All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

I would like to change this quote slightly: "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity."

TO

"Bigger pockets is where preparation meets opportunity."

I believe it's a take from, "The Richest Man in Babylon".

Hello BPers!

I've been relatively silent on here while I've been doing RE research like a madman.  Taking action now!  Here is some information about a duplex townhome I will be signing on shortly:

Address:  23665 NE Shannon St., Wood Village, Oregon 97060

MLS: 15484253

Rentometer says a 2 bdrm unit should rent for around $860/mo and a 3bdrm unit should be around $1,220/mo.  # of bathrooms unspecified.

Each recently updated unit has:

• 1172sqft
• 2bdrm + bonus/den
• 1.1 bath
• W/D Hookup, all other appliances included
• low maintenance front/back yards
• attached 1 car garage + off street parking
• new wall to wall carpet
• quiet dead end street
• minutes to shopping, Community College and Interstate
• preferably no pets and non-smokers
• Lessee to pay all utilities

Pictures and info at realtor.com

I have a youtube video of my initial walk through here.  If you watch the video, you might want to mute it because there are a couple of words of profanity.  Also, skip to 8:10 as everything before that is a different duplex and the drive to the duplex I'm interested in.

My goal here is to put my feelers out there to find out potential interest and/or the most predictable rentable income.  A friend of mine said to post a craigslist ad and see how much interest it generates. 

Now for my question:  What is the best way to advertise one unit of this property on Craigslist?  What should I include/omit?  What inexpensive change can I make to the unit to create more desirability?

Apparently in the news the other day, there was a bit about scams on Craigslist.  How do I make sure my ads look legitimate?

I greatly appreciate your responses and input!

Good luck @Indasia Summerfield !  

If you haven't already, I would start listening to all of the podcasts you can from BP.  From there, listen (especially at the end of each one) to which books people talk about as their favorites with respect to real estate investing/business/etc.  So far, i've found value in Rich Dad Poor Dad and 106 Mortgage Secrets All Borrowers Must Learn - But Lenders Don't Tell.  Listen/read from Dave Ramsey.  Check out Multnomah County Libraries.  You can get use of these books, ebooks, etc for free!  Free to register at the library too - of course.  

You need to find a real estate broker/agent whom people trust and you can too.  They will be the absolute primary resource to guiding you with lenders, contractors, property management, local updates, best rental areas, best appreciation areas.  

Whenever you look at a property, you can get quick information by having some of these websites up at the same time:  rentometer (local rent rates), zillow (general rents, home values, local school ratings, tax history, pictures, maps), www.portlandmaps.com (permits/cases, tax history, owner information, all documented property details by Multnomah county, detailed crime rates, and tons more), rmls (basic property info), realtor.com (usually includes past rental income information), and tons more i'm sure.  

@Jeremy Jackson It's very hard to know if this is a deal with only considering the numbers given. It would be better if you had more information on the duplex condition, year built, etc. If inspection and appraisal all look good (generally), it sounds like a good deal to me. I'm curious what your intentions are with this place? Buy and Hold? Just cashflow? If it's buy and hold, why not use a 15-year loan? Do you plan on refinancing within 5 years? In that case, you can sometimes get a better mortgage as a 5/1 ARM and drop monthly payments.

@Naomi Spira 

I'm no expert on owner financing, but I've read mostly that owner financing is extremely variable.  I would think the first step is to ask yourself what you're interested in using for the terms.  Write them down.  Then ask the owner what he's willing to do that matches or differs from your desired terms.  As @Brandon M. mentioned, you can pull up a real estate contract specifed with your state, OR I might suggest having a real estate specific attorney draw up papers for you.  It would be worth the money you pay to use an attorney.

I am looking at potentially an excellent deal on a house with extra living quarters in the basement. This property is across the street from a power substation. How would this affect the potential for this property as a sale later on? How about as a rental?

@Account Closed Have the detection systems alerted you of leaks or problems?  I've been thinking about investing in a little of this system as well.

@Dj Samson 

I think @Shane Pearlman 's post was accurate and well written.  I do have one clarification/question.  It's key in qualifying for a multifamily property to show 1-2 year rental history so they can take that into consideration of your potential qualification/approval.  I think you can use the prior 2 years rental history provided by the seller.  Does that sound right Shane?

@Orlo Flock 

I've been using Cascade Community Management for 6 months.  So far things have been very respectable.

Sorry to post yet again @Brandon Proctor , If you have a retirement account, you can check with that account manager to see what your options are about borrowing against yourself.  For example, if you have a tax-sheltered annuity with $40,000 in it, you can borrow up to $20,000.  You'd have to pay it back with minimum interest.  The bonus here is that the interest you pay is actually going into your account - not a lender.