All Forum Posts by: Jeff NA

With 100 letters in the mail (and a zero response so far), I am hoping to make an offer one of the days. Thinking about making the offer got me wondering about what price other investors begin at with their offers.

I would really prefer to give my price and let it stand without any negotiation. A take-it-or-leave-it offer. I do wonder if this will rub some people the wrong way, especially when the price is likely to be much less than they imagined. Do you calculate your price and give that as the offer? Or do you continue to subtract from that and make a lower offer with some room to negotiate? Any thoughts on a single, non negotiable offer?

Jeff

One small bit of advice: Don't quote Zillow or some other website as your basis for price. What are the comps?

Dimas,

I found a book that was a huge help in putting a contract together. I borrowed it from my library. It comes with a cd that contains about 20-30 contracts and addendums and clauses that you can copy to your computer. The book explains each section of the contract and allows you to include what you want and exclude what you do not.

A link to my library's copy of the book: http://catalog.multcolib.org/search~S1?/Yreal+estate+contracts&searchscope=1&SORT=R/Yreal+estate+contracts&searchscope=1&SORT=R&SUBKEY=real%20estate%20contracts/1%2C18%2C18%2CB/frameset&FF=Yreal+estate+contracts&searchscope=1&SORT=R&2%2C2%2C

The U6 rate stands at 16.2%. If jobs are coming back, I sure don't see them. What about wages? I saw an ad yesterday looking for a framer, 5 years experience required, $10 an hour. That's a job, I guess, but I don't know who can afford to work it.

Looking at some property info today and I come across a listing that states that the owner is "State of Oregon, DVA to N. Yee." I bet it's obvious, but I'm not figuring it out, and I'd love to know. For whatever it's worth, last year while I was more active in looking for properties in rough shape, I came across this gentleman's name on about three different houses, all with the same "State of Oregon, DVA to. . ." business. These properties all have a number of violations with none seeming to be cleaned up.

The record that I am speaking of specifically can be seen at http://www.portlandmaps.com/detail.cfm?action=assessor&&gmapapiversion=&state_id=1N1E07BB%20%205000&propertyid=R115724&y=708944&x=7628329

Thanks in advance.

Since it isn't mentioned anywhere else in this thread, I'll ask: What is NLP?

Ok, maybe all the bridges will fail afterall:

http://www.koinlocal6.com/news/local/story/Portland-bridges-likely-not-ready-for-9-0-quake/qcjPWX5JXUG4_tQKxlbDdA.cspx

Start looking into property in Des Moines.

Who says all the bridges will fall? Obviously the Sellwood Bridge would crumble, but that would happen if some kids lit some firecrackers next to that bridge. I read that the Fremont is not likely to withstand a major earthquake, but that still leaves Portland with the Marquam and all the downtown bridges. Also, why wouldn't your renters be able to get food? Last I checked, there were plenty of grocery stores on both sides of the river.

If you want to move on, why not just move on to Salem or Eugene? Or Spokane (not that I know a lick about investing in Spokane)? If Portland does indeed get rocked by the 9.0 earthquake that some predict. . .well, yes, I don't expect all 8 of your rent checks will be rolling in on time.

I was a member of the NWREIA here in Portland for a year. They have about 10 meetings a month, the first Thursday always being the General Meeting, and 11 out of 12 times featuring a guru and sales pitch. I got over it.

I was about to rejoin when I saw that they invited a guru to the last Thursday of the month meeting, the Deal Analysis meeting, where it had always previously been nothing but locals talking about deals. I didn't rejoin and have no plans on it. Enough was enough.

I also believe, but do not know for sure, that anything more than four units will require commercial lending, as well. Someone should correct me if I am wrong.

Do you have an idea of what the conversion would cost? How many kitchens would you have to add? How were you planning on financing that deal? What would the apartments rent for? Could you take in $4500-5000 a month in gross rents?

I'll also add that 2006 was a long time ago. Have any recent comps?