Overseas --> Portland, OR Newbie Introduction

[Kyle Webb]

Good Day BP Members,

My name is Kyle. I've been a member for a couple years, but I was never the type of person to actually post anything on forum...

Josh and Brandon changed that recently. I've now listened to all 68 (as of March. 10th, 2014) of their podcasts (some of them several times) and always am encouraged from them to make a post to this community and interact, despite being a 'newbie'.

I've posted in the "Getting Started" forum a question I've been pondering and have had great responses and advice from fellow members.

I'm currently into the educational aspect of real estate investing. I'm employed overseas and have saved a decent nest egg that I am looking to use towards attaining a property that brings in passive income or scaleable gains as a fix & flip business in my home state of Oregon. Still trying to determine my ultimate REI focus ...

I'm in my late 20's, married, and thoroughly enjoy racquet sports of any kind (racquetball, tennis, badminton, etc).

I love learning and teaching; I value a strong community development where I can trust my neighbours and friends as if they are family.

I currently have no real estate experience stateside. I'm looking to expand my experience, license and skills in real estate online through BP and other sources. I'm a constant learner and spend my free time listening to BP/other podcasts and reading forums/blogs.

My real estate goals starts with forming a plan to build a scaleable business in rehabbing properties in an effort to make communities better while supporting my family. I want to use my time, sweat and capital to invest in making neighbourhoods safer, desirable and affordable without getting too far ahead of myself or inclinations as a property investor/ rehabber.

I hope that is not too much to say in my intro...

Thanks for taking the time to read this!

[Darren Sager]

Welcome to BP @Kyle Webb ! Thanks for finally taking the time to introduce yourself .And now that you're here we'd love to see you be an active member of the BP community so be sure to set up Keywords Alerts for your local area such as "Portland" or "Vancouver" if you're looking to find potential opportunities for investing, education in a subject, or other members in your area. Use the Find Members area to network with other members who are local to you or are in an area you're wanting to invest in.

If you appreciate a post that a fellow member put up responding to you be sure to say "Thank You!" by casting a vote for it.If you think a response you read is good or answers another member's question well cast a vote for it.It's our own version of liking something on Facebook provided you're familiar with that. Simply click the box in the upper right corner of the post!

If you want to get a member's direct attention in a post you're writing first type an @ and then a ?, (example: @?) and then wait..................... (sometimes longer than you might expect), for their name to appear below where you're writing, then be sure to click on it.IF it doesn't have their name highlighted in a blue background (like yours is above) it didn't work properly and you should try again. This will send them an email or an alert notifying them that you've mentioned them. Those alerts can also be seen if you mouse over the "Inbox" on the upper right menu bar and scroll down.

And lastly I highly recommend becoming a Plus or Pro member of the site and take advantage of all that BP has to offer you. It like getting the keys to the kingdom. It will be one of the best investments you'll make when it comes your real estate investing.

Again welcome to Bigger Pockets!

[Paul Timmins]

@Kyle Webb

Welcome. Fill in the foundation below.

Check out the Start Here page http://www.biggerpockets.com/starthere

Locate and attend 3 different local REIA club meetings great place to meet people gather resources and info. Here you will meet wholesalers who provide deals and rehabbers.

Two Great reads, I bought both J. Scott The Book on Flipping Houses,The Book on Estimating ReHab Costshttp://www.biggerpockets.com/flippingbook

Consider checking out HUD homes for small multi's owner occupied gets first crack.

You might consider Niche or Specialized Housing like student housing. Rents can be 2-4 times more. Remember you don't have to own a property to control it.

Good Luck

Paul

[Mehran K.]

Welcome to BiggerPockets @Kyle Webb, thanks for taking the time to really introduce yourself!

One question, what's been holding you back on choosing the ONE strategy to employ in your home state? One thing that helped me was to decide how I wanted to be living my life in the future, and I picked the strategy that I felt would accomdate that.

[Dmitriy Fomichenko]

@Kyle Webb

Welcome to BP community! It is a great place to meet new friends and learn about various aspects of real estate and more.

Wishing you the best!

[Kyle Webb]

Thank you everyone for you advice and welcome! I'm exited to learn everything I can from other's experience and trials in the RE game.

@Darren Sager Thank you for the advice. I will certainly be keeping up with my keyword updates and consider upgrading to PRO or PLUS member as soon as I feel I can contribute more of my knowledge and experience to others. I love to teach as much as I love to learn...so I see myself trying to give back, when/if possible. Thanks!

@Paul Timmins Thanks for you recommendations! I've already bought and read J. Scott's books. I envision myself similar to his personality. I admire his attentiveness to detail and analytics. He is one of my huge aspirations in RE business. HUD homes are the peek of my interest, especially the cash only offerings. I will be trying to leverage a deal with cash initially. HUD homes are a great place to submit those types of bids for. Much safer than courthouse offerings IMO.

@Mehran K. Thanks for your advice. I'm only in the educational aspect of my research, primarily because I'm overseas. I cannot network in person, nor attend REIAs in my determined area of Portland.I think I have to envsion what I see myself doing with the majority of my time. More and more, I think I see myself hands on as much as possible. I know this is against most advice I get, but initially, I see late nights in my future sanding, measuring, staining, etc.... but it is all too exciting, even if that sounds mundane to others.

@Dmitriy Fomichenko I appreciate your welcoming to the site. Thank you!

[Dmitriy Fomichenko]

@Kyle Webb you are welcome, see you around BP forum!

