New Member from Portland, OR

New Member Introductions
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New Member from Portland, OR

Emilie Benn
Contractor · Portland, OR · Member since 2015 · 7 posts · 3 votes

Hello everyone,

my name is Emilie and my husband is David. We have been looking to invest in real-estate for the last 6 years but never took the plunge - we have read a ton of books, watch a ton of videos etc.... 

My husband is a contractor and he is helping flippers renovating their investment ; I love driving around town going to open house and I am "interior decorator" at art.... so we decided that this year to we should really do it. 

I am digital marketing manager for a luxury automotive dealership and I am planning to pass my real estate license in the next 90 days. I have been in sales, advertising and media planning for the last 12 years.

My husband was in the construction battalion (sea-bees) in the Navy and is a master inspector in Concrete and Metal construction. He has been renovating houses for the last 3 years.

We are currently living in our second fixer-upper which we are planning to stay for the next 10 years.

We are looking for hard-money lenders. We both have excellent credit, assets, the tools, hands and brains to make real-estate projects happen in a fast and profitable way.

I am looking forward to learn from people who have the experience and meeting new partners.

Cheers !

3Reply
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Most Popular Reply

Mike NussPro Member
Real Estate Entrepreneur · Portland, OR · Member since 2014 · 451 posts · 327 votes
11y

@Emilie Benn 

 you and your husband have the perfect skill set to flip homes in Portland. Keeping construction costs down and design are two very important factors to making $ in the Portland market. The right design in the right location can create some serious value. What parts of town were your two recent purchases? Where has your husband been doing flip rehabs? Have you been watching any specific rehabbers in our market? It's always exciting having projects going on, although sometimes it's hard to keep the excitement from turning into being anxious. 

You should come check out our RareBird meetings at the Lucky Lab in Multnomah Village. You'll meet like minded individuals. Some of them right here from BP. One new investor recently quite his day job due to success he's been having. You'll find a range of individuals great for networking with (wholesalers, flippers, builders, developers, landlords, brokers, etc..). 

http://myrarebird.com/events/

Podcast Guest on Show #548
2Reply
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  • Jeff S.
    Specialist · Portland, OR · Member since 2010 · 3k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    11y

    Hi Emilie, Glad to see you on board. Interested in what you are doing in Portland. Send me a message if you would like to discuss RE in Portland.

    0Reply
  • Jon HuberPro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Boca Raton, FL · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 713 votes
    11y

    @Emilie Benn

    Welcome to the community! BP has a tremendous amount of information to help you, but it is only available if you seek it out. Be sure to be as active and engaging as possible. Read blogs, post questions, and the podcasts are gold! The best free education you can get. Good luck!

    0Reply
  • Peter MacKercherBusiness Member
    Residential Real Estate Broker · Saint Louis, MO · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 567 votes
    11y

    Welcome to Bigger Pockets @Emilie Benn
    In the meantime here are 7 tips to help you grow your business using BP:

    1. New to BP? http://www.biggerpockets.com/starthere

    2. Develop your own business strategy. -- Don’t just be a “jack-of-all-trades"

    3. Grow your business by developing your business plan. - Remember there is a difference between goals and a plan. http://www.biggerpockets.com/files

    4. Locate and attend several different local REIAs as they’re great opportunities to network and meet wholesalers, lenders, and contractors.

    5. Stay away from the “guru” sales-pitch events - they rarely increase your investment knowledge, they merely empty your wallet!

    6. Spend some time every day on Bigger Pockets by connecting with “colleagues,” perusing blogs and videos, and engaging with others on the forums: http://www.biggerpockets.com/meet

    7. Set yourself up to receive free alerts to be notified of subjects that interest you: http://www.biggerpockets.com/alerts

    [email protected]
    0Reply
  • James Wise
    Real Estate Broker · Cleveland Dayton Cincinnati Toledo Columbus & Akron, OH · Member since 2013 · 30k+ posts · 20k+ votes
    11y

    @Emilie Benn 

    welcome to the site.

    0Reply
  • Larry Fried
    Investor/RE Broker · Eugene, OR · Member since 2014 · 3k+ posts · 968 votes
    11y

    @Emilie Benn Hi and welcome to BP from a fellow Oregonian.

