Discover Your Place
Our Rental Services
Pick as much or as little as you help as you need from real professionals
Full Tenant Representation
$999
As our fully represented client we’ll make your whole transition seamless. We’ll educate you on your rights as a tenant and how rental contracts work. We’ll analyze your credit, income, and rental history to help determine a healthy budget for you. As our client, lease negotiation and property location are included. We’ll find your dream place with the location and amenities you need. We’ll also represent you to your new landlord and review the contracts ensuring your lease is fair, negotiating necessary concessions on your behalf, and inspect all potential units to protect you against issues and avoid common fees ensuring nothing is left on the table. When you sign a lease your signing a contract worth tens of thousands and changing your home, make sure you have a professional in your corner.
Property Location
$499
Location, location, location. Finding a place that checks off all the boxes can be difficult. Having a professional can make it easy. You tell us what you want and what you like to do. We’ll consider the things that are important to you and find place that fits you with a convenient commute to work, travel to the grocery store, gym, church and not too far from family and friends. We’ll find recommendations, schedule showings and inspect every unit until you decide on a place that you love.
Lease Negotiation
$249
Everything is negotiable and negotiating your lease can save thousands. Leases are legal agreements that stipulate your legal rights as a the lessee and you should never sign an real estate contract without a professional in your corner. Most people have no idea what rights they’re releasing or the money left on the table when they sign. Once you’ve found your new home we’ll take a look at your lease agreement to ensure it’s fair and highlight any potential issues, amend the contract or request any necessary concessions to ensure you get the best terms possible.
Apartments
Rent or Own
Before choosing to rent you should ask yourself the question: “Why do I want to rent in the first place?” If the answer is ‘it’s cheaper than buying,’ ‘my credit isn’t the best,’ or ‘I don’t have a ton of money for a down payment,’ then you should think again.
Renting is typically only cheaper short term, and you don’t need great credit or money for a large down payment to purchase a home.
If you’re only planning to live here short term or you absolutely don’t want to take care of your home than renting is likely the option for you.
Take a look at our chart down below for help.
If you need more help deciding reach out to a professional here
Location
Choosing location is the most important part of purchasing any real estate. When choosing a location there are a few core things to consider: your priorities, travel and access to transportation, neighborhood, and amenities.
Priorities
Priorities are the things that are important to you. Your priorities will dictate your personal location criteria. For one person their largest priority might be safety for their children, perhaps travel time to work, or entertainment and culture of the desired area.
Travel & Transportation
After you’ve chosen your priorities it’s time to see what locations best suite that criteria as well as limit excessive travel. Generally you want to be in close proximity to areas you travel to daily such as work and school and weekly like your specific stores or church. Make note of highways, public transportation, and traffic in the area.
Pro Tip: Track your travel for a week and make note of where you spend the most and least amount of time. If you’re okay switching out some places for alternatives make note of that.
Consider:
Work
Grocery Store
Gym
Church
Friends & Family
Entertainment & Amenities
Neighborhood
Every neighborhood is different and your community can make all the difference.
Research specific areas and look at what quality of life looks like, age and demographics of the people, walkability, access to entertainment and amenities, nearby restaurants and shopping, crime and other useful statistics.
If you can picture yourself living there then chances are it’s a good candidate.
Amenities
Amenities make places more enjoyable. These are areas you can spend your free time and weekends in.
Check out the distances to city parks, ice rinks, swimming pools, libraries, community centers, gyms, etc. - whatever is important to your lifestyle.
Application & Qualification
Apartments and landlords look at 3 things: credit, income, and rental history. Generally all of these items need to be in good standing, but there are occasionally additional alternatives that might help qualification if an area is deficient. There is typically a $50-$150 application fee for most apartments so make sure you ask questions before signing.
Pro Tip: with proper negotiation, additional fees like these may be waived.
Credit
Your credit score is also known as your FICO Score. Your FICO is measured in points on a range from 300-850. Landlords typically look for +600. If your credit isn’t great or you don’t have any you’ll need a cosigner. Cosigners (typically a family member or close friend) sign and agree to pay back the lease if the lessee can’t make payments.
Your FICO Score is compiled of 5 categories:
Payment History (35%): Your track record of on time payments.
Credit Utilization (30%): How much available credit you are using.
Credit Length (15%): How long you have had cards, loans, etc.
Credit Mix (10%): A variety of revolving debt (cards) with student loans, mortgage, car loans, etc.
Inquiries (10%): Loan and card applications.
Income
Apartments and landlords want to know that you make sufficient income to make on time rent payments in full. Because of this they’ll typically want to see your last 3-6 months in paystubs and verify employment with your employer. In order to qualify your monthly income should be able to cover your rent at least 3x. This is a good rule for them and for you, housing payments should not exceed 1/3 of your net income. Verification of income is the least negotiable qualification policy.
i.e. if the advertised rent is $1000/unit, you’ll need to make at least $3,000/month for most landlords.
Note: most advertised rents don’t include: utilities, parking, internet, etc. These can easily add another $1-300.
