). Does anyone know of some local handy people that you trust?

In a perfect world they'd be willing to do things a little differently as I'd like to finish the attic down the road and do so in an environmentally sound manner. 

Thanks in advance for your help!

Is the work structural or cosmetic?  If it's structural, you might need a full GC and not just a handyman. I like starting with the latter to assess and go from there. 

It sounds like a job that will take a few weeks or more, and so If you're able to rent it now, you might want to do that, as we are in the slow rental period, and waiting even a few more weeks will hurt your chances of renting before Winter. Even if you think you must fix it now, I would still market it as you are looking for contractors and tell all prospective tenants your plans for remodel. You can even give them a lower rent during the remodel period. Win-Win

Quote from @Marcus Auerbach:

Not a surprise, what you are offering is pretty beat up and you are asking top dollar. No amount of clever advertising or photoshopping pictures will get you over that. 

You need to do some mystery shopping and look at your competition. Ideally in person. Just scroll to the bottom of your listing link and you can see 4 places that are quite a bit nicer for under $1500.

You are offering small 900sqft with an original kitchen, only ONE bathroom that is dated and has no counter space, an interior that is a mix of finishes and colors, tile ceiling, super basic light fixtures, no garage and a totally overgrown yard - all of that screams total neglect. Who would rent that for top dollar?

Increasing your rent is horrible advice to begin with; and sweeping the parking lot, virtual staging and hiding the laundry area will certainly not close the obvious value gap!!

The rent amount may not be the issue, but what you are offering is pretty rough.

The other issue is that the only type of tenant you can attract with beat-up finishes are the ones who are on a budget and "don't care".

The single best thing you can do is personally tour some of your competitors close by. Pretend you are interested in renting. And then go back and look how you stack up.

I see your posts often and respect your opinion. In this case, you were right that this is unappealing; however, you missed that $1800 is very low rent for this submarket on a 3-bed unit. Your determination that $1800 is top of the market ignores that your comps below $1800 were all 2-bed. I've rented in this exact market for 22 years and am certain that $1800 is low. In fact, so is the $1950 I recommended. They should also do the upgrades you recommended, but saying that $1800 is top of the market is incorrect. If this place were nice, it would get $2200+/

Quote from @Hogan Underhill:

Hi Everyone, 

I was trying to get a repair team set and stone for my Prior Lake and Shakopee rentals. I was seeing if anyone had recommendations in that area for the most cost effective/best provider in the following: heating/cooling technician, plumber, electrician, general appliances repair tech, and landlord insurance. Also, if you think having a property manager would be better for these 2 rentals. I would love to hear suggestions.

 Hogan, great area. I don't know vendors specific to that area. Try Shuk Rentals, it's a super simple but cost-effective PM software that has a vendor system built it. The owner is from St Louis Park, so a lot of the vendors are from the western suburbs. Reach out to them and ask for Oliver, and tell him Tim said to give you the Twin Cities Real Estate Investing Show discount. It ends up being $4/month per unit for the first year. You can't go wrong and your tenants will love it.

Hey Kyle,

I can respect where these questions come from, but the reality is that very few investors do enough foreclosure auction purchases to have a large enough sample size to have the data to answer this. In addition, if someone has done 100 or more transactions like this, they are not spending a lot of time on BP. They are either crazy busy or they are sipping rum drinks in the Bahamas. 

Better questions would be to focus on what you can control. Get your plan together, assuming you will own it. Create a big picture list of what is needed, your goals, and then get granular of what needs to happen now and then create a schedule which each day after closing, what needs to be done, who will do it, how much it will cost, and who will verify it was done to standard.

In short, even if someone were able to answer your question with accuracy, it would do you no good. it would only prevent you from focusing on what you can control. You have an awesome opportunity to plan your acquisition, rehab, rental plan, or whatever else needs to happen. This deal is a home run if you do what you can control and put the stuff you can't control out of your mind. Good luck, Brother!

Hey Logan,

Thanks for the listing. I would complete my recommendations and then increase your rent to $1950. Your place looks bland, and at that price, it leads me to believe it's unappealing at best.  

1. Remove the front exterior picture. You need a money shot, and this is not it.. 

2. Get professional photos. I recommend Homecoming Photography. 2B- Spend the money to get virtual staging. Your total bill will be $275-350.

3. Your place needs color and decorations to distract the eye from the subpar finishes and materials.

4. Remove the laundry picture; it looks trashy. You can have a pro photo taken but likely you won't want to use it.

5. Clean/sweep the parking area and take a new picture. If it's not good, don't use it. Less could be more. In person, no one will care, but online, you are judged harsher.

6. Stage an outdoor fire pit area, possibly create an inexpensive patio area with inexpensive Adirondack chairs, and possibly a grill, for all tenants' use. The backyard picture should focus on that area.

PM me if you want to talk further. I could possibly meet you at the property, as I'm in NE often.