Duplex Chick

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I get asked a lot of questions in my job; questions like, “How much rent could I get for a three bedroom unit? Are studio units more popular by the University of Minnesota, or do students prefer one bedrooms plus dens?”

I’m glad my clients ask these questions. It tells me they’re remembering what I told them: two of the most important factors to consider when calculating whether or not to purchase a Minneapolis or St Paul duplex are rents and vacancy rates.

Of course, the next question I get asked is how to locate that information. My answer is always the same: the Star Tribune and Craig’s List.

Every Saturday the Star Tribune includes their “Homes” section. It’s often filled with useful information, not only for single family home owners, but also investors and multi-family home owners. Throughout the month, they periodically publish a rental section inside of “Homes”. Right next to or below the “Renting and the Law” column, the Trib publishes a rent sampler. The rent sampler is a chart of the average rents and vacancy rates for types of apartments in various Twin Cities locations.

The newspaper gets this data from a publication called Apartment Trends, which is published by GVA Marquette Advisors. 

While this information is useful in quickly getting a bird’s eye view of a neighborhood, it is dated. Last weekend’s chart, for example, was gleaned from information through March. That’s where Craig’s List comes in. Read the rest of this entry »

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There are many differences between the purchase or sale of an owner-occupied single family home and a multi-family property. One of the most important is the time of the month that you close the deal.

When you purchase your own home, it’s a good idea to try to schedule a closing date toward the end of the month. That way, you save on the amount of interest you pay.

However, when you buy an income property, you want to do just the opposite. Why?

Well, rent is collected at the first of the month. If the purchase agreement for the property is written properly, the seller is responsible for collecting the rent that month, then assigning the pro-rated balance to you at closing.

Example? If rent is $300 a month per unit, and there are four occupied units, he or she would collect $1200. If there are 30 days in the month, and you close on the fifth day, you would be entitled to 25 days of rent or $1000.

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