All Forum Posts by: Polly Gage

my other half and myself will be there! Excited to meet everyone!

I think it depends on the situation. If your tenant is potentially a domestic violence victim, then your insurance should be able to cover it from damage done by an intruder. I wouldn't charge the tenant if she is a DV victim. I would also definitely issue your tenant's boyfriend a notice of exclusion/trespass notice to keep him from coming to the property. Now if she is inviting guests over who are causing damage (say from partying or something) then she definitely should be charged. Either way, keep receipts and records in her file.

@Eric Blanchard Thank you!  Glad I can say 'been there, done that' with the MLM.  Such weird tactics. I'd love to chat more with you!  Do you ever attend the local meetings? 

@Bronson Peralta How funny - I guess the MLM pitch was just what we needed to get us here! Thank you!  We are SO at the beginning stages of this whole journey, but at least we're getting started!

@Kari Corbin I saw those meetings on the NW REIA website. I think I'll definitely need to mark my calendar and attend. Are you planning on attending the July meeting? What do you do within the Real Estate world?

@Chris Parrish I am finding that property management knowledge has already come in handy which is nice when we are even looking at properties to begin with!  I will definitely check out Rarebird.  We are actually looking for a real estate agent who has experience with investors (and beginners) and would love to chat more! 

@Randy Johnston Very good information, thank you!! I think I will plan to attend these monthly meetings.  Do you attend them on a regular basis?  My hubby and I just sat down last night to really lay out our goals and vision for this process.  I don't suppose you happen to have any books you would recommend off the top of your head?  

Right?! The MLM tactics are bizarre. They are all secretive and weird and don't really tell you what they do. Confusing and odd. When I told my husband they wanted to meet, he totally called it was MLM but I was intrigued. Anyway, would love to chat more with you! This market is so hot right now it has me questioning whether or not Portland (or surrounding areas) is the right location to even begin. 

Hi!  My name is Polly!  I'm currently live in Portland, OR with my hubby.  I am totally new to real estate investing - the one link I do have is I have been an onsite property manager for a multi-family community for 5 years.  Over my time as a manager, I've had many discussions with my supervisor (a portfolio manager) about the owner of the property and her investing methods  -totally getting me thinking about owning rental properties.  I've done some research about financial independence and met this gal at a mom-play date who was telling me about early retirement and wanted to meet with me (I was totally thinking we would be networking about real estate, investing, stocks or something!) but turned out to be an MLM meeting.  It was almost laughable to me that this gal was planning on wealth coming from MLM (which some people are VERY successful doing a MLM, but very few are - I definitely would not be).  Either way, meeting with her definitely amped up my search on financial independence and I stumbled across a podcast from bigger pockets featuring Linda McKissack and her journey.  It was kind of an aha moment for me.  Made me realize real estate might just be the avenue for me as I'm already somewhat involved in it, and I might as well just get started! I'm in a great position to begin investing in real estate.  I really like the buy and hold strategy.  I currently live in an apartment in Portland and I get free rent and all utilities paid. My husband has a normal job and we get that extra income.  We are in a position where we have saved up a down payment, but rather than moving out of the apartments - we are thinking we should invest in a duplex or 4 plex and remain living in the apartment managing, and just start our portfolio.  I've been poking around bigger pockets and learning quite a bit, but I think what I'm really needing to do is network with others and really figure out where to go from here.  I'm very much looking at this long term - not wanting to make quick cash, but rather have a steady flow of passive income as we can't really count on social security or pensions any more for retirement!  Would love to meet others whose strategy in real estate is the buy and hold approach. Excited to network and meet new people!