All Forum Posts by: Lisa Thoele

Originally posted by @Jay Hinrichs:

Originally posted by @William Kernan:

Thanks Jay

It's pretty tough pickings in the regular real estate market here. That's why I'm looking into land. I've built before so I can handle the construction. My budget is so tight that a 25k difference in impact fees can determine if the project is feasible or not. From what I've seen it looks about 40k in Portland. 10-15k in rural Washington county, but Im not sure I found all the fees and I haven't found info for rural Multnomah county or any other city yet.

 rural means no city water or sewer so well and septic and if you don't have those U can spend at least 10 to 15k on a well and water system and septic 15k to 50k.. depending on soil.

plus your 5 to 10 k in building permits.. then your ready for vertical.. so city fee's are usually cheaper.

now place like Yamhill or Carlton you can find little funky infill and fee's there will be less than 20k.. maybe Banks Gaston etc.

its tough for land here.  I moved up to only buying 20 lot plus developments anymore.. by the time you do the brain drain at least you have 20 lots in one spot you can attack.. it could literally take you years to find 20 separate lots that made sense

Jay! I talked to the City of Carlton recently - their fees are $25,000 but that does include the water meter. Does not include mechanical or electrical permits :-) Can you believe its even getting expensive in the "sticks."  There are a few small builders that are doing infill there - I think that they are pretty connected to the community.  Hard for someone new to pick up a lot and make the numbers work.  

@Charlie Pioli my family grows Christmas trees - they are pretty labor intensive if you do it right.  If your family decides to keep it I would suggest you consider renting the house and leasing the land to a neighboring farmer.  Good luck!  

@Kalkidan Ezra it doesn't really matter who you go thru to get licensed.  In Oregon all the schools are geared towards getting you to pass the license exam.  So go with whoever has the best deal.  There are several online schools the offer licensing.  I think there is Online Ed.  They are probably listed on the Oregon Real Estate Agency website (the state board the governs real estate agents).  The company you end up hanging your license with is really where you will get your practical training.  Best Wishes!!  

@Whitney R. the online training is really just about passing the exams.  Go with whoever is the least expensive.  Its the company you decide to hang your license with after you pass the test where you will really get the training on how to be a professional agent.  The online classes only teach you the law not how to write contracts or show property or any of the nuts and bolts - obviously its important to know what the law is but how that is put into action will come from doing real estate so you want a good company who works with new agents who can help you get started. My husband and I are with Premiere Property Group also - it sounds like @Eric Steindler can probably answer questions about the training program - we had our licenses well before moving to Premiere but we have had an excellent experience with them both as agents and investors.  Best Wishes!!  Its a fabulous career.  

@Kiki Helland radon testing has become a pretty common part of the typical retail real estate transaction inspection process in the Portland area.  Some years ago a man passed away from lung cancer due to radon and his family has been very active in promoting radon inspections.  I think it is only a matter of time until its required or a release is required - like lead based paint testing. Its very spotty on whether or not the test comes back positive or negative - two neighbors can have completely different radon levels depending on the soil composition and such things as how well insulated (tightly sealed) the home is.  I haven't heard any murmurings of inaccurate testing.  Environmental Works is a company who my husband (an agent) routinely recommends and works with.  Many home inspectors deploy radon test units also.  In our experience, if necessary, mitigation typically isn't overly complicated - an exit fan is usually installed from a crawlspace or basement to the exterior of the home.  I believe newer construction often times is already set up for a mitigation system without the pump/fan installed but not sure about that.  Feel free to PM me if you have any other questions.  Best of luck!

@Liz Murphy You might check out Ross Chapin architects.  They have done quite a few of these in the outlying areas.  The first one I ever heard of was Salish Pond Cottages in Fairview - I'm sure there were others before that but that is when it first popped on my radar.  They are the architect for another project in Gresham.  Here's an article on their current project in Gresham.  I am super interested in these kinds of projects.  I live in the Oregon wine country and think it is perfect environment for this concept.  

https://portlandtribune.com/go/42-news/342621-2224...

Originally posted by @Wendy Boswell:

@Lisa Thoele HI! So good to hear from you! 

I agree with you about the high school coming in, if anything that has impacted our decision to hold on to it more strongly, I think Sherwood values are going to increase like crazy because of that. And we do have a huge lot, it's about .25 of an acre with a good size house on there too. I'm going to be pulling out a bit of equity to get better cash flow and do some home improvements. It's hard not to get swept away in the current house selling hype, know what i mean? I would love to get together with you btw! :)

Totally understand about the hype Wendy!  I think it depends on your goals and how you would use the proceeds.  We rehabbed and sold our Sherwood house almost two years ago because we needed the equity to hit other goals and we had an opportunity to buy the property we have (a house and a fourplex) but if I could have held on to it I would have.  I had so much equity I could have rented it out in a heartbeat and even two years later I would have been able to sell it for $50k more - however I don't regret taking advantage of the opportunity we had because its a better long term play for us (sfh vs. 4 plex).  I think a lot of your value increase will depend on how much land they bring in on the other side of 99W and whether or not they ever get Brookman figured out but I'm guessing as a long term hold you are going to be fine as long as the schools stay strong in Sherwood.  Most families or people with kiddos would pick your house to rent over an apartment any day!  Just don't over improve it if you are going to rent it!!  I'll FB message you!  I love chatting investing!  I sure don't have all the answers but would be so fun to see you!  

@Wendy Boswell

Hey Wendy!!  I didn't know you were on BP!  Its Lisa from CFA! I think Sherwood is such a great market to be in and there are very few rentals there that aren't apartments!  I would hold on to it - if you buy into the hype on what the school district is doing I think prices will continue to be strong - even if there is a correction in the market if you have enough equity it won't impact you.  You probably have a low enough mortgage - even with the re-fi that you could adjust even if rental rates went down a little.  Having a big lot in Sherwood is so unusual - maybe its something you hold until development in Sherwood max's out and then you divide your lot?  So many ways you could go!  If you ever want to grab a coffee and chat investing just let me know!!  I'd love to see you again!  

@Michael Woodward I think you should talk to your CPA or attorney about this but one option depending on how you fund your deals might be to purchase in your sole proprietor name and transfer title to your entity? I am guessing that there woumd be some way to make this be workable for lessening your tax burden but might not hold up in protecting you legally (piercing the corporate veil). I am just mentioning it as an option because I bought a short sale that way once - it was a unique circumstance and it did make a difference in me getting the deal.

Originally posted by @Julie Marquez:

@Jay Hinrichs Are all these reports required because you are developing raw land into parcels as a developer?

If I'm just buying a single lot in a previously developed neighborhood (2014), I get to avoid all those studies, right?

Julie, I'm not even going to pretend to know the answer to this question fully as I'm just beginning to start incorporating the strategy of acquiring properties where I can do a minor partition of a lot or two in developed neighborhoods.  We have a local government entity - Clean Water Services - who reviews what you want to do and signs off that there aren't any issues with wetlands or protected environmental situations (animals? I think its mostly wetlands that can be concerning where I'm at). After they sign off on that part, then I could move forward with the process thru my local municipality.  They also have to approve storm water management type systems that are required.  I'm not sure if you have an entity like that or if this is helpful in any way but it might be worth checking into.