Tips for Oregon?

[Jamie Stone]

Hi everyone,

I'm about halfway through the Rookie Bootcamp and trying to absorb as much information as possible. I've also read Ashley Kehr's new Real Estate Rookie book, and I'm reading Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, and Repeat by David Greene and will follow that with J. Scott's Estimating Rehab Costs.

I've started looking at markets in Oregon and would love any tips anyone who has invested in Oregon has on profitable markets and what strategies work. 

You will probably roll your eyes at the following statement because I'm sure all of us newbies gravitate toward it — "I've been looking at BRRRR."

BUT

I'm unsure if it is suitable for a newbie as it seems to require a solid understanding (which I lack) of both buy and hold coupled with principles from a flipping strategy. Also, as a newbie with the interest rates being what they are, the margin for error on a BRRRR now seems razor-thin. Half the people I talk to say to stop reading about it and do it, and the other half tell me to hold off until I learn more.

Is there an alternate strategy to get me in the game that works in an Oregon market? House hacking is not really in the cards with my family situation at the moment.

Note: I live near Portland in Lake Oswego but am open to considering any Market within 3-4 hours away.