Hey Everyone!
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
My name is John and I am new to R.E. investing and a recent new member of B.P. I hail from Tigard (just SE of Portland, still in metroplex), but recently bought a new primary residence with my wife in Lake Oswego's Mountain Park neighborhood. I'm originally from Southern Oregon (Roseburg), went to college at Oregon State University (GO BEAVS!) and did what any good Oregonian kid does and majored in Forest Products and got an MBA to boot. :) I landed what I thought to be the dream job at my childhood job of Roseburg Forest Products, one of the largest privately held timber products company in the U.S. I was the Technical Director (managed Quality and product engineering) for 5 1/2 years. Then (thanks to the prodding of one of my employees) I realized that what I was making in Roseburg was nothing close to what I could earn in management in the Portland area. Furthermore, my 28-yr old life was in a stall. Not much dating prospects in Roseburg, not much ability to set roots there. So I did the bold thing and quit, sold my house (more on that later), and moved to Portland (Happy Valley to be exact) to live in the basement of my parents condo.
FIRST REAL ESTATE PURCHASE
If I had been a savvy investor at the time I would have done differently with my first R.E. investment. I bought a house severely below cost (but well above market) in 2011. I bought for 240, and sold in 2015 for 290. Decent appreciation, but the market median in that town (Winston) was only 110! I did a lot of work on the house too. Oh well, decent chunk of change coming out of that.
THE CRAZY YEAR
Once in Portland, I ended up landing a job (current employer) in Tualatin on 4/18/2016. I also met my wife in May last year. Then we got a house together in Tigard (current residence, actually it was a flip that we bought!) in September, set a date for the next summer for getting married in early October, found out we were pregnant in late October, ended up getting married in December, wife lost her job in May while entering third trimester (!), and our son was born healthy and strong on 6/22 of this year! Crazy year, huh?
FINANCIAL NEEDS
Well, we quickly came to the realization that we wouldn't be able to maintain on just 1 income. My employer (small business) doesn't offer health insurance, has limited vacation time, and isn't very flexibly on salary increases. That's when we stumbled upon Real Estate as a viable option for a career change and long-term wealth building.
THE FIRST STEPS IN RE INVESTING
Since that decision point (7/26/17) I have done tons of book research, made contact with 3 realtors that are finding deals for me, have a private lender that is willing to finance for me. I have offered on 10 properties, but none have taken. Portland (as many know) is a VERY HOT market, but its beginning to cool. I just want to make sure that, as a newbie investor, I am very cautious and OVERESTIMATE my costs as opposed to underestimating and losing my drawers. I understand that that has taken my price point way out of the game, but I am trying to hold to my guns (much to the shagrin of my realtor friends). I'm a man of faith, and trust that the right property will come along at the right time.
My strategy is to part ways with my W-2 employment after that first succesful flip (or 2/15/18, whichever comes first). RE will be my full time gig. Long term strategy is BRRRR and multi-family properties.
I have a very strong purpose and WHY STATEMENT and I am super excited about meeting, networking, and just dunking myself into the industry with all that I have.
Feel free to send colleague requests and write me back! If you're in the Portland area and 'in the game', I'd love to meet and pick your brain. "The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice"
Cheers!
John W.
