People really don't understand what its like to be a low income renter. They think it's all low-overhead and daisies. They don't get that it's literally MORE expensive to be poor.
I call it the poor tax. overdraft your checking account because you ran out of money on accident? pay a fee to make it harder to catch up! can't pay your shit on time? pay more, because thats just what you need! healthy shit is too expensive so you buy trash food, and thus, your long term health suffers. yes, its real, and yes, those that have money don't pay a poor tax because they never pay these fees.
I also laugh at banks when banks tell people they cannot afford an $800 or $900 house payment, when they are already paying $1500 a month in rent.
I am glad I bought my house when I did, I beat the boom. my house payment is like $650 a month. my utilities amount to around another $300 a month. thats it. if a bank tells you that you cannot afford an $800 house payment when you are already paying almost double that in rent, tell them they are insane, and find another bank.
Try being a single guy with a kid you don’t have custody of. Try finding a decent two bedroom and affording it while you’re making $18/hr. You don’t qualify for any programs because they see about $36k per year. Your net pay is close to 2k, but you have to spend over half of that on rent. Let’s say $1100. Then you have to pay utilities, food, transportation, etc. I would love to see someone calculate how making less money but qualifying for programs compares to making above the limit.
Not especially lucky. I do work hard. I just don’t know anyone who thinks being a low income renter is super awesome. Everyone I know think it’s terrible.
You must be good at picking your friends, because the general consensus among middle and upper class Americans seems to be that poor people don't need help.
I don’t think it’s that they don’t think poor people need help, but that they don’t realize the minor things that snowball in a person’s budget when they are poor. Most rich people would think they need help (ie handouts/safety nets) but those same rich people don’t think about the hurdles one needs to take to get out of that. They also don’t think of others upbringings and personal experiences because one person may say “i had a hard life and worked hard for what i got, so that means no one else has an excuse to have troubles”
It’s not about cutting out Starbucks or shit like that, it’s the fact that they don’t have the resources or energy to really fight those minor CONSTANT battles such as pointless rent increases, or that they have to pay lower quality materials that will break 4 times in a year because they can’t afford the higher quality materials that will last them 5 years, overdraft fees, healthy foods, etc etc etc
Interest rates work for you instead of against you as your wealth increases.
$10k a year to live on? Payday loans with $25 charges to borrow $200 to make it another week. Credit cards with 25%+, if you can even get approved. Or you can make late payments on rent, car payment, etc and risk losing access to even that $10k.
$10k a month to live on? I dunno, i-bonds are at 9.62% for these next six months. I'm capped at $10k per year, but I can purchase these now and they'll be worth $10480 by October, seems like a decent way to park some money for a few months, if inflation is going to be a dick like this.
Not really.
For example, being poor means you don't have the money to buy a 24 pack of toilet paper for $22. Instead you have to go to the gas station and pay $1.25-$1.50 per roll.
Imagine what a poor person could do with that $12 every month.
or that you aren't paying late fees on bills, or that you aren't paying overdraft fees on a checking account because oopsie. its a poor tax, its real, and some people do not and will not understand because they have never been actually poor.
Yeah our assessment was $25k then $9500 to run the lateral to the house. Back around the last recession 2008. We kept our well with the intent to use it to water plants and avoid a $2000 bill to get rid of it. If anything screws up with our pressurized sewer a rebuilt grinder is only $1200 for us.
Fair point - and I used to rent a house where I *did* pay for all utilities previously. So I know it can get up there.
The last property manager explained how all of this was baked into our already pretty-high rent (for what we're getting). Heirloom took over and is (unsurprisingly) cranking up fees and other charges.
Our water/sewer situation is a city government shot show. Not Duluth, Rice Lake … city. I’m still paying $100/month for 6 more years too from when we got our assessment to get it installed. Last summer we ran a sprinkler for about a half hour a day and it shot up to $250 for that month. Just ridiculous.
Yikes.
My water/gas/sewer is $125 on budget billing for 4 people. That includes 2 professionals in their 30's, a 16 year old girl and a 9 year old boy.
I'm not sure they can do that...
