Looking for investment properties?
St Paul Minnesota is a great place to buy rental / investment properties.
Good areas to consider for higher rents and alot of renters out looking are:
Merriam Park
Town and Country
Macalester Groveland

There tends to be alot of students looking in these areas because of the number of colleges such as: St Catherine, Hamline, Concordia, St Thomas and Macalester.
We have found that students are good tenants, stay for at least a year and since parents typically pay the rent, there is rarely an issue with collecting rent on time.
The typical homes in this area available for rentals / investments are Single Family Homes and Duplexes. There are other options as well but keep in mind, if you get 5 or more units in a building, it will be considered a commercial building and therefore have different financing guidelines.

Do you want to get into the St Paul rental / investment property business?
Contact me today!

Jen McKinnon
Realtor / Investor
AGENT REFERRAL NETWORK
MN Real Estate Team

612.384.1073
jen[at]mnrealestateteam[dot]com

Let’s face it, winter is here….If you are like me, you love living in the Twin Cities but could do without the winter that we are blessed with.  I live in St Paul, the lovely Macalester Groveland neighborhood, and we all have OLD houses and old houses are not exactly air tight and energy efficient (unless you’ve done alot of updating….). 

Here are a few tips on how to reduce costs on your home heating this winter.

A few FREE and easy things to do but that we sometimes forget about are:
1. Make sure your storm windows are up and secure and or closed all the way
2. Open blinds / shades during the day on windows that allow the sun to shine in for natural heat
3. Close blinds / shades during the night to help insulate your home
4. Close heat vents in rooms that are never or seldom used
5. Wear an extra layer of clothing so that you don’t have to turn the heat up so high
6. Make sure the fireplace flue is closed when you are not making a fire

A few energy saving tips that will cost a little money up front but could save you big in the long run:
Block the Leak - use silicone or acrylic latex caulks to fill in cracks and gaps.
Plastic – put plastic over the windows. Easy to use kits from 3M or Scotch at most stores
Fill your Attic - insulate with fiberglass batts or blown in cellulose
Program your Thermostat - install a programmable thermostat and cut costs by 15%-30% per year. We have also done this at our investment properties – tenants love it!!
Cover the Ducts - check out the heating and cooling ducts in the attic, basement and closets. Cover the seams with Scotch Duct Sealing Foil Tape and insulate the entire duct itself.
Wrap your Water Heater - $30 will buy you a water heater blanket and save 15%
Service your Furnace - clean the furnace but get help from a professional

Questions? Need a great Realtor? Give me a call!
Jen McKinnon
Realtor / Investor
AGENT REFERRAL NETWORK
MN Real Estate Team

612.384.1073
jen[at]mnrealestateteam[dot]com

Real Estate Investing 101 Seminar – Tuesday, December 16th, 6:30- 8PM
From his experience of owning 15 rental properties in the Twin Cities, Ryan O’Neill (owner of the MN Real Estate Team)will teach you a concrete, non-infomercial way to build wealth through real estate. This seminar will be a one and a half hour presentation in regards to wealth building through real estate. There is no charge at all, no contracts you sign with us, no consultation fees, no hidden agenda. The seminar simply will be an excellent opportunity for you to learn more about our process: how you get pre-approved, what type of low-down loan product to choose, and then how we step you through the process of finding the home and helping you get it rented out. Whether you are a beginner or an advanced investor, this will be a great chance for you to learn more about how you can build your long term wealth through buying real estate.

Jen McKinnon, the Twin Citites Real Estate Gal, owns 3 investment rental properties.  2 Duplexes in St Paul and 1 Single Family Home in North Minneapolis.

Call me at: (612) 384-1073 or use the seminar registration form to get signed up today!

Ok, so no more complaining about gas prices. This is great news and I wish the media would talk about this a little more. The Twin Cities is below the national average of $2.34 per gallon. I was thrilled to fill up for under $35.00 yesterday in St Paul. Now, if only food prices would come back down and home prices would go up! Slowly but surely it will happen.

Ah, property taxes….Last year, the property taxes on my St Paul rental properties went up almost 50% while the value of the property went down.  Many property owners in the Twin Cities – especially St Paul, saw felt this similar pain.  I tried calling my local tax appraiser and was told that I was too late to appeal SOOOOO, this year I will pay more attention to the Proposed Property Tax Statement that comes my way in mid – end of November.

So, can you appeal your property tax statement and get it changed?  Yes.  Will it work?  Who knows….
Property taxes are based on the market value of the home. As we all know, market values have dropped recently which would make you think that your property taxes should drop too, right?! The assesment is typically done in the year or so PRIOR to the taxation year so your 2008 tax value was based on the market value of your home from 2007 or maybe even earlier and are not always reevaluated on an annual basis.

Steps:
1. Watch for and READ your Proposed Property Tax Statement when it arrives in the mail.
2. If you feel that your home is not “worth” the amount on your statement, have a licensed REALTOR do a market analysis for you on your home.
3. A market analysis will tell you what other similar homes in your area have sold for recently which will tell you what you could probably sell your home for. This will give you an updated “market value”.
4. If you still feel that the assesment amount is inaccurate you can file an appeal with your local taxing jurisdiction but make sure you know what the filing deadline is.
5. You may also be required to appear at a live hearing before the assessment appeal board.

Bottom line, if you don’t agree, fight it. Nothing changes if you don’t act. I think we all pay enough taxes and any chance we get to fight it, we should.

Good luck!

Jen McKinnon
Realtor/Investor
AGENT REFERRAL NETWORK
MN Real Estate Team
jen[at]mnrealestateteam[dot]com