All Forum Posts by: Linda B.

Thanks very much everyone for their thoughts on this topic. It sounds like more of a hassle and risk than I had imagined (thanks Marcia, I hadn't even thought about soot on the freshly painted walls!), so I'll try to avoid installing a wood stove. I asked my property manager to be open about power bills during showings and let me know if it seems to be a problem for prospective tenants. If in the end I'd have to install one, I'd definitely shop around some more for a better price. Thanks for your thoughts on the price Jesse.

Hello, I am in the process of fixing up a 1978 mobile home that I purchased last year (it came with tenant who gave notice last month). I bought the property mainly for the value in the land (located in a highly desirable neighborhood where prices have increased drastically over the last few years and people are building beautiful new homes). I was originally planning on holding on to the property for five years and then selling the land at a profit. In the meantime, the property cash flows ok. 

Now, the originally planned 'touch ups' turned into a new carpet (very, very bad dog pee smell), to painting all of the 1978 style wall panels (very dark and outdated look) to getting a new roof (original roof that was absolutely in pieces). In addition, I'll have to have some trees taken down that are too close to the house (dead ones) and am spending some money on smaller fixes that are adding up (new stove, light fixtures, blinds, etc.). I guess one of the questions is where to draw the line... At this point I have spent about twice as much as originally intended (spent approx 9k), which is worse if I consider that the mobile home will be of no value to any buyer.

The rental market in my area is very, very hot and there is absolutely no problem to rent the place as is. However, I just learned from my power company that the energy bills of the previous tenants went as high as $570 during the very cold winter months ($200/month average). I'm intending to rent for $1050/month. Would it be worth spending another $3500 on a wood stove to save the next tenants some heating costs? It's a 1978 mobile home and insulation is very bad, so I feel somewhat responsible to offer a more cost effective heating option. I might even get slightly higher rent (but probably not enough to justify the expense). Should I just go with the numbers and not do it? Is there anything I'm not considering in this equation?

Sorry, long story for such a simple question, but I think it all plays a bit into the question of 'where to draw the line' when renovating between tenants... Any thoughts on that? Thanks very much!

Gruetsi Greg, 

welcome to Bend! Did you end up finding positive cash flow properties? I'd consider the two investments I made here in Bend a little bit outside of the box, so I'm curious to hear if you had any creative ideas in this tricky market. Are you still active? Would be fun to chat about our experiences here in Bend!

Where in Switzerland are your friends? 

Hi Ben, are you still doing flips in Bend? After picking up two interesting properties last year I held off on any additional Bend investments for a little while but am back at it now. Let me know if you're still active and maybe we can meet to chat?

Thanks for the warm welcome! And thank you for the meetup tip, Mathew Wray, I just signed up and hope to make it over there for one of the meetings.
Haven't considered out of area investing - Redmond and Prineville is probably as far as I'd go. I like getting a feel for an area before I invest, more than relying just on numbers. And it'll be great to get some hands on experience with the rentals, which I can only do if they're somewhat close by...
Thanks everyone!

Hi Ben, my parents (from Switzerland and living in Switzerland) have invested in real estate in the US by simply giving a loan to an LLC (which is run by an American friend of theirs). It was done through an attorney here in the US and seems pretty airtight for all participants, but of course since it's a friend there's also a certain level of trust.
It definitely makes it easier for a foreigner not to actually own property in the US and not get involved in US taxes (income taxes, estate taxes, ...) if you aren't already working/ paying taxes in the US.

Hi, I'm a new member from Bend, Oregon. Moved here about a year ago when the market was still favorable, but am just now getting started with investing and am in awe of the price changes I've observed... I'm an Entomologist (bug scientist) by profession but am in between jobs and taking this opportunity to learn as much as possible about real estate investing and hope to get started with it soon.
I have co-invested in some real estate in Port Charlotte, Florida, where we bought, fixed and are currently renting out three SFR. For Bend, I'm on my own and my strategy is to buy three very different properties in my first year (land, multi- and single-family houses) and then decide what type I like best (or whether to stay diversified). Any thoughts on such a diversified strategy?
I'm originally from Switzerland and in the U.S. on a science visa - which narrows down a bit what I'm allowed to do (i.e. not allowed to work, but allowed to invest). An interesting situation... Will probably be here for the next 3-5 years and then back to Spain, where my husband is from and where the real estate market would be very favorable right now...
Would love to connect with people from Central Oregon or anywhere else to share and learn. Thank you!