The Governor extended the Peacetime Emergency declared in EO 20-01 until May 14, 2021 (EO 21-19). That means, the eviction moratorium in EO 20-79 is also still in effect. Evictions can be filed for one of the exceptions in EO 20-79 (seriously … [Read more...]
Painting Your Rental Property
How are you painting your rental property? This may seem like a simple question, but I see so many variations of how landlords handle one of the most important updates. It is one of the first things that prospective tenants will notice when you are … [Read more...]
It’s Mouse Season
I am not ashamed to admit that we had mice in our house last fall. We got so frustrated that eventually we called my exterminator, Glenn Buggs (yup, that is his name!). He came out and did a great job of placing poison around the building and we … [Read more...]
Tracking Tenant Rent Payments
How do you track your tenant rent payments? Are you using spreadsheets, maybe Quickbooks, or are you doing it in your head? Every day, I am amazed by owners that have more than a few properties that don't have any system for managing rent payments … [Read more...]
Repairs by Tenants
It would be great if tenants paid on time, they stayed forever and if anything broke, the tenant fixed it (and paid for it) themselves. Unfortunately, none of those are really true! Over the years, I have seen a few leases state that the tenant is … [Read more...]
Renting to Friends
I know it is very common for people to rent their homes or apartments to friends. I suspect that like most things in life, 80% of those rental relationships do just fine. I probably just here about the 20% that do not. Here are some tips to making … [Read more...]
PO Box for Rent
I am not sure where this came from or who starting teaching it. I have heard many old-school landlords say that they use a PO Box for rent checks. I guess the theory was that you don't want your tenants to know where you live. I suppose in case of … [Read more...]
After Hours Service Calls from Your Investment Property
The majority of my customers are new investors. The most successful ones want to know everything about not only how to buy an investment property, but how to own one and be a successful landlord. A frequent question that I get asked is: "How often … [Read more...]
Rental Property Fire
A rental property fire can happen, what do you do? This is a new one for me. In the last 30 days, two different customers have had a rental property fire! I swear I had nothing to do with it. One happened because of faulty wiring in the attic … [Read more...]
Paying Interest on Investment Property Security Deposits
In Minnesota paying interest on investment property security deposits is required. Here is the state statute on it. I hope I am "preaching to the choir" when I remind everyone that in Minnesota, you must pay your tenant interest on the security … [Read more...]