    0Reply
  • Emilie Benn
    OP
    Contractor · Portland, OR · Member since 2015 · 7 posts · 3 votes
    11y

    Thank you all for your warm welcoming. I am going to start digging and connecting; I will keep you posted on our progress. 

    Cheers!

    Emilie

    0Reply
  • Mike NussPro Member
    Real Estate Entrepreneur · Portland, OR · Member since 2014 · 451 posts · 327 votes
    11y

    @Emilie Benn 

     you and your husband have the perfect skill set to flip homes in Portland. Keeping construction costs down and design are two very important factors to making $ in the Portland market. The right design in the right location can create some serious value. What parts of town were your two recent purchases? Where has your husband been doing flip rehabs? Have you been watching any specific rehabbers in our market? It's always exciting having projects going on, although sometimes it's hard to keep the excitement from turning into being anxious. 

    You should come check out our RareBird meetings at the Lucky Lab in Multnomah Village. You'll meet like minded individuals. Some of them right here from BP. One new investor recently quite his day job due to success he's been having. You'll find a range of individuals great for networking with (wholesalers, flippers, builders, developers, landlords, brokers, etc..). 

    http://myrarebird.com/events/

    Podcast Guest on Show #548
    2Reply
  • Michele FischerPro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Seattle, WA · Member since 2013 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    11y

    Emilie, welcome to BiggerPockets!  I'm about an hour north of you. Agree that you and your husband have great transferable skills to be successful in real estate, looks like your biggest issue might be taking the plunge!  You'll probably be hooked after your first deal.  Listen to the podcasts if you haven't already, set up key word alerts to find out about topics and geographies that interest you, and stay active on the site!

    Podcast Guest on Show #79
    0Reply
  • Randy Johnston
    Residential Real Estate Broker · Beaverton, OR · Member since 2014 · 335 posts · 149 votes
    11y

    @Emilie Benn Welcome to BP. You've come to the right place. We should get together for coffee sometime and talk about the market in the Portland area and Brokerage firms.

    I would also suggest that the two of you look at joining a real estate investment organization for networking and learning opportunities. Two that you can check out are Northwest Real Estate Investor's Association and Rare Bird, both of which are active groups.

    1Reply
  • Elizabeth Colegrove
    Hanford, CA · Member since 2013 · 5k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    11y

    Welcome to Biggerpockets!

    You found the place to be! You will find no better place to build a solid platform than bigger pockets. The one thing we all agree up on is that we invest in real estate. Beyond that everyone has a different niche! You sound like you have a plan! 

    We are buy and hold investors who invest in class A properties self-managing from a distance while working full time. We invest in single family using conventional loans. So we do work on furthering our careers. We live very frugally allowing us to live off of one income and save the other. We have further our career and used the W2 income to leverage our real estate portfolio.

    I highly recommend you also check out- the blogs, forums and listen to the podcasts. If you see a post you enjoy check out the persons signature. As many of us have created resources around our niche (websites, blogs, etc) so checking out the signature is a great to get more information. Make sure you don't miss out on networking is by filling out your signature, profile and pming people with questions.

    Look forward to seeing you around! Let me know if I can help! Good luck!!!

    0Reply
  • Andrew Davis
    Investor · Asheville, NC · Member since 2011 · 833 posts · 499 votes
    11y

    Hey @Emilie Benn welcome to BP!

    Great to see a fellow Portlandian on here.  I was born and raised there, and miss it dearly.

    It sounds like you and your husband are set up for success!  Best of luck!

    0Reply
  • Andrew Davis
    Investor · Asheville, NC · Member since 2011 · 833 posts · 499 votes
    11y

    @Mike Nuss man do I miss the Lucky Lab, have an extra IPA for me at the next meeting!

    0Reply
  • Emilie Benn
    OP
    Contractor · Portland, OR · Member since 2015 · 7 posts · 3 votes
    11y

    I was thinking to go to the first meeting of the month in February at the Lucky Lab to see what we can learn and who we can meet. 

