The City of St. Louis Park is reviewing their 2008 ordinance that was enacted through which the police department was able to order landlords to terminate leases through repeated call for drug possession and other alleged crimes. The city is finding … [Read more...]
Painting Your Rental Property Update
I wrote a post several years ago about painting your rental property. Despite having been an investor for over 10 years at that point, I think the main idea in that post was my attempt of creating order out the often messy business of owning and … [Read more...]
Major Changes to Inspection Contingency
Every year, the Minnesota Association of Realtors publishes changes to the standard forms we all use including purchase agreements, contingencies, etc. Often small changes are made to simplify language, remove ambiguity or lessen confusion. Other … [Read more...]
Lots of Buyers, but No Inventory
My customers have been struggling lately. We are back to multiple offers and houses selling in days. Seems like we go through this about every 6 months (inventory loosens up, life is easy, then back to the fire with no inventory and a sellers … [Read more...]
Home Sales Highest Since 2005
Information released this week by the Minneapolis Association of Realtors show home sales in 2015 rebounded to pre-great recession numbers. They were up almost 14% over 2014 to a total of 56,390 sales getting close to the record of over 60,000 homes … [Read more...]
Crystal Repeals Point of Sale Inspections
This week the City of Crystal repealed their point of sale inspection program after much discussion. Enacted in 1992, this program (which is similar in 12 other cites including Minneapolis, Hopkins, St. Paul) was designed to encourage/force home … [Read more...]
Tricks to Getting Offers Accepted in This Competitive Market
I have been a Real Estate agent for long enough (9 years) to see the good and bad, the slow and crazy markets. I have been there when we had a choice of any property, most of which had been on the market 60+ days and other times when you need to … [Read more...]
Investment Property Analysis-Cash on Cash Return
There are many different ways to analyze investment property purchases. These financial ratios include: Cash on Cash Return, Cap Rate, Debt Coverage, Gross Multiplier, and Return on Asset to name a few. Which ratio you use depends upon your … [Read more...]
Stupid Property Repairs #3
I am naming this issue: "The Stupid Property Repair in the Pink House" Again, when looking at North Minneapolis Investment Property, (which lately seems to be the place for stupid property repairs, but I am not going down that road to figure out … [Read more...]
Waiting Period after Short Sale
Fannie Mae came out with new guidelines for waiting period after short sale. Below is the updated waiting periods after a bankruptcy, short sale, and foreclosure for all loan types. One change was to the waiting period 4 years after a short sale … [Read more...]