Newbie investor in Portland, Oregon

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Newbie investor in Portland, Oregon

Mike Meerschaert
Portland, OR · Member since 2019 · 14 posts · 8 votes

Hi,

My name is Mike Meerschaert and I'm originally from the San Francisco Bay Area. I'm moving up to Portland, OR in February 2020 and I'm planning to get started investing in real estate once up there. I work a 9-5 with pretty good comp and benefits, but my goal is to save as much as possible and invest everything in small multi family or single family BRRRR deals, and hopefully have $3,500/month in rental income within the next 5 years to be able to cover all my basic necessities so I can focus on working on things that matter to me without having to trade most of my time for money to pay my bills.

I don't have a background in real estate, but I am a computer programmer at an investment consulting firm so I do know a lot about how to analyze investments, and I live and breathe numbers every day. I started my career fixing computers, then working at a managed service provider that managed all IT needs for small businesses and startups around the SF bay area, but in my free time I was teaching myself programming until I landed my current job. Now my primary skills are JavaScript / Python / PHP / SQL, Relational / Graph Data Modeling, API / Web application development, and I'm pretty proficient with excel and google sheets. I've already come up with some quick and dirty models for doing side by side comparisons of cash flow on rental properties by inputting purchase price and rental income, and using some basic formulas to estimate expenses. I'm also pretty good with most technical issues due to my background in IT and systems administration. 

I learned about this community from Brandon Turner's youtube videos, then the bigger pockets podcast, then I signed up to buy David Greene's BRRRR book, and now I'm here to get advice, network and hopefully be able to provide value from my technical background to other members here.

I'm interested in networking with other real estate investors in the Portland area, specifically Real estate agents, Contractors, Property managers and Lenders who are investors themselves.

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Nicholas Cook
Real Estate Broker · Portland, OR · Member since 2017 · 100 posts · 56 votes
6y

@Mike Meerschaert Welcome to Portland! I've been operating in real estate for about 13 years (all of it in Portland). I am an investor, realtor and owner of a large property management company in Portland.

The biggest factor to consider when investing in Portland is the regulatory environment and how it will impact you and your goals.


Portland has new security deposit and screening criteria for residents that may make you pause. Also, you will want to read up on SB 608, which is the latest bill in Oregon that passed in early 2019. 


I would be happy to connect.

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  • Nicholas Cook
    Real Estate Broker · Portland, OR · Member since 2017 · 100 posts · 56 votes
    6y

    @Mike Meerschaert Welcome to Portland! I've been operating in real estate for about 13 years (all of it in Portland). I am an investor, realtor and owner of a large property management company in Portland.

    The biggest factor to consider when investing in Portland is the regulatory environment and how it will impact you and your goals.


    Portland has new security deposit and screening criteria for residents that may make you pause. Also, you will want to read up on SB 608, which is the latest bill in Oregon that passed in early 2019. 


    I would be happy to connect.

    1Reply
  • Mike Meerschaert
    OP
    Portland, OR · Member since 2019 · 14 posts · 8 votes
    6y

    Thanks for the info Nicholas,

    I have been directed to that bill before and have read up on it a bit. As I understand, the key details that make it detrimental to landlords are:

    • Statewide rent control capps rental increases @ 7% + CPI
    • No cause evictions are prohibited after 1 year of tenancy

    I hope I can still achieve my goals within these confines because there are a few advantages this provides.

    There will be fewer investors (particularly out of state investors) looking to buy up the duplex / triplex / 4 plex properties that I'd like to be targeting, which will hopefully cool off the market a bit and allow for better purchase prices (my plan is to buy, rent, and hopefully never sell, so I don't care too much about short term market appreciation).

    Also I'm coming from the SF bay area, and in San Francisco in particular there is very restrictive rent control laws and no room for new development (much like Portland as I understand) which has lead to a situation where people don't want to leave their rent controlled units, which restricts the supply of available rentals, which in turn drives the rental market way up for the pricing on new units to ridiculous levels (like, $3k-$4k/mo for a 1 bedroom). On the one hand this sucks for the current landlords stuck with tenants paying below market rents, but on the other hand, those who are able to rent new units can get a premium.

    The strategy I'm hoping to employ is to buy properties that need considerable work, fix them up, rent them out at market rates, and refinance to reclaim my capital. Over time I'd like to steadily increase rents as the market will tolerate, so it's doubtful the 7% cap would be much of a hindrance. It looks like one of the legitimate causes for removing tenants is if you plan to renovate the property, which would fit nicely with my strategy. I think the key for me is to find good tenants after the rehab, which means finding a good property manager, so I'd definitely like to connect!

    All that being said, I'm a total newbie at this and all I know is what I've read but I don't have any real experience. Given your vast experience in the portland rental market do you think this strategy has any merit?

    0Reply
  • James Wise
    Real Estate Broker · Cleveland Dayton Cincinnati Toledo Columbus & Akron, OH · Member since 2013 · 30k+ posts · 20k+ votes
    6y
    Originally posted by @Mike Meerschaert:

    Hi,

    My name is Mike Meerschaert and I'm originally from the San Francisco Bay Area. I'm moving up to Portland, OR in February 2020 and I'm planning to get started investing in real estate once up there. I work a 9-5 with pretty good comp and benefits, but my goal is to save as much as possible and invest everything in small multi family or single family BRRRR deals, and hopefully have $3,500/month in rental income within the next 5 years to be able to cover all my basic necessities so I can focus on working on things that matter to me without having to trade most of my time for money to pay my bills.

    I don't have a background in real estate, but I am a computer programmer at an investment consulting firm so I do know a lot about how to analyze investments, and I live and breathe numbers every day. I started my career fixing computers, then working at a managed service provider that managed all IT needs for small businesses and startups around the SF bay area, but in my free time I was teaching myself programming until I landed my current job. Now my primary skills are JavaScript / Python / PHP / SQL, Relational / Graph Data Modeling, API / Web application development, and I'm pretty proficient with excel and google sheets. I've already come up with some quick and dirty models for doing side by side comparisons of cash flow on rental properties by inputting purchase price and rental income, and using some basic formulas to estimate expenses. I'm also pretty good with most technical issues due to my background in IT and systems administration. 

    I learned about this community from Brandon Turner's youtube videos, then the bigger pockets podcast, then I signed up to buy David Greene's BRRRR book, and now I'm here to get advice, network and hopefully be able to provide value from my technical background to other members here.

    I'm interested in networking with other real estate investors in the Portland area, specifically Real estate agents, Contractors, Property managers and Lenders who are investors themselves.

     Welcome aboard Mike.

    1Reply
  • Tyler Combs
    Developer · Portland, OR · Member since 2015 · 67 posts · 61 votes
    6y

    Hey Mike!  Welcome to BP and to Portland.  I'm happy to grab coffee with you and help introduce you to other local investors.  If you're interested, DM me.

    1Reply
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