All Forum Posts by: Lisa Thoele

Christopher, Do you have a sales agreement yet?  The first thing to do is draw up a written sales agreement. The sales agreement should set out all the terms and timelines.  And from there you just need to stick to the terms and timelines set up in the sales agreement.  Whatever title company you choose will take care of the title and escrow processes for you.  Are you paying cash or will you be getting financing?  If you are procuring a loan you will need to work through your lender's process.  Get a mutually agreed upon sales agreement in place, submit your sales agreement and earnest money to a title company, follow the timelines and terms of the sale agreement, work with your lender.  If you want a canned version of a sales agreement you can pick one up a Stevens Ness in Portland.  It is pretty basic.  If you want an attorney to draw up a sales agreement and you don't have one I've used Gary Kahn for various real estate business issues and he seems fair priced and very knowledgeable.  Good luck!  

@Karen Margrave 

My community has a big affordable housing problem.  I've done some preliminary research on this idea not so much for profit but more along the lines of partnering with a local charity.  I have thought about tiny homes, container homes, modulars being developed into a park like a mobile home park.  I think you could make the numbers work on certain pieces of land in my area but the city development fees would blow it out of the realm of possibility.  I'm thinking of talking to my local county.  There is a newer, upscale tiny home development in Salem, Oregon that you might find interesting.  I think it was originally zoned as an RV Park for an old amusement park.  Which might be the key - finding an RV park that could be switched over.  I think its called Hope Valley Resort in Turner.  Their website is under construction but something to watch.  I think this could be both a service to the community and a for profit venture if you could find the right situation.  

@John Acheson 

John, Normally I would totally agree with everything all the great agents here have said but you are so right about the difficulties of this kind of property.  Not being buildable, low price point and the somewhat remote location makes it a tough one.  I don't see any downside to this type of listing in your case.  You will have to handle all negotiations directly but it sounds like you are already doing that and you will have to offer some type of commission to a buyer's agent - could be whatever you want.  You might get a lot of calls about it with the price being so low so make sure its in the public remarks in the listing that its not buildable and that will weed out some of those calls.  I think also listing it as recreational use would help eliminate some of those calls.  I believe you can cancel their listing agreement without cause anytime so it would seem the most you would be out would be the $95?  Good luck!  I think you are just in a situation where you have to find a unique buyer.  I would think getting it out there on RMLS and syndicated throughout the network could only help with exposure.  Just my opinion.  

I think you have a lot of good info provided above.  Being a successful real estate agent is being in the lead generation business.  Find a way to prospect and provide excellent customer service.  If you don't think you can find a method(s) of lead generation that you will enjoy, you probably shouldn't attempt to build a business as an agent.  

I would find a similar project and network with the owner to see if they would help you out with a general cost estimate.  So much of the cost depends on the level of quality/class/finishes of the project.  There is a lot of infill in Portland I would think you could find a project to use as a comparison.  You might try the Rarebird guys I bet somewhere there has done a build project recently.  

@John Acheson there is a category in RMLS under land for recreational use.  I believe some people do buy parcels to have their own little camping spot.  I would try the neighbors like you mentioned also.  You know how Oregon is about their wetlands...is any of the adjoining land owned by a municipality or conservation group?  I think Savy Lane (sp?) will stick it up on RMLS for $250.  Best Wishes!  

Yay Quandra!  House hacking is awesome.  We have a fourplex with baseboards.  I haven't found any maintenance except cleaning them.  You can take the covers off and clean/vacuum off the heating elements as they accumulate a lot of dust.  Your tenants won't do this so I would put a reminder on your maintenance schedule to do this a few times a year - it literally takes a few minutes.  We replaced some of the baseboards in two of our units with Cadet heaters (little in the wall box heaters that have a fan in them).  I think the baseboards might actually heat better but we felt that the Cadet heaters allowed for better furniture placement and maybe a little less of a fire hazard.  Way to go!  Good luck!  

Jonathan - you've gotten a lot of great advice.  I'm sure if you think on it you will make a wise decision.  I'm just here to offer a little encouragement.  I just closed on a flip I did and every single comment I got was on the neighborhood.  I wasn't completely surprised because I know it wasn't an A neighborhood but was taken a little bit aback.  It can get very discouraging and frustrating.  In hindsight I better understand the dynamics of the area I was working in and would do things a little different going forward.  That being said, I hung in there at my original list price longer than I thought I should because I continued to get good showing activity and the house sold for $5k higher than the listing price - no issues with appraisal.  Just to encourage you.   Good things can still come of this situation - educationally and monetarily.  I know a lot of people have had bad experiences with their Realtors but if you have a good one, their data and experience can really benefit you.  I would consult with them also on what they are seeing in that specific pocket of the market.  They might have some ideas on pricing and what kind of a price reduction in your market would move a potential buyer.  They are there to advise you and want your house to sell also.  

Hello Debbie, I'm sure there are folks that are wiser and more experienced than I am and they will probably have a creative solution for you but here are my thoughts. I think of my private money investors, the people who make it possible for me to do my projects, as KING - their happiness with the terms of the deal and the outcome (within reason) is of the utmost importance to me.  In your case if getting this person to be your co-signer is the only way for you to get the project funded then the co-signer partner is KING and if they want 50% and it allows you do to the project I say pay the 50% (this is after you recoup your investment right?) on this deal - but not on any future deals.  Get it done and come up with a more equitable solution, with or without that partner, for future deals.  Personally, I would focus on moving forward.  Sounds like you have a great opportunity.  Good luck!

You do not have to start on a team.  Its kind of natural that you will probably attract more buyers in the beginning.   If you choose not to be on a team choose an office that offers support for new agents.  Good luck!!  Its a great career with so many opportunities.