All Forum Posts by: Kari Corbin

Polly Gage Welcome to BP! Sounds like you are on the right track! The NW REIA has a meeting every other month in Beaverton focused on Financial Freedom for Women in real estate. It's a great opportunity to learn about different strategies and network with some great people involved in all aspects of real estate investing. Wholesalers, landlords, flippers, realtors, lenders etc. I believe the next one is the second week in July. Best of luck in your real estate endeavors!

Ricardo Olea in my opinion Quickbooks has very versatile functionality and is very user friendly. It's what I use for my own businesses as well as multiple real estate and construction clients. There are also some great CRM software programs that integrate with Quickbooks like Results and Salesforce. Many people don't realize all of the great third party apps that integrate with Quickbooks to make record keeping and tracking more convenient. Tally is another one. It enables you to scan receipts from your phone and it's OCR capability "reads" pertinent information and integrates into Quickbooks eliminating a lot of data entry and paper records. Just food for thought as you grow your business! Best of luck to you!

Andrew Graziano We recently used the site www.findtheseller.com to find the owner of a vacant house. We just had our offer accepted and got a great deal in the Portland metro area. Once you have the name of the owner by pulling tax records or deed, try using a site like this for detailed info. Don't give up... You can do it with some work!

Congratulations on getting licensed! I obtained my Broker's License last year for the same reason. I went with a brokerage that offered a small flat transaction fee and it has been great! No desk fees or other costs involved other than my E & O Insurance and MLS, NAR dues. I am able to keep most of my commission and base my commission depending on the transaction. If you would like more information please feel free to PM me.

I agree with Robert...I have used Homeadvisor in the past and have had very good luck!  I can also recommend a painter we just used on a flip that did a great job for us on interior and exterior paint and refinishing all the cabinets in the house.  If you're interested feel free to PM me for contact info.  Best of luck!

I'm interested in hearing others experiences with rehabbing and flipping 70's style split level entry houses?  I personally don't like them but they have great square footage and we've found many of them in some really solid older neighborhoods.  What is your opinion on this floor plan?  Are they more difficult to sell?  Any feedback from experienced rehabbers would be greatly appreciated! 

We would be interested, Lisa!  We just sold one in Clackamas County and are looking for our next projects. Currently looking in the Washington and Clackamas Counties.  Would love to hear about any opportunities you come across.  Please put us on your list of buyers.

@mikealder I've had pretty good experiences with Odesk and Fiverr. I've used both for doing marketing pieces, graphics, logos etc. I found it's best to be really clear in your expectations on the project including deadlines and payment. On Odesk you can "interview" the candidates and ask specific questions to be able to get a feel for their expertise. Odesk makes it very easy to communicate regularly with the VA's and I've found that they have been very good at updating me with their progress and asking questions when needed. Best of luck!

@Timothy Edwards Thanks for the welcome, Tim! I agree, the amount of information can create more questions and analysis paralysis. But reading the forums and articles here where peers are making deals and sharing their success stories and challenges is comforting and educational.

We haven't looked to Vancouver yet, but hear it's hot right now too. We've been focusing our efforts on the Hillsboro/Beaverton area as well as our home turf area of Molalla/Canby.

Best of luck to you on your first deal! See you around the forums :)

Just wanted to introduce myself a little more formally. I found BP late last year while searching for a way to screen tenants for our rental house and have been addicted ever since. There is such a wealth of information here!

Professionally speaking I am an accountant with 20 years of experience in construction, real estate and both commercial and residential property management. I guess my analytical nature and entrepreneurial spirit have always kept me interested in real estate investing.

My other half and I have dabbled in real estate for many years using our personal residences to either build and sell or fix and sell and have recently decided to get more serious about our end game and start investing in actual investment properties. Our short term goal is to do a couple of fix and flips a year to build capital to invest in buy and hold SFR's and small multi families. Our long term goal is to build a portfolio of rentals to provide income to retire in a little over 20 years. All while working in our respective careers. :)

I look forward to making connections here in our local Portland metro area and building long term relationships with other investors, wholesalers, mentors and private lenders.

Last but certainly not least, I want to give a huge shout out to Bigger Pockets for the amazing job on this site and the BP Podcasts. I have spent many hours over the last few months listening to podcasts and reading forums and blogs. It is such an amazing resource and I am so glad I stumbled across it! Thank you Josh and Brandon for all your efforts!