All Forum Posts by: Carly Franklin

Hi @Derek Williams I'm also looking to get into MHP investing. Are you planning on buying an existing park or developing one? Good luck and welcome to the BP community! Be sure to share when you find your first deal, I'd love to hear how it works out for you.

@Carl E.

@Carl E. - thanks for that podcast recommendation.

I'll be there! 

Thanks @Jill DeWit! I'm happy to be here on BP.

@Say Teoh - thank you for the welcome! You should come down and join everyone at the Green Dragon next week! And @Gerard Lester - looking forward to connecting at the Green Dragon so we can hear more about what you do!

@Jay Hinrichs Lol, I guess I should have read your profile before I asked that! Sounds like you're a good man to know if we get into Timber. That's great!

Hi @Robert Laird - We are definitely going to be at the Green Dragon on the 19th! I was actually just making childcare arrangements for that night so that I could be there as well as my husband. I'll look forward to connecting in person, and thanks for letting me know!

@Jay Hinrichs thanks for that - that's good to know about the sub to in Oregon. I have been focusing on areas outside of PDX primarily, and have been looking at creative financing options. I've been a little turned off by things I've heard about the Portland market - I have heard stories about massive cash offers coming in above asking price, and bidding wars, and other scary things. But is that all accurate? Is it that tough to invest in the metro area right now?

We actually don't have enough timber to make it viable - I wish we did though! Sounds like a great deal you had in Vernonia! Did you have to replant? My understanding was that Oregon had laws in place regarding usage of timber land and replanting, but I don't really know a lot about it. Did you have a logging company take a look at the property before you bought, or did you just know it was a good investment?

Hi @Jay Hinrichs ! Thanks for telling me about RareBird. I see that they hold their meetups at Lucky Labrador - I'll always accept any excuse to visit a good brew pub with good people.  

I've actually been reading up on timber. We have a small amount on our own property that we're interested in selling, I never thought of it as an investment strategy, but that's a very interesting thought. 

We were considering getting to know an attorney for purposes of navigating creative financing like "subject-to" deals. What's your take on having a relationship with an attorney for those purposes?

Hello Erica!

I lived in Puerto Rico for 4 years and I have family who still live there and own property. My husband and I are also very interested in investing there! I'd love to know if anyone else on BiggerPockets is investing there as well. While I'm NOT an expert - here are some of the reasons I'm interested in Puerto Rico, and you might find them interesting as well:

What I hear about Puerto Rico from friends and family is very positive. They are currently working towards statehood. They have completely re-branded their tourism campaign and they are known now as the "All Star Island" because they are reaching out to high end tourists. There was an article in the New York Times about it not that long ago. Disney is also about to move in on the east end of the island which will change the economic situation drastically. They will be bringing cruise ships into the deep water port, and I'm not sure what else - but since it's Disney, I'm sure it will draw people. The filming industry is picking up too - all of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies were filmed there, and there is always some TV show filming as well. I think Puerto Rico is definitely on an economic upswing right now! And I would look at the Fajardo and Luquillo areas in addition to San Juan. The prices are even lower, and that's the east end where Disney is going in. It's also where the rain forest is, and the bio bay, and a lot of your other major tourist draws - but there aren't a lot of places to stay. I lived in Fajardo and my parents run a boat club there now. 

Do you speak Spanish? Everyone in Puerto Rico speaks English, but if you speak Spanish, that gives you a major advantage. I do know that getting paperwork of any sort done takes extra effort in Puerto Rico, so be prepared to work through some frustrations - but on the positive side - that's probably one of the reasons why other people aren't scooping up real estate there already!

So that's my two-cents worth! Good luck on investing, I'd love to hear about it if you guys end up investing there, keep me posted!

@Dave Visaya, @Mushfiq S. and @Wayne Olson and Richard Warner - Thank you all for the warm welcome! Good luck to you Mushfiq on the condo - is this your first investment? How long did it take you between learning about investment and finding your first deal? 

Wayne - from your perspective as a broker, is being a licensed real estate agent an advantage for a new investor? I see that you have your own brokerage and a lot of experience, but for a brand new investor, would it be worth it in this area to go and get a license in anticipation of investing? I've read that it's helpful to have a license, but  then I read this post on the BP blog, and each of the 6 points it made mirrored my concerns about getting a license. I'd love to get your thoughts. 

@Richard Warner - It'd be great to connect with you guys - we were definitely planning to come to the next networking event - I think it's next week on the 19th? We'll look for you there if you plan on attending. We have been thinking that we'd prefer to get started with small multifamily homes - a duplex or triplex maybe. But we'd consider the right single family home as well.