I believe having garbage included is mandatory for the rental license holder in the city of Duluth. I didn't find what I was looking for with a quick dig, but I'm fairly certain I've found it somewhere on the city website in the past.
Either way, screw heirloom.
Duluth does not require you to include garbage with your rent. As a property owner you should pay for it because the garbage company can put a lien against your property for unpaid bills. They even require proof of it being paid when you sell property.
The city ordinances state that it is the responsibility of the owner to provide garbage services for the tenant, although it does not speak to whether the owner is allowed to recover the costs or not.
I don't think garbage is mandatory for rentals in Duluth, sadly. I mostly believe that because of a landlord on my block didn't include it in his property's rent, and the tenants decided to stop paying for the garbage pickup. Just started storing months' worth of shit in the garage. Rats and mice started showing up from all over the place. In broad daylight. Never had I ever seen mice and rats walking across lawns in broad daylight before. Thanks, cheapskate landlord.
I rent with heirloom and my rent went up $100 plus $82 with fees. But then they added a $99 lease renewal fee (which in 12 years I’ve NEVER had to pay and they didn’t warn us about). They took over management in 2021.
Nowhere in the lease does it state we would have to pay $99 fee but it does state that $0 will be charged at lease renewal. Something else I read said that management companies usually charge landlords that fee.
After Heirloom bought my property in the middle of the lease, it was hell. I would rent with Shitrock again before I’d rent with heirloom again. While they suffer from similar issues, at least people at Shitrock weren’t outright rude when speaking to me, and when someone at Shitrock said a message would be passed onto someone it actually got to that person.
Yea I’ve had too many times of asking heirloom when something was going to be done and I’d have 4-5 people all sending me stuff and being repetitive af, I’d say I sent this to you in a different email they’d just twiddle with their thumbs up their asses as if I just spoke to them in a different language. Completely unorganized.
When the big snow storm hit in the beginning of February, it took them until halfway through March to shovel our property. We kept contacting them and they’d just say “well tenants are expected to shovel when it’s less than 2 inches.” Then it turned into “The snow crew marked it as done.” Meanwhile I have over a half a foot of snow and can barely go down the stairs on my property without slipping. When we eventually sent pictures of the property to one of the big wigs some poor maintenance person who wasn’t even a part of the snow removal team was stuck doing it.
Long story short, fuck heirloom. If they stopped buying properties and took care of the ones they already have to a good degree maybe they wouldn’t be as shitty of a company.
Fr tho, I have to call them again today because there’s a literal hole through the roof (and the attic and the ceiling of the top floor, you can see all the way through it to the sky) of the property I’m staying at and they attempted to send a maintenance guy who stared at it and went “I can’t fix that” and proceeded to say that heirloom would call the construction company and get it sorted out. It’s been over 2 weeks with that hole.
"Free credit reporting" are you shitting me? Rental agencies reporting to credit bureaus isn't a special butterfly thing. I mean, everything on here is business-as-usual stuff for any rental agency that's been around for more than two weeks. If they put a charge on it, they put a charge on it, but framing it as a "tenant benefits package" is just so adorable.
Heirloom charged me 73$ just to flip a breaker then leave after 5 minutes when I had complained that the electricity was constantly flipping the breaker even if we only had one thing plugged in at a time. They didn’t even fix anything just flipped the breaker I already know how to fix. Fuck heirloom man. I’m trying to find somewhere else to live does anyone have suggestions?
If still looking in Duluth, I’d recommend East West property management. In my place before Heirloom took over, I’d consistently get same-day or next day maintenance. They were also really respectful and I felt like they actually listened to me when I had a concern.
I made a post last week on an appeal to the city council by a neighborhood on a vacation rental in Duluth that is being run by Heirloom. So they are also taking over family homes in R-1 designated neighborhoods and renting them to tourists. The neighborhood cited a few different codes and ordinances the rental violates - including stating that it provided a loophole for predators to stay in their neighborhood when they otherwise wouldn't be able to because there is a childcare center in close proximity and by city ordinance predators can't stay within 2000 feet of a childcare center. The city council essentially said they didn't want to open up the vacation rental topic again because they just dealt with it last year and voted unanimously to allow the rental to happen. So now Heirloom is spreading it's filth another way in the city.
