All Forum Posts by: Anthony Johnson

Hey William,

I just closed on a 4-plex in Portland and if you're considering the owner-occupied route, I'd suggest going with a 5% conventional loan instead of FHA (like I did). Good small multifamily deals are hard to come by right now and a conventional loan gives you a stronger offer and less requirements. I did it with a local bank and I have an investor friendly agent I can recommend if you're interested. I can't speak to how they enforce the owner-occupied requirement though - I plan to live in one of the units for a year.

Portland is a good place to invest in my opinion. You get a hybrid of cash flow and appreciation, and prices aren't as crazy as San Francisco or Seattle (i.e. other west coast cities). There are many more tenant-friendly laws you need to be aware of though, so make sure you do your homework beforehand.

AJ

@AJ Shepard I appreciate the resource. Looking forward to joining one of those events. 

@Justin Windham I appreciate the links. Ensuring that I'm making the most of BP is high in my priority list.

Thanks for the warm welcome. I'm already loving the BP community here.

@Marc Rice @Cory Carlson @Alex Mora @Joe Bauder @Julio Gonzalez

Hello BiggerPockets Community!

My name's Anthony and I'm excited to say hello to the incredible group of people in this forum. I've been listening to the podcast, reading the books, and browsing the online threads for 2-3 years now, and I'm finally in a position to take my first major step towards owning my own investment property.

Since stumbling upon the BiggerPockets podcast, I made it my goal to gain the education and save the capital required to invest in real estate. I've been conscious about my finances since graduating from college in 2016, carefully budgeting and researching investment vehicles to ultimately reach financial independence. However, it was BiggerPockets that helped me realize that real estate could super charge my goals and reach financial independence much sooner while have more ownership in my portfolio.

I've been in California all of my life, having been born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area and going to school in San Diego. Then I got a job offer that I couldn't refuse which took me to Portland, Oregon in August of 2021. I've always assumed that I'd have to invest in the Midwest or South to find decent cash flowing properties, but I recently found an investor/agent on this forum who has done amazing deals in Portland which completely changed my mindset.

Now I'm excited to share that I'm under contract on a four-plex which is in a great area of Portland, where I'll be house hacking and self-managing! I'm scheduled to close in less than three weeks and the deal seems like an great start to my budding real estate career. I'll definitely share more details after closing, and I'm looking forward to contributing to the community here. Thanks for reading and hope to connect in whatever way I can.

Anthony Johnson