[J. Martin]

Hi Kyle, and welcome to BP! I’m a ‘fix and hold’ investor from the Bay Area in CA, and loving it! But you’ll find a variety of every type of investor on the site, and everyone is amazingly helpful. Some pointers for you: The "Learn" link across the top navigation bar has lots of great info, and so do BP members! You can click on the ‘vote’ button if you like someone's post or is helpful, and there are ‘awards’ to earn on your profile. And you can tag people by typing @ before you type their name, then clicking their name at the bottom of the message box. Welcome to the site, and good luck in everything!

[Brandon Turner]

Hey @Kyle Webb welcome to BP! Thanks for listening to the podcast. You should definitely start jumping right in the forums! Also, if you haven't yet, try to setup some "Keyword Alerts." It's great for getting into local conversations.

See you around the site!

[John Moore]

Welcome to the BP family, glad you decided to participate. Your goals seem ambitious, I believe almost all rehabbers feel they improve the neighborhood and move onto the next challange. It appears you wish to stay put this may very well be an excellent key to success and you certainly will become known for your contribution and this may generate additional business. I wish you luck in your goal and finding the right set of circumstances to make it rapidly successful.

[Kyle Webb]

@J. Martin Wow... I can't imagine beginning in the SF/ San Jose region. It seems to be the highest RE market in the country at this time...average Single families selling for $775K... I suppose there are still deals to be had if you have the right marketing skills in place, but what an effort that must be....but what a tough business to break into. Though, I visited SF/ Santa Rosa/ Sebastpol last summer and fell in love.

@Brandon Turner Thank you very much Brandon! I really have enjoyed listening to the past 60 podcasts as they brought me a lot of insight to all scopes of investing strategies. I really wish they were longer though... I wonder if others would too? I enjoy the format of the "famous 4" and "fire round...I find the interlude to topics and unique insights you are able to ask guests invaluable. I can't tell you how many times you or Josh have followed up with a question clarifying for a more detailed or simplified response for the expertise of the guest.... I think your podcast is levelled very well to the listener. Can we every expect a longer format to the podcast? 2-3 hours perhaps? I can dream I suppose.

@John Moore I always see myself using my time on this earth to provide enough for my family to be comfortable... but also being able to use any learned skills/finances to better those around me. I think it can be scaleable and beneficial to everyone else around me that wants to better their community. Nobody strives to live in a depressed neighbourhood. It just takes effort and community involvement, along with an action list in order to progress the community towards a better future.

[Brandon Turner]

Hey @Kyle Webb - I also like the longer format, though some do not. Maybe we'll have to find a way to do two a week! :)

[Kerry Baird]

I also live overseas (hubby is active duty) and we have still managed to buy 3 properties in the US and 2 overseas. I like your vision for healing your community! Welcome~

[Kyle Webb]

@Brandon Turner Editing would be the hardest and most exhaustive format...Maybe have 2...keep the original Biggerpockets format, finely edited and produced...and one "uncut" version where it has more free flowing thoughts and dialogue. Two options for each listeners preference. Then again, this is free service you are providing to the public. Maybe a PRO account based "Director's Cut" with additional questionnaires or insight that the guest might not have been able to cover in the 60min time frame??

@Kerry Baird I'm curious to hear more! I still feel so new for being able to determine and choose my investing strategy, especially if I am doing it long distance. RAW land has peeked my interest from the BP podcast. Have you fell into investing because of the circumstances of having to transfer base or was this a strategy that you had laid out for the circumstances of possible having to transfer? BTW, I'm not active duty, but thank your husband for his support for our country.

[Kerry Baird]

How we started: While in the Air Force, I bought an expensive car, thinking I would remain on active duty to repay the loan...and discovered I was pregnant. I decided to separate to take care of the kid/s, while hubby continued on active duty. We had to solve the expensive car payment issue, which we did by buying another house. Renting out our bigger house paid for the car payment, and we moved to a fixer, which we fixed up and later sold...and we were hooked on houses.

We used some strategies to save up for more houses, such as using a bonus or tax returns for a down-payment. We flipped some, we rented a few, and we fixed/sold a handful...up to 15 houses in all.

Then we were posted to the UK...going on ten years now. We had to figure out how to buy from a distance if we wanted to stay in houses. I suggest to young airmen to consider buying a house at every base they are assigned to: they will know the cap for housing allowance, can use the chain of command if necessary, and find Air Force to be good tenants.

A good Realtor has been invaluable for the distance purchases. We needed to buy houses that didn't require much if any work, and our agent put us in touch with a lender, inspector, property management firm. Documents are emailed, notarized on our base, and emailed or Fed-ex'd back to the US. It is possible! I haven't done raw land as I don't see it as an asset; I like cash flow from rentals at this point.

[Daniel Ryu]

@Kyle Webb

Welcome! Great intro. I, too, am in the same boat as you are. Working overseas and learning about Real Estate Investing. I'm working with a partner, who also lives abroad. I'm in the process of reading J Scott's book on Flipping. It's been great as has Frank G's book on REI Calculations, which really opened my eyes as to how to value properties as investments.

While I'm thinking about investing while I'm abroad, I'm also thinking about bringing a small nest egg back to the states and rehabbing and flipping as a 'job' while I try to build up my rental passive income. (Although I plan to do very little of the actual repair work.. not my skillset!)

@Kerry Baird

Your story really excites me because those seem to be the biggest obstacles I'm currently facing - how to actually complete a transaction while abroad.

Was the realtor you're working with the same person who helped you buy properties before you left? If not, do you have any tips on how to find a great RE agent in a particular area? Sounds like you hit the jackpot with yours!