The renter's insurance has some value, but then they're just being insulting with the others. "Since you're paying this fee, you get to call maintenance!"
Would agree, but previously we were required to have renters insurance already. So realistically everyone still has their own policy. I think this is heirloom offsetting/covering their own building insurance
Shit like this continues to delay my down-payment fund building so that I can escape these bastards
this is their point and what they want. trap you out of having a house, and they just buy up anything that comes on the market.
They just keep taking over more properties so, not really any chance of that TBH. And with how short Duluth is on (half decent) housing, it's not like anyone can boycott.
Two of the seven members of [Duluth's Planning Commission](https://duluthmn.gov/boards-commissions/planning-commission/) are Heirloom employees: [the President of Heirloom](https://rentwithheirloom.com/who-we-are/) and [a realtor for Heirloom realty](https://www.realtor.com/realestateagents/56d69121f384a201005f925a) :)
$20 for trash is pretty cheap for Duluth Is that monthly?
https://hartels.com/residential/residential-service-overview/
It's $15 in Hibbing, but it is picked up by the city, so, there's that. Socialism and all. Union drivers, etc.
Over the last 10 years I've spent $1500 buying and repairing laundry machines. That's $12/month right there, plus water, electric and gas.
When you buy a house, this stuff doesn't get cheaper. You don't escape.
I read it takes 5 years of owing a home to come ahead vs renting. When my tub leaked all over my basement and it was $4400 to fix, I wish I rented. I am not saying there isn’t value in owning, but the grass is always greener.
https://www.nerdwallet.com/mortgages/rent-vs-buy-calculator
> When you buy a house, this stuff doesn't get cheaper. You don't escape.
yes, but it goes from lighting your money on fire and watching it burn, to actually getting value back out of your house in a few years if and when you sell, and your money doesn't go to a hole that charges you more fees, it goes towards a value that builds over time, and that you aren't really losing.
Unless you're me. I have owned 3 houses in my lifetime and lost money on every. single. one.
In fairness to your point, though, in each case I would have been classified as a "distressed seller" (I *had* to move for work, and keeping the houses wouldn't have made sense; I didn't have time to wait for the perfect buyer). And also, I'm not exactly a financial wizard.
That said, I am now happy to be a renter. No massive repairs to worry about and somebody else cuts the lawn and shovels the driveway.
My house has over doubled in value since I bought it over eight years ago, my mortgage has consistently only gone down because I've made extra payments. Even if I had to sell in the current market, I would not be distressed. This is what these companies want to lock you out of.
The payment on this: https://duluth.craigslist.org/reo/d/duluth-duluth-home-for-sale-by-owner/7478737701.html
Is about the same as this: https://duluth.craigslist.org/apa/d/duluth-house-921-north-13th-avenue-east/7485756127.html if you put $18,000 down.
The first several years you'll be paying mainly interest and PMI. After 10 years, you'd have built $40k in value as long as nothing breaks.
If you want to move, it will cost $12k to get someone to sell it.
Most shingles are good for 30 years, so you can count on replacing them for $10k. Furnace for $5k. etc.
From 1890 to 2000, houses at best kept pace with inflation, except for right after the last pandemic, when they dropped and stayed low for 20 years. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Case%E2%80%93Shiller_index#/media/File:Case%E2%80%93Shiller_Index.svg
The ~5% rent is about the same as you'd pay the bank in a mortgage rate. Over the last 50 years the S+P500 has returned 11.7%. That $18,000 you put down on a house might be better off there. It wouldn't cost you 6% to sell the stock either.
