New Investor in Portland

[Brian Armstrong]

Hi all - my name is Brian Armstrong, I am a new real estate investor in the Portland area as the title states. I just wanted to introduce myself and start detailing the steps I am taking to get started.

A brief background - I grew up in a family that owned several rental properties and my high school job was doing demo/landscaping/remodels for my dad. I have been interested in and researching real estate for the better part of a decade, but only recently reached a point in my life where I feel I'm ready to jump in.

My long term strategy is buy and hold with large multifamily properties and BRRR with smaller multifamilies, but I am currently priced out of these markets. My short term plan, therefore, is to flip houses to build capital (in addition to continuing my job, which allows me to save ~$20k/year for investing). My primary strategy is currently to buy from the MLS and I have been analyzing 3 deals a day to try and get a stronger understanding of our market.

So far I have talked to 14 local lenders to start building those relationships and find out what different lenders have to offer. My goal this week is to apply for a HELOC (I have ~$80k in equity) and I'm hoping to get a 95% LTV on my HELOC. I also have about $30k in cash, but $15k of that is an emergency fund. I've also gotten pre-approval from a hard money lender. Once I have a HELOC, I will start discussions with my realtor to see if he will be a good fit for my investments (he was awesome as a realtor for my primary, just not sure if he will be great for flipping) and if not I will start looking for other realtors and then hopefully will start touring properties next month. I plan to get 3 quotes from contractors prior to closing for any properties that I'm interested in and my goal is to profit $30k minimum per flip.

Some questions I have:

1) Are you guys finding deals on the MLS? I see lots of deals on the MLS but they are priced $20k+ over what I would be willing to pay for the most part. I have seen 1-2 properties on the MLS that look like good deals at their listing price.

2) If not MLS, where are you finding deals?

3) Are there properties or areas of town to avoid? I have lived in Portland for 5 years and there are no areas I'm afraid to be in, but for a flip I need to make sure that the house will sell quickly.

If any experienced investors from the area are reading this, any input, tips, or advise are welcome! Also any wholesalers are welcome to contact me.

Take care everybody and good luck!

Brian