    We renovated our first home in Parkrose heights - we bought it in 2005 and sold it for the highest per sq footage in the all neighborhood in July 2013 - sold in 4 days with multiple offers over asking price (yes in Parkrose heights ).

    We bought in Vermont Hills another fixer (at less than $150 a sq/ft). So yeah not a bit afraid to do low-ball take it or leave it offer.

    Dave has done remodels for his job mostly in NE and SE (Dekum triangle and Woodstock - not surprising ...) 

    Now that we are living in SW PDX I would like to find a family house to flip- they are a ton of cosmetic fixers but I always think they are overpriced :-(  Plus  without knowing how we are going to finance , we cannot just write up an offer...

    Our dream will be to specialize in mid-century homes - Mad Men style.

    With that say I have a question... Someone says that there is no stupid questions- so here it is: "why a real estate investment firm would put on the RMLS a rehab house way over valued for the amount of fixing needed ? as a Real Estate investment firm would you not have the cash to fix it and sell it for a higher profit instead of having it sitting on the "public" market for months...I have multiple theories - one might involve some conspiracy - lol - but would love answers from the pros.

    Emilie 

    0Reply
  • Eric Blanchard
    Specialist · Portland, OR · Member since 2013 · 96 posts · 19 votes
    11y

    Welcome Emilie! PM if you want hard money lender references, I have two that I've used.

    0Reply
  • Frankie Woods
    Investor · Arlington, VA · Member since 2012 · 1k+ posts · 491 votes
    11y

    Welcome to BP Em!

    0Reply
  • Taylor Shields
    Real Estate Investor · Lake Oswego, OR · Member since 2014 · 64 posts · 29 votes
    11y

    @Emilie Benn 

    Hope to see you at the Rarebird meetings in the future.

    I'm a bit confused at your question. Are you asking why an investor would relist a fixer at a high price after purchasing it and prior to fixing it? A price that seems outrageous from an investing standpoint?

    0Reply
  • Matt Good
    Real Estate Investor · Sandy, OR · Member since 2014 · 113 posts · 16 votes
    11y

    @Eric Blanchard it's nice to meet you! :-) I'm a fellow Portlander and new to investing. I'm shopping around for HML. I've spoken with one so far. Can you please help me with your HML contacts and references? Thanks!

    0Reply
  • Emilie Benn
    OP
    Contractor · Portland, OR · Member since 2015 · 7 posts · 3 votes
    11y

    @Taylor Shields yes that was my question. 

    0Reply
  • Taylor Shields
    Real Estate Investor · Lake Oswego, OR · Member since 2014 · 64 posts · 29 votes
    11y

    @Emilie Benn 

    There could be various reasons for that. A "good" investor wouldn't do something like that unless they know it can sell on the retail market.

    Another reason might be that they tried to wholesale it, they couldn't. So they closed on it and hope it sells or they will just rehab it.

    You should never try to rehab what you can't wholesale. This is a horrible investment practice and happens ALL THE TIME. You should wholesale what you don't want to rehab and dont be afraid to walk away if you can't wholesale.

    Human nature is horrible at quitting something you have put time and energy into. You need to do everything you can to understand your own psychology and create rules for yourself, Otherwise, one will make poor decisions. 

    0Reply
  • Kenneth HynesPro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Easton, PA · Member since 2013 · 357 posts · 92 votes
    11y

    welcome @Emilie Benn 

    BP is a great resource and a great place to network.  , as you are already finding out. 

    As far as your questoin, could be several answers. One that I think is the REI firms are not in the rehab business, just eithe buy and rent or sell their portfolio. They dont have the resources to fix al their properties and just want it gone off thier books

    0Reply
  • Edward Synicky
    Rental Property Investor · Yorba Linda, CA · Member since 2012 · 336 posts · 69 votes
    11y

    @Emilie Benn 

    Welcome fellow Bigger Pockets member! This is a great forum and I am sure it will help you learn many facets of the real estate investment world. I purchased my first investment property over 40 years ago and only wish that I had a resource like BP community when I got started! So you are in a good company.

    Some say that your net-worth equals your network, and this is the place to make right connections. You should also find investors locally and network with them face-to-face. Find people close to you using MEET feature. Also, look for investor meetings on Meetup.

