All Forum Posts by: David C.

@David C. you have plenty of bullets. 

1) 250K private lender with a track record of paying them back

2) You have experience completing a rehab, which is probably stronger because it almost took you out. 

3) You have a track record of refinancing out of a rehab

If you're strategy is to buy, rehab, rent and refi......I believe inner Portland is the place to be. Repositioned inner Portland assets are easier to refinance because you can create better equity spread in lower cap environments. 

My question for you is how much do you "love" real estate? You're a long term buy and hold guy. I think Portland is an excellent long term hold play, which is backed by all of the institutional money flowing to our inner core and strong tertiary markets. You can be successful in many many ways, but I'm also sensing you really like inner east Portland. I get it. Inner East Portland is sexy, hip, diverse, historic, modern, grungy and full of excitement right now. I love spending days running around the neighborhoods our properties are in. It's so romantic hunting real estate becomes second nature in these areas. It's hard to get the same rush running around in the suburbs. 

If you love Portland like a lot of investors I know. Go straight to Laurelhurst, Buckman, Hawthorne, Mt Tabor, FoPo, Cully and get face to face with people that own real estate. You will find that 250k is plenty when matched with the right seller, especially if you have two years to refi. 150K down and 100K rehab can provide a ton of value. You don't even have to find "motivated" sellers to be successful. You have to find someone willing to listen, with a great asset, needing fresh ownership/management and you can make a lot of people happy simply by providing value.

If you're too busy to spend the time necessary to "hunt" for real estate opportunity, then continue doing redfin searches in lower priced neighborhoods. Portland has a ton of opportunity long term so you will be successful either way. I think many of the areas mentioned above are great ideas. @Neal Collins knocked it out of the park with his comments about FoPo, Lents  and the suburbs. Foster Blvd between 52nd and I-205 will be dramatically different in the coming years. Beaverton should find better success developing it's core and at some point suburbs will begin to form hubs with urban feel and  suburban amenities. I encourage reading Price Water House and Urban Land Institute's 2016 emerging trends for some back ground on that thought process. 

Portland Metro has too much long term demand right now (if long term demand can be measured) and too little supply to go wrong in the long run. Just keep investing in good neighborhoods and you'll do well. 

What type of tenants do you want? 

There are so many great places around Portland, like Vancouver or Milwaukie or Tigard or Hillsboro, etc., but once you narrow down your target demographic, that will inform where you look. 

But as others have said, if the numbers work out and/or you can be creative/hustle (e.g. converting a SFR to a duplex or renting the garage separately, etc.), then deals can be found almost everywhere.

If you want to be ahead of the curve, you could research expansion by big companies or institutions that are here or that are moving here, and what part of town they're moving to.  You could also research infrastructure projects in the works and whatever else you can think of that would drive growth in a certain neighborhood or town.  Demographics is another one.  What age groups are increasing in percentage and what do they like to live near?  For example, boomers will likely want to live near health care facilities while millennials might want to live near transit.  Stuff like that.  

You said you were using Redfin searches. I recommend finding things not listed on the MLS. But if you're going to use the MLS, then find an agent who has worked with investors and ask her to set up some automated searches for you. You can get creative with the search terms, because good deals are often found when the listing agent listed a property inaccurately.

@David C. your budget and flexibility with your private lender should not limit you at all. It really comes down to how do you want to source your deals? Laurelhurst, Irvington, Hawthorne, Hillsboro, Beaverton. You can use your 250K and get into all of those neighborhoods. It's just a matter of how hard you want to try and the steps you're willing to take to get there. 

@Brian Knier brings up one of the best points. Get to know your market. Don't worry about "where" worry about becoming an expert in that market segment and you will do just fine. 

For what you're working with why not try out Lents, FoPo, Gresham, or Vancouver.

I see you're in Hillsboro. Is there a reason you're not looking in your own back yard? Living in the area, I imagine you know the Hillsboro neighborhoods better than most Portland investors. That should give you a competitive advantage in recognizing a deal when you see one. I did a quick RMLS check for under $250K properties in Hillsboro and there were a few interesting possibilities even at retail. In a really quick unscientific Hillsboro rent check, I found very few decent looking 3/2s offered for less than $1500/mo.