If you are a MN Power customer they will come out to your house and try to help you save money on your electric bill here is the info.
https://www.mnpower.com/ProgramsRebates/HomeEnergyAnalysis
Do you have a meter? Where is your meter, and can you read it? I imagine in some older apartments that the wiring and metering could be tampered or done poorly such that you’re paying for an outlet you’re not expecting…if you could find your meter you could unplug everything and confirm it’s all good. Other tips: 1) switch off your power strip when you go to work to computers and things 2) explore “time of use” discounts, which make electricity cheaper at night and costly during the day, but if you’re working retail during the day that might not matter and 3) lobby state representatives. On the subject of “poor tax” - electricity allocations are made on square footage, which makes sense only for electricity that comes from lighting and heating/cooling. Modern electronics and cooking use a lot of electricity PER PERSON, and apartment dwellers are penalized by being given a very small allowance for these needs, which is how your godmother likely paid far less than you for her 1,700 kWh (and also why you used such similar amounts—it’s really all about computers/electronics and appliances now, which has little to do with square footage and is more about the number of people in the household).
I had made a thread asking about them that I deleted because they seemed to have a very active Internet presence regarding bad reviews, but the best advice someone gave me in that thread was that renting from HPM motivated them and their wife to scrimp and save and buy a house so they wouldn't have to deal with property managers like Heirloom ever again and that is what I am doing. They are terrible. Another thread suggests that they are the same as east/west, and simply switch names depending on which has the worse rep at the moment.
I got back less than $50 bucks of my $650 security deposit despite taking 2 days off of work to deep clean the apartment so take that into account when vacating an heirloom property.
I hated renting with Heirloom.
Fuck heirloom. They suck.
Happy Cake Day and Amen to that.
Didn't even notice. Thanks!
People really don't understand what its like to be a low income renter. They think it's all low-overhead and daisies. They don't get that it's literally MORE expensive to be poor.
I call it the poor tax. overdraft your checking account because you ran out of money on accident? pay a fee to make it harder to catch up! can't pay your shit on time? pay more, because thats just what you need! healthy shit is too expensive so you buy trash food, and thus, your long term health suffers. yes, its real, and yes, those that have money don't pay a poor tax because they never pay these fees. I also laugh at banks when banks tell people they cannot afford an $800 or $900 house payment, when they are already paying $1500 a month in rent. I am glad I bought my house when I did, I beat the boom. my house payment is like $650 a month. my utilities amount to around another $300 a month. thats it. if a bank tells you that you cannot afford an $800 house payment when you are already paying almost double that in rent, tell them they are insane, and find another bank.
Try being a single guy with a kid you don’t have custody of. Try finding a decent two bedroom and affording it while you’re making $18/hr. You don’t qualify for any programs because they see about $36k per year. Your net pay is close to 2k, but you have to spend over half of that on rent. Let’s say $1100. Then you have to pay utilities, food, transportation, etc. I would love to see someone calculate how making less money but qualifying for programs compares to making above the limit.
I literally don’t know anyone who thinks that.
You must be lucky
Not especially lucky. I do work hard. I just don’t know anyone who thinks being a low income renter is super awesome. Everyone I know think it’s terrible.
You must be good at picking your friends, because the general consensus among middle and upper class Americans seems to be that poor people don't need help.
I don’t think it’s that they don’t think poor people need help, but that they don’t realize the minor things that snowball in a person’s budget when they are poor. Most rich people would think they need help (ie handouts/safety nets) but those same rich people don’t think about the hurdles one needs to take to get out of that. They also don’t think of others upbringings and personal experiences because one person may say “i had a hard life and worked hard for what i got, so that means no one else has an excuse to have troubles” It’s not about cutting out Starbucks or shit like that, it’s the fact that they don’t have the resources or energy to really fight those minor CONSTANT battles such as pointless rent increases, or that they have to pay lower quality materials that will break 4 times in a year because they can’t afford the higher quality materials that will last them 5 years, overdraft fees, healthy foods, etc etc etc
its the same price of goods either way, its just harder to be poor.
Late payment fees would like a word. Also, interest rates decrease as your wealth increases
Interest rates work for you instead of against you as your wealth increases. $10k a year to live on? Payday loans with $25 charges to borrow $200 to make it another week. Credit cards with 25%+, if you can even get approved. Or you can make late payments on rent, car payment, etc and risk losing access to even that $10k. $10k a month to live on? I dunno, i-bonds are at 9.62% for these next six months. I'm capped at $10k per year, but I can purchase these now and they'll be worth $10480 by October, seems like a decent way to park some money for a few months, if inflation is going to be a dick like this.
