All Forum Posts by: Neal Collins

That's exactly what I was afraid of. The notion of basing an investment business around a limited season is alarming. I don't want holding costs to go through the roof because of the weather, but I also don't want to limit marketing activities and purchasing properties to just the favorable weather months.

In my experience it seems that there's a really interesting psychological component of how weather warps people's thoughts and plans. When summer comes around people seem to start making all these grandiose plans to get outside fix the garage, paint the house, put in new concrete, build an ADU, or install whatever it may be. By fall, though, those plans either never materialized or were never finished and completion is pushed off. It just seems too slippery a slope to base a business model around this same mentality.

I wanted to give a call out to all those investors/flippers in the Pacific Northwest about weather and their business model. This will be my first winter up here and I'm trying to get an understanding of how the rain impacts the lineup, timeliness, and execution of your contractors. Is it just too wet for painters to get to the exterior of a place? It seems like the weather could add some considerable lag time, does anyone have any statistics on how much more time their flips take in the winter vs. the summer?

@Jeff S. Glad that you threw up Carvan as an example. I live a couple blocks from the place and think that it's a genius idea for short term rentals. My folks actually came out to Portland this summer and we put them in one of tiny houses for several nights just for the novelty. They loved it and said that there was never a vacancy in any of the units. Granted, Carvan has been written up in NYT and other major publications and enjoys a fair amount of notoriety. 

@Sunny Clark $100-$125 a night to stay on Alberta Street in a tiny house? Doesn't seem to slow anyone down. Speaking of room though, my folks did say a biker gang came through for a night and in the morning they looked out to see a very large guy on the front porch trying to wedge himself into black leather pants. Apparently there wasn't enough room inside the Tiny Home to put his chaps on...

It seems like tiny houses and similar spin-offs are ripe for hot markets. In Austin and Santa Barbara I've seen high-end Airstream parks that look like they are minting money.

Would love to get in on this as well if possible.

I appreciate everyone's responses. It has affirmed my own personal opinions but it's nice to hear it from more accomplished investors.

Call it old fashioned but I also find myself to committing to many more things if I have spoken with someone over the phone or face to face. I just don't want to become another piece of junk mail that gets chucked into the bin without even reading.

@Jay Hinrichs I see your in Lake Oswego, what type of investing are you doing now? I saw on another post that you were building out in wine country?

Thanks Jon.

When dealing with distressed properties with absentee landlords/investors, would you rather call them and tell them you've noticed their property and would like to purchase it, or would you rather send in a couple rounds of yellow letters and hope for the best?

Obviously this isn't a scenario where you are working a farm and trying to generate any potential lead, but a smaller, more hand selected approach. I prefer making the call, but lets assume the owner doesn't bite, is it then over? Phone call with a follow-up letter that leaves the door open perhaps?

Thanks in advance.

Does anyone have recommendations for good mortgage brokers/lenders in the Portland, OR area that they have experience working with? I'm in the process of shopping around now and any insights would be helpful!

I appreciate your insights @Randy Johnston . Do you have any experience with USDA loans in the area? It seems like the areas that are eligible for USDA loans are pretty far outside of the urban/suburban centers.

Thanks for the tip @Jessica S.It makes me wonder where the namesake of Boring comes from.

@Genna Golden , I'm definitely open to living in one for a year. Do you know if this applicable to only one year? Can this be repeated multiple times and still receive the same kind of financing?

What is really attractive to me is the possibility of using a MFH as my residence for a year, renting out the other unit(s), and generating some revenue from my unit when I am out of town (may be on the road a good bit this next year). I saw that Portland recently became a "Shared City" with Airbnb, and it seems like a nice way to utilize the space.