All Forum Posts by: Oscar Cardenas

Hello Oregon BP.

I previously posted interesting tips like Oregon's repeal of the tsunami zone building law and how to properly househack in Oregon. Since then COVID made me anti-social lol. With things starting to look good for socializing again, I thought I would start giving news/tips again and more often. Before everyone starts asking about the title "Get that Cheddar!" comes from my brokerage "Cheddar Realty" and my hopes to create an investor meetup called "Get that Cheddar! Real Estate Meetup" in the near future. Anyway, back to the news!

-HB 2001 Oregon ADU and Duplex laws soon to be integrated.

The law that forces medium sized cities to allow duplexes for building and conversions in residential zones will soon take affect. It is supposed to be integrated June 2021 but I am sure there will be some extensions by some cities.

**Tips for taking advantage of this

City of Salem: starting July 1, 2019, the System Development Charges (SDCs) for ADUs will be waived for five years. The waiver will continue until June 30, 2024. Great way to save money on the ADU build.

For the househackers on their second purchase needing to use a conventional loan, Buying a "Dual Living" or Large home might be a great way to go considering they are likely in nicer residential zoning and would be allowed to convert this year. 

Next tip is for Househackers. 

-Want to buy a home as a househack but current rent on the occupied unit very low? Try a 60day no cause termination.

If you move into a property and it has only 2 units then you do not need an official reason to terminate a tenant like every other investor does. This will allow you to analyze potential deals better based on market rents instead of current rents.

-How do I make money in this crazy market?. Look for potential and get creative.

There are many ways to look for potential. Buying a home/multifamily with dens/offices and convert to bedrooms. Buy a dual living home to convert to a duplex soon. Buy a home with a good sized yard and good sized access to the back for your next ADU/AirBNB. Buy a home with a large detached 2car garage to convert to an ADU. Maybe the investment is better rented to traveling nurses or students? etc.

-Cities to watch for in the Willamette Valley Area.

Pretty much all of them... but some are sticking out to have amazing appreciation and competition.

*Independence - This town was starting to get know as a great small town filled with live events. They started tons of construction downtown including a new hotel and luxury river rentals and then COVID hit. The cities efforts are still paying off with a amazing appreciation both in values and average rents. This little town benefits from student rentals, tourism through events, Willamette River, and a slowly expanding downtown scene. 

*Lebanon - This town was known as a bad town for a while but has seen tremendous growth in the last few years. Western University opened up in 2011 invited a large amount of medical students and other health services. the growth started a bit slow but seeing the success of the university and its efforts to expand investors are flocking this town.

There are many more things going on in more towns but this post has gotten too long and I will leave the rest for another post. If you like the news and want to contribute to the next post please let me know!

 Sure thing. Sorry for the late response. I didn't get notified that you posted a reply. I believe you already had a small exchange with my colleague Liwen.

Great job. 410k for a 6plex is a great price.

 I generally attended the Salem ones and they are no longer doing physical ones with covid so I have not been getting clients through those means anymore although my efforts from initiating investor groups before is still paying off today. 3 years later I will still randomly get a call from someone who kept my number from the investor groups. 

Now a lot of my investors are random people I have gotten excited, previous retail clients I have converted to investors, Biggerpockets, and word of mouth. 

Do take my advice about being excited over a subject and learn as much as you could about the niche. For instance, when I meet a retail person on the fence about buying a duplex. I would say something like

"oh man, buying a duplex was one of the best things I have ever done! My tenants pay a large portion of my mortgage and all I have to do is have some knowledge of the rules and collect checks. Want to know the best part? The rent isn't even what makes the most money! its appreciation, principle paydown, and tax depreciation! Want to know the other best part? Its much easier to get a duplex than you think! you dont need 20% down payment like you often hear, you can buy a duplex almost exactly like you buy a regular house with 3.5% down payment and some closing costs. This is called Househacking and It's rare the person who knows the tricks though so you should work with someone who does this often. I have done this so often and are constantly improving that I have added a cherry on the top, I have found a lender who can do an FHA with 0% down and have most of the closing costs covered! That means you only need a few thousand dollars to own a huge asset! This is so crazy that not every does it! And I dont know how long this FHA loophole will be around since conventional loans jump to 15% down payment on a duplex but for now, I am telling everyone I know to take advantage!"

Great job! amazing interest rate too.

Hey Shakir,

When I started I had success attending local investor meetups. Highly recommend getting a CRM and putting everyone in there you know that might qualify to buy a home and plan on how to work with them. Many times people are just waiting for someone who is very excited about a subject to show up in front of them. For me it was househacking. When I talk to people about househacking I can even get an agent to have me represent them in their next purchase. For retail clients, I suggest you try to get an experienced agent to let you shadow them or maybe join a team to learn the industry first. 

I have heard good things from my clients about Steelhead Property Management in Salem.

 ah that is very interesting, since three lenders told me know, I had assumed its the same for all. Time to start the search for a good lender who can do usda multi in Oregon lol.

Not sure if you meant my post about selling under market being unethical since I do not see any others mentioning anything similar. That was misread. I mentioned it was unethical to sell an under market pocket listing without the sellers knowing exactly what they are losing if they went the other route so in most cases it still makes sense to list first. Its fine that you got deals by closing on the sellers terms in exchange for equity, that is not unethical, its simply negotiations. What I meant to say is that it's unethical for a realtor to give first dibs to their investor on a property that hasn't hit the MLS and then go on to purposefully avoid telling the seller that they can likely get the same favorable terms from other investors if it hit the market. All the realtor has to do is slap in "need to close by December" in the private remarks and if it is priced right then multiple investors will pay the most they think its worth with that restriction in place. That is the very definition of market value, it is what the market is willing to pay given the condition and restrictions.

At that point, your question shouldn't be to use multiple agents. Its to fire the underperforming one and hire another that fits your needs.