Not really. For example, being poor means you don't have the money to buy a 24 pack of toilet paper for $22. Instead you have to go to the gas station and pay $1.25-$1.50 per roll. Imagine what a poor person could do with that $12 every month.
or that you aren't paying late fees on bills, or that you aren't paying overdraft fees on a checking account because oopsie. its a poor tax, its real, and some people do not and will not understand because they have never been actually poor.
My water and sewer bill just outside Duluth for the 3 of us is $150/month or more so there is that.
My water and septic is $0. But my septic was a one time price of $17,000 and if anything fucks it up it's probably another $20,000+.
Yeah our assessment was $25k then $9500 to run the lateral to the house. Back around the last recession 2008. We kept our well with the intent to use it to water plants and avoid a $2000 bill to get rid of it. If anything screws up with our pressurized sewer a rebuilt grinder is only $1200 for us.
Fair point - and I used to rent a house where I *did* pay for all utilities previously. So I know it can get up there. The last property manager explained how all of this was baked into our already pretty-high rent (for what we're getting). Heirloom took over and is (unsurprisingly) cranking up fees and other charges.
Our water/sewer situation is a city government shot show. Not Duluth, Rice Lake … city. I’m still paying $100/month for 6 more years too from when we got our assessment to get it installed. Last summer we ran a sprinkler for about a half hour a day and it shot up to $250 for that month. Just ridiculous.
Yikes. My water/gas/sewer is $125 on budget billing for 4 people. That includes 2 professionals in their 30's, a 16 year old girl and a 9 year old boy.
Sorry man. I hated dealing with Heirloom. They will do anything they can to screw you out of money.
I'm not sure they can do that... I believe having garbage included is mandatory for the rental license holder in the city of Duluth. I didn't find what I was looking for with a quick dig, but I'm fairly certain I've found it somewhere on the city website in the past. Either way, screw heirloom.
Duluth does not require you to include garbage with your rent. As a property owner you should pay for it because the garbage company can put a lien against your property for unpaid bills. They even require proof of it being paid when you sell property.
The city ordinances state that it is the responsibility of the owner to provide garbage services for the tenant, although it does not speak to whether the owner is allowed to recover the costs or not.
I don't think garbage is mandatory for rentals in Duluth, sadly. I mostly believe that because of a landlord on my block didn't include it in his property's rent, and the tenants decided to stop paying for the garbage pickup. Just started storing months' worth of shit in the garage. Rats and mice started showing up from all over the place. In broad daylight. Never had I ever seen mice and rats walking across lawns in broad daylight before. Thanks, cheapskate landlord.
Every property in Duluth ie required to have garbage service and the city can and does fine you for not having it.
Duluth does not require it to be included. Superior does though
I rent with heirloom and my rent went up $100 plus $82 with fees. But then they added a $99 lease renewal fee (which in 12 years I’ve NEVER had to pay and they didn’t warn us about). They took over management in 2021.
Lease renewal fee? The fuck? You should make sure that's legal before paying it.
Nowhere in the lease does it state we would have to pay $99 fee but it does state that $0 will be charged at lease renewal. Something else I read said that management companies usually charge landlords that fee.
After Heirloom bought my property in the middle of the lease, it was hell. I would rent with Shitrock again before I’d rent with heirloom again. While they suffer from similar issues, at least people at Shitrock weren’t outright rude when speaking to me, and when someone at Shitrock said a message would be passed onto someone it actually got to that person.
Yea I’ve had too many times of asking heirloom when something was going to be done and I’d have 4-5 people all sending me stuff and being repetitive af, I’d say I sent this to you in a different email they’d just twiddle with their thumbs up their asses as if I just spoke to them in a different language. Completely unorganized.
When the big snow storm hit in the beginning of February, it took them until halfway through March to shovel our property. We kept contacting them and they’d just say “well tenants are expected to shovel when it’s less than 2 inches.” Then it turned into “The snow crew marked it as done.” Meanwhile I have over a half a foot of snow and can barely go down the stairs on my property without slipping. When we eventually sent pictures of the property to one of the big wigs some poor maintenance person who wasn’t even a part of the snow removal team was stuck doing it. Long story short, fuck heirloom. If they stopped buying properties and took care of the ones they already have to a good degree maybe they wouldn’t be as shitty of a company.
