All Forum Posts by: Robert Laird

@Steven Leigh I took Marcus advice and just use the same mailing piece for every list. I use to think more specific mentioning would make the mail piece more personalized, but like you said people do not always react to that in the most logical ways. It makes it easier to not have to customize them as well so I just take the simple route. 

Kevin, what is the date of the event again? It's the 29th, not the 15th correct?

Thanks to everyone who came out last night! It seemed like it was a good time for a lot of investors. Got to see some familiar faces and meet a lot of new people. See everyone at the next one!

What is the anticipated IRR and ROI and annualized yield?

@Randy Johnston  @JR Hinds  @Kevin Bull 

After the great success of the last meet up at Vintner's Cellar thanks to Randy Johnston and JR Hinds, another event is being organized for this fall! On October 11th people will be meeting on the outside covered patio at Fire on the Mountain at 3443 NE 57th Ave, Portland 97213 to discuss real estate topics and the booming Portland market. If you think you can make it, please post below so we can get an estimated head count. Kevin Bull and his partner Peter will be sponsoring the event so make sure to give them a big thank you when you see them. Hope to see some familiar faces!

Sounds good! Danielle and I will be there. Thanks for taking the initiative!

@Kiki Helland we ended up fixing it up and selling it to an investor for $220,000. However, each unit was producing about $1,000/mo each. So roughly $2,000/mo for the whole duplex, which still almost hits the 1% rule when we sold it at $220,000.

@Karen L., which I think he really hit the nail on the head with his comment,: :"it's important to realize that there is still a big physiological barrier for people".

People love Vancouver because it is cheaper and because the income tax in Washington is nicer come tax season compared to an Oregon address, but you must realize there is a reason for the price difference. Just because during off hours I can go from my office on Mill Plain to my house in SE Portland in only 20min, the majority of the time, the traffic is really bad and I have heard horror stories of it taking 3 hours to go 15 miles.... So just because it looks close, doesn't mean it is convenient. As Neal also mentioned, the I-5 bridge is not very commuter friendly especially when it is raised for boats.

So although Vancouver may look appealing due to the lower price point to get in, I do not think it has the same appreciation potential as Portland does, which is partially what makes the buy and hold so appealing. It all depends on your strategy. We bought a duplex near downtown Vancouver for $100,000. Something like that is hard to find in Portland...

@Dusteen Brielle

Good luck in this competitive market! There are tons of great real estate agents in the Vancouver area who you should meet with to pick their brain. They will be a vital resource to you as you start to look for listings.