Rental History
Rental history demonstrates a tenants previous ability to make on time payments to landlords and check for evictions. Landlords typically ask for 1-2 years rental history to verify your habits as a tenant and often a background check for criminal activity. A lack of rental history can often be substituted for a higher security deposit amount, but a recent criminal history or past eviction might prevent you from getting approved.
Budget
As stated before your rental budget shouldn’t exceed 1/3 of your take home income. If your new to renting you might not be aware of how charges and payments work at an apartment as well as extra costs you may forget to consider. Fortunately with our experience we’ve seen everything in the rental game.
Example Budget ($1,000 Rent)
1st Month Rent
Total = $2,400
Normal Month
Total = $1,175
Here is a list of everything to expect so you don’t get hit with surprises:
Up Front Fees:
Application Fee
Security Deposit
1st Month’s Rent*
Utility Activation Fees
Pet Deposit*
Holding Costs
Hidden Fees:
key fees
admin fees
move in/out fees
cleaning fees
credit card fees
maintenance fees*
common area fees*
repair fees*
late fees*
Additional Monthly Costs:
renters insurance
water
sewer
gas
electric
internet
garbage
pet rent*
parking*
First Home*:
furniture
decorations
cookware
cleaning ware
Moving truck
Learning how to waive additional fees, ask about specials, and request concessions can save you thousands. Read about how to negotiate your lease below.
Leases
A lease is a legal document enforceable by law between two parties, the lessor (landlord) and lessee (tenant), which outlines the reserved rights of the landlord, what rights the tenant relinquishes, as well as information on property rules, payment, fees and length of the contract. Leases can range in excess of $15,000-$50,000 and are often difficult to understand, that’s exactly why you need a Real Estate Professional to make sure you’re protected. We’ve saved our clientele thousands.
Here’s what to look out for on your lease:
Rent & Security Deposit
Verify what the rent amount is and the date it’s due every month. Double check the security deposit amount with what you’ve likely already put down and under what circumstances you may forfeit the deposit.
Utilities
Find out what’s packaged into your monthly rent and how it’s charged. Be careful of ‘average usage’ utility payments. This is a way to sneak in extra utility fees that’s not based on actual usage. Check your responsibility for the common areas and if you’re required to setup your own utilities through a third party.
Renter’s Insurance, Maintenance & Repairs
Some places require renter’s insurance and others don’t. You’ll need to understand your coverage. Check your lease to understand what damages and repairs you are and aren’t responsible for. Watch out for language that stipulates the tenants full responsibility for all damages and repairs which will be covered by the security deposit. Normal wear and tear is the responsibility of the Landlord.
Lease Term, Termination and Subletting
If there are options on your lease length make sure to check the specific moving dates and times. If you move in the middle of a month rent and fees must be prorated (504B.116). You’ll likely be charged for every hour and day you are late, but this must be in writing (504B.117). In case something were to happen or you needed to move, verify the early lease termination policy. There is often a penalty. If you wanted to rent out your unit make sure they permit subleases.
Fees
Your landlord must disclose all nonoptional fees according to Minnesota Statute 504B.120. Landlords may charge fees for administration, cleaning, credit card processing, programming keys, utility activation, etc. These must all be listed on the lease. Know the true cost of your rent.
Pets
A Landlord may not permit pets on the property, but this may be negotiated. You may be required to put down an additional deposit and pay a monthly fee for your pet, but your landlord may not request you to declaw the animal (504B.113). If you have a licensed service or support animal and a disability protected by The Fair Housing Act, you may not be refused the right to rent or pay any additional fees for the animal.
Right of Entry
Your landlord may only enter your unit with a 24 hour notice and with reasonable purpose such as to check on smoke detectors, air filters, monitor disturbances, showing the unit, etc. Some of these reasons and potential dates should be outlined in the lease.
Waivers & Amendments
Any attached waivers can highlight suspicious material. For example, mold waiver that stipulates renters are responsible for any issues with mold, this may allude to previous tenant problems with mold due to a poor building envelope. Additionally any vague language or a ‘reserved right to make any alterations or amendments to this lease.’ Your landlord should have no need to alter a signed and agreed contract, especially without tenants approval.
FAQs
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Renting is a good solution for the short term. But here is an important point to remember when renting, you are paying 100% interest. You pay rent every month, but you do not create equity unlike when live in a home. A home is a forced savings account that also goes up in value, regardless of your interest rate.
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Honestly, down payments aren't a huge issue when it comes to buying.
FHA Loans for first time home buyers start at 3.5% down ($10,500 for a $300k home).
MN Housing FTHB Loans give up to $18,000 at 0% interest down payment assistance due on sale or forgiven after 20 years.
First Generation Home Buyers may receive up to $35,000 in down payment assistance in addition to MNH FTHB 0% Loans for $53,000.
Banks also typically have FTHB programs and some cities in MN even offer FTHB grants.
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Credit is important to pre-qualification, but there are lots of options like having a parent or family member cosigning for you, becoming an authorized user on a card, etc. Depending on the lender you can have credit scores as low as 620.
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