All Forum Posts by: Irving Casas

I help clients in Portland, Oregon with their STR. Some STR owners monitor the cleaning cost of competing STR in their area. They then titrate their nightly rental rates and cleaning cost to compete. Best of luck investing!

@Mark Ross

There are tons of stories on BP podcast of real estate investors who were repeatedly told no by a few lenders eventually they found a lender willing to finance their deal. I see 3 lenders have responded to you directly, these lenders are a great place to start. Best of luck investing!

@Lewyt McGrath

PortlandMaps.com has a track record of owners drawing up plans with a pencil and simple printing paper. If this city allows this go for it's by far the cheapest.

Alternatively, you can pay an architecture firm to draw up the plans. I work as a realtor in Oregon. My clients have used Harmony Decor in Portland with good results. 

Can you elaborate a bit on your permitting experience with the city when you had the sewer lines pipes dug and installed? How long did the city take to permit the new sewer line? Did your plumbing contractor, pull the permits for you?

Best of luck!

This is good advice. As a landlord we must keep track record of communication with tenants. The tenant could have a case that permission was implied by allowing it to happen. Do you use on online template to give tenants notice of a lease agreement infraction? 

@Luke Stewart Great working analyzing this deal. House hacking is an excellent way to offset expensive rents in popular cities. When I advise my real estate clients on house hacking, I make sure the home has plenty of parking, bathrooms and cabinet space for their future tenants. How has the parking situation worked out for you?

 Melissa-

Thank you for your suggestions. I'm going to use your semi-annual inspections strategy. I'm going to do 2 inspections a year. I've found that as the seasons changes the home needs new upkeep for example in the summertime the bushes and grass need more attention. 

 Justin- Being attentive my tenants request is very important. Especially for safety issues such as a malfuncting stove. After being a landlord for 2 years I've been able to find handyman who can respond to maintenance request quickly. 

One way to find deals below market value is to look on the listing websites for homes that have been on market longer than 30 days. These sellers will be more inclined to lower the price or provide seller concessions such as closing cost. Another way is to focus on a certain area of Michigan or Puerto Rico you would like to live in and buy a home that needs rehab work directly from a seller. You can find a seller who is interested in selling off market using strategies such as driving for dollars or subject to deals. Best of luck!

Gavin-

One financing aspect that you may not be considering is counting the cash flow from your first two homes, to offset the mortgage of your 3rd investment property. Most parts of Florida have high rents, you would also offset the high cost of rent by subsiding your mortgage by housing hacking or buying another multifamily property. In Florida David Greene is big advocate of turning garages into ADU's. Best of luck investing!

In 2020 after months of listening to BiggerPockets and analyzing deals. I focused on buying a duplex in Portland, Oregon.  On February 8th, 2021 I bought a duplex for $388,000. The tenants who were on a yearlong lease were paying $1,300.  I work as a realtor and night shift at a hospital as a respiratory therapist, I don't have my own family. Once I moved into the vacant side of the duplex, I realized I still only needed a room to sleep. I had reversed house hacked my entire adult life to save for my downpayment.  I rented the vacant room for $725.  My mortgage is $1750. My expenses include taxes, home insurance, water/sewer, 5% for vacancy and 10% for capital expenditures and maintenance. I can now save my entire paycheck and commission checks to save for the purchase of my next investment property. Even though I work quite a bit, I still find time for yoga in my backyard, snowboarding 1 hour away from my home, I'm 15 minutes from 3 beautiful rivers and 1.5 hours from the Oregon coast. Portland is a wonderful place to live. 

My tenants have lived in the duplex for 20 years and they are great. They treat the duplex as if it was their own home. 
Bigger pockets community, what advice do you have to keep a long-term tenant happy?