All Forum Posts by: Lisa Thoele

@Kyle Ward   I have found that in general I cannot compete with buyers on RMLS in the Portland area.  If its financiable it will be scooped up by a retail buyer.  If its a cash only deal another investor who is comfortable with different metrics will purchase it for more than works for me.  Usually the wholesale deals don't work for me either as I use contractors and private money.  I have been endlessly frustrated by this so I feel your pain.  It has made me get more creative and consider what other strategies I could switch to.  Although I know its quite controverial and being a licensed broker I have my own thoughts on this topic but have you tried working through a wholesaler?  Or maybe its time to try doing a little of your own marketing?  Driving for dollars maybe?  Best of luck!!

@Chris Blackburn  You might check out these guys...

https://rosschapin.com/projects/pocket-neighborhoo...

Salish Ponds is in Fairview and they are doing another one in Gresham.  

Super interesting. 

@Micah Shelton what a cute house!  I'm not currently working in that area so take this with a grain of salt but it looks like that side yard has great potential.  Could you just do private fence on that side and forgo the deck and door?  From years of working with buyers, in general I always heard that they didn't necessarily like to go through a bedroom to get to the yard  - you have enough bedrooms I'm sure someone would probably turn that room into a den/office.  I am wondering if a nice privacy fence would do the trick?  Not sure what the code is for how high the city will let you go with a fence on a corner lot...best wishes!  I'm sure @Mike Nuss has some great thoughts.

Hello @Chris Blackburn I have been wanting to do this in Yamhill County for about two years. I just can't seem to figure out where to put it with the zoning and SDC issues. Would love to chat more about it if you are ever up to it. I go to the REIA meetings in Salem and would be happy to meet for coffee sometime. Have you seen the development in Salem near Enchanted Forest?

@Patrick Sloan There is a list of approved education providers on the Oregon Real Estate Agency's website. I think that the ones which offer the licensing courses are all pretty much the same so just pick who gives you the lowest price - they are always running specials for continuing ed so I would assume it would be the same for licensing courses. In Oregon everyone who is licensed is a broker but you will need to "hang" your license under a principal broker for the first three years. There are lots of pros and cons to getting your license just for investing purposes - I think there are probably quite a few threads on this topic on BP that cover it much better than I would. You should consider that unless your mentor is a principal broker you will need to find an investor friendly brokerage, you will need to become a member of NAR (PMAR here in Portland) and MLS (RMLS here in PDX). The fees add up quickly so just make sure you know what you are getting into before you jump! Probably not a lot of money in the big scheme of things but can be kind of surprising if you aren't actually using it to generate income. New agents are always a little shocked by the start up fees...best wishes!

@Kyle Smith I agree with @Charles Flaxel I have went to walk-thrus on a few of their properties. I think as flips their repair numbers are low and their ARVs might be a little ambitious. But some of their numbers might work for rental grade improvements. They seem like good guys - you just need to do your own numbers. My friend has purchased several deals from them and has been happy. Good luck!

So not sure if this could be part of the problem but are there enough machines to service that large of a complex?  I help run a community laundry night in my town and a common complaint is that there are never any available machines in the large complexes...so maybe if a machine is available they cram it full trying to get all their laundry done at once.  I doubt it has to do with cost...at least in my area the apartment complexes are way under the cost of going to the laundromat.  I wonder if it could be a supply/demand/time issue.  

@Ty Primers I could be wrong on the details of which kind of foreclosures this applies to, but I believe any home that is now owned by the government - due to the loan having been backed by Fannie mae or Freddie mac, has to be on the market for a certain number of days before they will look at offers and the preference is to owner occupied buyers first. I don't believe there is a way you could procure a property owned by the government before it goes on MLS unless you purchase it at auction. The majority of REOs in our market seem to fall into this category. If they are priced decent it's very competitive once it hits the timeframe for investors to write an offer and as others have stated the contracts are not assignable. If this is the case in your market I would focus on finding properties in another way. Maybe your market is not as competitive or you have more foreclosures on loans that weren't government backed. Best of luck whatever you decide!

@Christopher Lane I am sure your wife is a lovely person. It sounds like she has been disappointed with the way some things have went down. Maybe if you find out what she would need to see happen financially in order for her to feel comfortable taking what she perceives as a risk and work towards that - extra job, side hustle...she would be on board. For example...maybe she wants $10,000 in the bank safely set aside...that's security for her.

@Christopher Lane Does your wife have any dreams or goals of her own that she is interested in pursuing? Are you helping nurture those ideas and supporting her in the pursuit of those or helping her to find her passion? I have a feeling if she had something she was able to get excited about (business, hobby whatever not real estate related, not necessarily income producing) she might be more understanding about what this means to you. What's the saying...something about the more you focus on helping other people get what they want, the more you end up getting what you want. I am not sure if she is, but if she's a mom you should definitely talk to her about things she would like to do for herself but just doesn't have the time for. I am not accusing you of not caring about what she wants - I am sure your heart is to make a change for your family - it's just an idea...tapping into what her goals, vision, passions are and helping her get what she wants...I think she would totally get supporting your dreams. Just my perspective...its worth what it cost you haha