429 2nd Avenue E, Shakopee, MN 55379

A rent check can help cover your mortgage at this Shakopee duplex, set a few blocks from downtown on a deep lot shaded by mature maples. A covered front porch faces the street, and a detached two-car garage opens onto the alley. The main level has two bedrooms, an eat-in kitchen with white cabinets and a stainless double sink, a full bath with a tub-shower and tile surround, and stacked laundry inside the unit.

Upstairs, the second two-bedroom unit has white shaker cabinets, stone-look counters, a gas range, a private full bath, and a living room finished in warm knotty pine. Both units are vacant, freshly painted, and carpeted, and each has its own electric meter, which keeps utilities and rent easy to sort out.

Live in one side and rent the other, or rent both. Two-bedroom rents nearby run around $1,500, so the second unit could cover a meaningful share of a monthly payment. Gravel parking sits beside the garage, and there is plenty of yard to work with. Downtown Shakopee shops and restaurants are an easy walk. Highway 169, Canterbury Park, and the Minnesota River are a short drive away.