All Forum Posts by: Michell P.

I've been happy with both Umpqua and Advantis CU.  

Cliff Brady with Advantis is a very good commercial loan agent & Vanessa Rez (Umpqua) is great for the renos.  They're both local agents with a small team that is very responsive.  

Advantis is a bit too small maybe (they just have a handful of locations) so their services are a bit lacking when compared to Umpqua so that's something to also keep in mind when choosing a bank.  But I always know who I'm dealing with and they know me when I come in to the branch.  So that's nice.  

@Chad Duncan You might want to give vanessa rez with Umpqua a call.  She's a mortgage agent who deals extensively with construction & renos and knows a lot of contacts in the Portland area who can steer you in the right direction.  

Hi Emily & Gregory, in Oregon, you register with the state, then register for training.  You complete the training, take the test, get your finger prints / background check done, then you "hang your license" with a principle broker for 3 years.  After 1 year you retake your broker's test along with additional training. 

After 3 years you can choose to take your principle broker's test and go out on your own.   

This is pretty standard - any agency you interview with is essentially hanging your license for you.  They may charge you a monthly fee or a % of your commissions.  Be upfront with the agents you interview with that you want to work primarily for yourself.  Some will be OK with it and some will encourage you to look elsewhere based on their commission setup.  

Goodluck! 

As a renter, I will always choose a unit with a ceiling fan over those without when AC isn't an option.  Did that just once and the stuffiness in the summer was miserable.  

But as a landlord, the first maintenance request I got was over a broken ceiling fan. The second was a broken dishwasher.  I think they're both required amenities even if they drive us crazy with repairs.  

A holding fee seems like a reasonable deal.  Not at full price, maybe at half the going rate.  Considering you're taking it off the market and reserving it for them, seems like you're meeting them half way.  Anything less, and you'll probably do better just waiting and lowering the rent? 

I recently went through a whole cat rescue thing, and what the rescue people said was a no cat policy really does more harm than good.  They prefer you demand all cats to be neutered / spayed and tagged.  That way if they neglect the cat the tenants may get fined / punished. Like others said, if someone wants a cat, they're going to have a cat. 

Personally, I think $50 / month for a cat is too high.  I'd go $25 per month or a $300 - $500 pet deposit.  Some people do both.  

Thanks for the link @Nathan Gesner

Talked to HUD about this situation and they told me to send them all the paperwork including a payment schedule so they could handle it from their end. (Found out the PM has done no paperwork except the 72 hour notice. :/ )

I'm really interested to see if this payment schedule agreement works or not.  

@Marcia Maynard Thank you! That was a very helpful post.  

I agree, the relationship with the PM has deteriorated.  This was a 3 month trial period that went... poorly to say the least. 

Point #2 - that's a great idea, and I just contacted their case worker to discuss it.  We'll see if anything comes of that.  

Point #4 - great to know - that was my key concern, that suddenly he was saying the judge would side against us despite the 2 month lack of rent.  I thought I smelled BS, but as I'm inexperienced in evictions wasn't 100% sure.  

The property is over in Wasco county, which still has a low vacancy problem, but not dire.  

Point #6 - Yes, I just meant... 72 hours and then go file eviction, was just being snarky.  I know the eviction process for Oregon in theory, just haven't applied it directly yet, and my PM is taking advantage of that.  I'll definitely make sure I follow the law on this, but still have first timer nerves :/

Point #7 - Good point, and that's part of my anger, that we should have been working with them the 2nd week of November, not the beginning of December.  Guess I need to cut the PM out of the conversation and work directly with them.   

Point #9 - Yes, this is another worry.  We thought about offering $400 cash for keys, but it seems like they just have nowhere else to go and wouldn't be able to work with us on it.  

Point #10 - Thank you! Another great idea - I'll check up on that.  Especially since they have children at home.  

#11 - Me too, but your information is really helpful - just knowing more about which steps I should take moving forward is taking a lot of the stress off. 

Seriously, I'm breathing again.  Thank you. 

Hey all, 

Question on how you would handle this - 

We have a HUD tenant who is 2 months behind on rent. Had to pull teeth with the PM at the end of November to find out what was going on, and he finally ended up posting a 72 hour notice on 12/2. So now they are late for November & December - they're supposed to pay half of their rent while HUD pays the other half.

So, when we first talked to the PM he said they had mailed a $100 money order, but that appears to be false.  He said they were going to court for disability and were going to pay us then, but that seems to be false.  He said he'd be willing to file after the 72 hours were up, and now that the 72 hours are up, he refuses, and instead says we should put together a payment plan with them before going to court so we can show we tried working with them.  

He's now saying that b/c these tenants are 2 women with an infant and a 2 year old, the judge will most likely let them stay maybe up to another month to give them a chance to find somewhere else to live, and during that time, they'll be withholding rent, so it's in our benefit to wait and see if we can't get them to pay.  

I've never gone through eviction court before, but the advice here seems to usually be "72 hours and you're out."  

So, what do you think? Is getting a payment plan a good idea, or are we just being strung along by both the PM & tenant?  (And we're letting the PM go at the end of this month, 30 day notice is up in less than 2 weeks - probably part of the problem :/ )

Hey @Aleksandra Draws - sorry to hear you're having issues finding a realtor.  What kind of properties are you looking for?  It may be you need more of a "specialist" in what you're searching for?