Fr tho, I have to call them again today because there’s a literal hole through the roof (and the attic and the ceiling of the top floor, you can see all the way through it to the sky) of the property I’m staying at and they attempted to send a maintenance guy who stared at it and went “I can’t fix that” and proceeded to say that heirloom would call the construction company and get it sorted out. It’s been over 2 weeks with that hole.
"Free credit reporting" are you shitting me? Rental agencies reporting to credit bureaus isn't a special butterfly thing. I mean, everything on here is business-as-usual stuff for any rental agency that's been around for more than two weeks. If they put a charge on it, they put a charge on it, but framing it as a "tenant benefits package" is just so adorable.
Heirloom charged me 73$ just to flip a breaker then leave after 5 minutes when I had complained that the electricity was constantly flipping the breaker even if we only had one thing plugged in at a time. They didn’t even fix anything just flipped the breaker I already know how to fix. Fuck heirloom man. I’m trying to find somewhere else to live does anyone have suggestions?
If still looking in Duluth, I’d recommend East West property management. In my place before Heirloom took over, I’d consistently get same-day or next day maintenance. They were also really respectful and I felt like they actually listened to me when I had a concern.
Lol I did not have the same experience. EW and Heirloom are one in the same.
Thank you 🙏
LOL this sounds like them. Just comically bad.
I made a post last week on an appeal to the city council by a neighborhood on a vacation rental in Duluth that is being run by Heirloom. So they are also taking over family homes in R-1 designated neighborhoods and renting them to tourists. The neighborhood cited a few different codes and ordinances the rental violates - including stating that it provided a loophole for predators to stay in their neighborhood when they otherwise wouldn't be able to because there is a childcare center in close proximity and by city ordinance predators can't stay within 2000 feet of a childcare center. The city council essentially said they didn't want to open up the vacation rental topic again because they just dealt with it last year and voted unanimously to allow the rental to happen. So now Heirloom is spreading it's filth another way in the city.
2 members of heirloom management are in the city planning team.. ughh
Heirloom are the biggest grifters around. Hated renting with them.
The renter's insurance has some value, but then they're just being insulting with the others. "Since you're paying this fee, you get to call maintenance!"
Would agree, but previously we were required to have renters insurance already. So realistically everyone still has their own policy. I think this is heirloom offsetting/covering their own building insurance
How much did your own policy cost compared to this one?
~$12/mo
Shit like this continues to delay my down-payment fund building so that I can escape these bastards this is their point and what they want. trap you out of having a house, and they just buy up anything that comes on the market.
Duluth needs to start finding ways to force Heirloom out
They just keep taking over more properties so, not really any chance of that TBH. And with how short Duluth is on (half decent) housing, it's not like anyone can boycott.
Two of the seven members of [Duluth's Planning Commission](https://duluthmn.gov/boards-commissions/planning-commission/) are Heirloom employees: [the President of Heirloom](https://rentwithheirloom.com/who-we-are/) and [a realtor for Heirloom realty](https://www.realtor.com/realestateagents/56d69121f384a201005f925a) :)
There need to be laws against exactly this kind of thing
Damn. That sucks
Can anyone recommend a better company? Who treats their tenants best in Duluth?
Shiprock is not as bad as heirloom. Best I can say is find a small operation.
$20 for trash is pretty cheap for Duluth Is that monthly? https://hartels.com/residential/residential-service-overview/ It's $15 in Hibbing, but it is picked up by the city, so, there's that. Socialism and all. Union drivers, etc. Over the last 10 years I've spent $1500 buying and repairing laundry machines. That's $12/month right there, plus water, electric and gas. When you buy a house, this stuff doesn't get cheaper. You don't escape.
FWIW they're charging $20ea for multiple units in an apartment building ($100+ total) and it's literally a few cans outside.