    All the best!

    1Reply
  • Account Closed
    Rental Property Investor · Vancouver, WA · Member since 2014 · 308 posts · 144 votes
    11y
    Originally posted by @Emilie Benn:

    Hello everyone,

    my name is Emilie and my husband is David. We have been looking to invest in real-estate for the last 6 years but never took the plunge - we have read a ton of books, watch a ton of videos etc.... 

    My husband is a contractor and he is helping flippers renovating their investment ; I love driving around town going to open house and I am "interior decorator" at art.... so we decided that this year to we should really do it. 

    I am digital marketing manager for a luxury automotive dealership and I am planning to pass my real estate license in the next 90 days. I have been in sales, advertising and media planning for the last 12 years.

    My husband was in the construction battalion (sea-bees) in the Navy and is a master inspector in Concrete and Metal construction. He has been renovating houses for the last 3 years.

    We are currently living in our second fixer-upper which we are planning to stay for the next 10 years.

    We are looking for hard-money lenders. We both have excellent credit, assets, the tools, hands and brains to make real-estate projects happen in a fast and profitable way.

    I am looking forward to learn from people who have the experience and meeting new partners.

    Cheers !

     Welcome from just across the river! 

    0Reply
  • Emilie Benn
    OP
    Contractor · Portland, OR · Member since 2015 · 7 posts · 3 votes
    11y

    @Taylor Shields  @Kenneth Hynes  - we were looking at this house on the RMLS - owned by Investment firm that buy/wholesale and flip houses as well - so they should have the renovation team.  They Bought it cash from owners at $205k back in October, put it on the RMLS in January for $300k without touching it  though it is a complete rehab ( you might know which house I am talking about). Our real estate agent contacted their real estate agent to see if they would accept something closer to what they bought it for and their real estate agent pretty much said : "no, if they dont get what they want now, they will rehab it themselves".

    My thinking as an inventory manager: "why would they have wasted 3 months of holding a property without making a dime ? this is pure loss profit for them; instead of getting rid of it and take a quick loss, they are going to need to raise more funds to rehab it, and at the end they will not make that much profit if any because of all this time lost. " 

    But then Humans make mistake mostly when cash is involved. 

    0Reply
  • Taylor Shields
    Real Estate Investor · Lake Oswego, OR · Member since 2014 · 64 posts · 29 votes
    11y

    @Emilie Benn 

    Yeah I am not too surprised. Portland's inventory is so low that they may very well be able to sell it for a profit. Do you know who it was? 

    They may have had other projects that took priority and if they bought it with their own cash the holding cost wouldn't be that much. Also, they may also be waiting through the winter and will start the rehab in the spring and put it on the market in the summer when they can sell it for more. 

    Are you mostly looking on the MLS for deals?

    0Reply
  • Emilie Benn
    OP
    Contractor · Portland, OR · Member since 2015 · 7 posts · 3 votes
    11y

    @Taylor Shields  

    I understand their positions (Phoenix redevelopment) - I think my feeling is a bit bruised because it could have been an awesome deal if it would have gone through. Oh well, one miss a thousand more to come. 

    Yes we are mostly looking at RMLS - we both working full time, it would be hard to go to auctions, or even work in prospecting homeowners that would accept a cash offer. 

    Plus we are not yet 100% funded. We still have questions on that and finding best ways not too loose all of our assets if a deal goes bad - we are risk takers but we don't want to be stupid neither. 

    Our real estate agent presented a property today that is sub divisible with a fixer on it.  Our next door neighbors are looking to sell their house and buy a piece of land to build so I know that if we find the right property we have buyers for the land. But that listing is a bit more than what we would like to start with and the paperwork for the plat lot even though already in process at the county may take more time than fixing the house - then we can be stuck with a house on a lot that is not divided yet. (Though could be a rental if needed - but not the goal). 

    So much to think about. 

    Also my husband was thinking to Propose a JV with the REI who he is working for - but he is not too sure what to propose. Thinking about offering time + material as investment and getting a percentage of the profit (15%) in return with a minimum matching the investment.

    Sorry for long note ... So much in our heads right now and really looking for people with experience that can guide us. 

    0Reply
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