All Forum Posts by: Jacob Wathen

@Michael Pendleton Rentometer is pretty hit or miss. There needs to be high inventory of rentals with similar criteria for those sites to be accurate. I would usually say it is a good start but you have to pay for a subscription if you are using it daily. 

If I were you I would just give a good property manager a call and they should be able to give you accurate numbers for specific neighborhoods within their area of expertise. 

Hello Michael, 

Most agents should have a good grasp on the rental market in their area. In Portland we do not have access to pull rental comps via the MLS. I am not sure if this varies but I believe your realtor would know best. Due to our experience realtors are typically good at running rental comps from different sources though. You can also utilize Rentometer and Hotpads to help get an idea of average rents in your area.

Hello Alex! Unfortunately I do not know of any REI associations on the Oregon Coast. I have met many serious Oregon Coast investors that travel to Portland to network and find deals though. So I would definitely suggest doing that if you see that there is a popular/interesting meet up!

If there really aren't any Oregon Coast REI associations you should definitely start one though!

@Dave Mosher that is pretty dependent on the areas that you are looking in. In Portland one of the popular tools is RentCafe. They are only in a few different cities at the moment though. I know that Rentometer and Hotpads have tools that provide average rent in more cities. 

I would suggest @Nicole B. for the Baltimore area!

@Nicole B. is an investor friendly agent in Baltimore! She would be a great contact and she is active on BP as well :) 

I agree with what everyone said about sight unseen offers! Keep financing and inspection contingencies unless your offer is so low that you think you could cover pretty much any major issue that came your way. I also agree with @Susan Moscaritolo that Lincoln City (and all of the Oregon Coast) is absolutely beautiful! I am very happy to call Oregon home :) 

@Taylor Philley I know of a couple investor friendly agents in the area. @Adam Wright is an investor friendly agent in the Dallas Ft Worth area and he is active on Bigger Pockets. Let me know if you need other suggestions! 

@Kelly Kormos don't get too scared by the flood insurance! Just factor it into your numbers and if it doesn't pan out then move on to the next one.

Hello @Kelly Kormos One of the most important things to consider is the loan you will be using (or if you are paying cash). Depending on the financing you use the numbers will be significantly different. I am also curious if you are planning on keeping the current tenants or moving into one of the units to secure a FHA loan to house hack a little bit.

Although making sure you aren't spending more than market value for the property is important but making sure the numbers work out is more important. Bigger pockets has some great tools to help you calculate the cap rate for a duplex. You should definitely receive the rent roll from the seller. Other than that schedule a time to see the home. You will need to give significant notice because of the tenants but you will definitely want to check out the interior before putting in an offer. Or make your offer contingent on interior inspection. Also walk around the neighborhood a little bit and determine what kind of renters are likely to live there.