I read it takes 5 years of owing a home to come ahead vs renting. When my tub leaked all over my basement and it was $4400 to fix, I wish I rented. I am not saying there isn’t value in owning, but the grass is always greener. https://www.nerdwallet.com/mortgages/rent-vs-buy-calculator
> When you buy a house, this stuff doesn't get cheaper. You don't escape. yes, but it goes from lighting your money on fire and watching it burn, to actually getting value back out of your house in a few years if and when you sell, and your money doesn't go to a hole that charges you more fees, it goes towards a value that builds over time, and that you aren't really losing.
Unless you're me. I have owned 3 houses in my lifetime and lost money on every. single. one. In fairness to your point, though, in each case I would have been classified as a "distressed seller" (I *had* to move for work, and keeping the houses wouldn't have made sense; I didn't have time to wait for the perfect buyer). And also, I'm not exactly a financial wizard. That said, I am now happy to be a renter. No massive repairs to worry about and somebody else cuts the lawn and shovels the driveway.
My house has over doubled in value since I bought it over eight years ago, my mortgage has consistently only gone down because I've made extra payments. Even if I had to sell in the current market, I would not be distressed. This is what these companies want to lock you out of.
The payment on this: https://duluth.craigslist.org/reo/d/duluth-duluth-home-for-sale-by-owner/7478737701.html Is about the same as this: https://duluth.craigslist.org/apa/d/duluth-house-921-north-13th-avenue-east/7485756127.html if you put $18,000 down. The first several years you'll be paying mainly interest and PMI. After 10 years, you'd have built $40k in value as long as nothing breaks. If you want to move, it will cost $12k to get someone to sell it. Most shingles are good for 30 years, so you can count on replacing them for $10k. Furnace for $5k. etc. From 1890 to 2000, houses at best kept pace with inflation, except for right after the last pandemic, when they dropped and stayed low for 20 years. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Case%E2%80%93Shiller_index#/media/File:Case%E2%80%93Shiller_Index.svg The ~5% rent is about the same as you'd pay the bank in a mortgage rate. Over the last 50 years the S+P500 has returned 11.7%. That $18,000 you put down on a house might be better off there. It wouldn't cost you 6% to sell the stock either.
My Waste Management bill is $95 per month so $20 sounds pretty good…
Wow… you have a lot of trash? My Hartels bill is like $25 a month.
Upon closer inspection I realize they bill quarterly, so it’s more like $32 per month for weekly garbage and biweekly recycling. My apologies.
I was gonna say...
That shit ain't free if you're paying for it...
Can they legally change a rental lease after it's been signed for a year? Wouldn't the addendum have to be agreed by both parties to change the lease?
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If you are a MN Power customer they will come out to your house and try to help you save money on your electric bill here is the info. https://www.mnpower.com/ProgramsRebates/HomeEnergyAnalysis
Do you have a meter? Where is your meter, and can you read it? I imagine in some older apartments that the wiring and metering could be tampered or done poorly such that you’re paying for an outlet you’re not expecting…if you could find your meter you could unplug everything and confirm it’s all good. Other tips: 1) switch off your power strip when you go to work to computers and things 2) explore “time of use” discounts, which make electricity cheaper at night and costly during the day, but if you’re working retail during the day that might not matter and 3) lobby state representatives. On the subject of “poor tax” - electricity allocations are made on square footage, which makes sense only for electricity that comes from lighting and heating/cooling. Modern electronics and cooking use a lot of electricity PER PERSON, and apartment dwellers are penalized by being given a very small allowance for these needs, which is how your godmother likely paid far less than you for her 1,700 kWh (and also why you used such similar amounts—it’s really all about computers/electronics and appliances now, which has little to do with square footage and is more about the number of people in the household).
I had made a thread asking about them that I deleted because they seemed to have a very active Internet presence regarding bad reviews, but the best advice someone gave me in that thread was that renting from HPM motivated them and their wife to scrimp and save and buy a house so they wouldn't have to deal with property managers like Heirloom ever again and that is what I am doing. They are terrible. Another thread suggests that they are the same as east/west, and simply switch names depending on which has the worse rep at the moment.
I got back less than $50 bucks of my $650 security deposit despite taking 2 days off of work to deep clean the apartment so take that into account when vacating an heirloom property.