All Forum Posts by: Ben Barr

The entry barrier for investing is pretty high in our Oregon market. The single family market even in the secondary/tertiary markets are priced out and if cashflow is your initial goal. You will be hard pressed to find something with that amount of capital that provides a positive leverage return (CoC exceeding the cost of financing).

Yes Oregon is a market that sees healthy appreciation, but from a wealth building perspective you cannot rely on that. Buying, holding and hoping is not a real estate strategy. Put your money somewhere where it is working for you with a healthy position on the yield curve.

One strategy that does work with that amount of capital is the forced appreciation play in the secondary small-plex market. To oversimply it: Acquiring a duplex with low rents and deferred maintenance. Raising rents to market, doing those fixes in theory raises the value when using the income approach. Its sort of like the soft version of a single family BRRRR. The more units you have, the easier this strategy is to forecast/project.

Consider finding a partner/additional capital and doubling your money? You're right on the cusp of capital.

I'm tracking with you on the buy, holding, and hoping strategy not being the best way! I like the idea of a forced appreciation play with the duplex though.

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Originally posted by @Sharon Beatty:

@Ben Barr I've been struggling with the same question. I live in Portland and am not finding anything that cash flows even in the greater area including Vancouver and heading down to Salem. With that said I only have about 30 K to invest so you're way ahead of me there. Please keep me posted on what you decide to do and I'll let you know what we decide on. Deal?

Deal! Added you.

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Hello BP Community,

I've been lurking through some of the threads on here and this is my first post. I'm looking for advice on my first real estate investment. My goal is to invest in a SFR or small multifamily for cash flow and hold it for awhile. I've got around 50k-100k I'd like to put toward my first deal. The problem I keep running into is that I live in Oregon and I may be wrong on this but it seems like most properties are overpriced and are more speculative appreciation plays, like in the Portland market. I'd prefer to invest closer to home, where I can drive and see the property before buying and make ongoing maintenance easier and all that. That being said, I've looked at properties in places like Kansas City and Columbus and they look much more attractive, especially as a new investor who'd prefer to risk less.

So my question to you is, if you were in my shoes starting out would you pay more and invest close to home in a pricier West Coast market, or build a "core four" team and invest OOS? Also, does anyone have any thoughts on Roofstock and whether you think its worth the time saved to use their platform for OOS investing?

If you're in Oregon, it'd be great to connect! I wish everyone luck in their investments.

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All Forum Posts by: Ben Barr

Ben Barr has started 1 posts and replied 3 times.

Post: First RE Investment - Oregon or OOS?

Post: First RE Investment - Oregon or OOS?

Post: First RE Investment - Oregon or OOS?