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I’m constantly in the process of trying to evaluate the inventory of fixer uppers in the suburbs south of the river.  Occasionally, I’ll venture a bit farther north into housing stock of suburbs like Bloomington, Richfield, Edina, and at times South Minneapolis.   This might mean anywhere from as far west as Shakopee to as far east as Rosemount

I look for  houses that need more than $20,000 in repairs which will build substantial equity.   Ideally I want to find a property that might gain 25% in equity after repairs .  In real estate terms that means the ARV (after repair value) will be 25% more than what cash has been invested.  I covered this concept in my Financing-Doing the Two Step Post. My criteria also requires an area with good rental demand.

This is actually very tough criteria.  But, if I find a house that meets this criteria, I know this house  will be a good opportunity to use our two step finance program to create an outstanding investment.  The whole idea is to find property where equity can be maximized very quickly.

I search a fairly large geographic area.
Currently here is what my standard south of the river search looks like:

-All single family

- Shakopee, Savage, Prior Lake, Burnsville, Lakeville, Apple Valley, Eagan, Inver Grove, and Rosemount

- 3+ bedrooms, 1+  bathrooms

-$50,000 to $160,000

That’s it.  I’ll pull up several dozen candidates  with this search, and get automatic updates from the MLS each day.  I sort through these listings to find vacant properties I think are worth a first hand look.  I don’t  like the hassle of being right on time to accommodate a home owner or renter so I rarely look at occupied properties.  I may have to change that policy, because there are definitely some good fixer upper candidates among all the short sales.

Set up your own Searches

As I mentioned I have automatic updates from the MLS based on this particular search criteria.  This update comes in the form of a daily email.   Auto updates can also be set up to be sent to your email address and use your own search criteria.   Let me know if you would like to set up your own property search and auto update.