All Forum Posts by: Kelly Asmus

Those that call names don't understand what it is to be a landlord. The risk you took to invest the money, the time you spend managing it and the continued money you invest to repair/maintain and fix things. I don't mind being called a landlord, it's part of my business and I believe I am an excellent landlord - fair, honest, I repair things immediately, keep my properties in tip top shape and I communicate well to tenants. 

Flood zones, serious foundation issues and really rough neighborhoods. Otherwise evaluate the property and if it pencils, then get creative!

Do a search of homes with similar square footages/ similar age of property / in your specific area. What sold in the last 3 months and look at all the photos. What features stood out for those properties that helped them get to that appraisal value. I always say don't guess, use real market data to get your answers. All real estate is local and appraisers see the same thing over and over so you can figure out what they are assigning value to. That will give you the best info to make your home appraiser along with sold comps.

I've seen their contract and there aren't any gotchas. It's pretty standard. I would purchase with an agent though to help you through it and make sure your interests are looked after. All these companies, like Zillow, have their own internal contracts with state addendums. Anytime you are signing someone else's specific contract and not the state written OREF contract keep in mind that they (the company) wrote the contract, so it benefits them. Make sure the contingencies are in place to place to protect you - inspection, financing, title and appraisal. Reach out if I can help. I'm local.

Portland does have strong employment and it is bouncing back. We have a shortage of rental properties here, so rents have been going up. There are plenty of suburbs around Portland that don't have the crazy restrictions that the city of Portland does, so plenty of opportunity. I posted a SF home for rent in early May in one of our suburbs and had 40 requests for info within the first week. 

Oregon does have statewide rent control, but good landlords who are keeping up with market rents can do very, very well here. I monitor the market yearly and adjust up as needed. I manage it like a business and stay on top of it. Those landlords that "set it and forget it" are the ones with issues. Once you get behind on market rent you can't catch up unless the tenant moves out/ or you evict. 

Can your partner refinance it into their name only so you can take your portion of the equity and be free of the situation? Then you can invest in something else that is wholly owned by you. 

Compare the rates and programs. The more money you put down, the lower your interest rate will be because you are less risky of a borrower. It's slight, but every little bit helps. Compare the programs, monthly payments and make sure your project cash flows. Also ask about how long you have to technically "owner occupy" as FHA tends to be a little stricter with their guidelines and appraisals.

Rentals.com. I use it exclusively, it's reasonably priced and it feeds to all the major website and portals. I have used craigslist in the past and have found the tenants to be subpar - it's free so I guess you get what you pay for.

I also use Listings to Leasing. Free Online Tenant Screening Services | Listing 2 Leasing

It's free for landlords and brokers. They do all the tenant screening, I just add the link to apply in my rentals.com ad. Each adult tenant pays $39.99 to apply and it runs credit/background/criminal/everything and sends me a notification once application is complete. It's SOOOOOOO easy. 

Agree. Be careful with rising interest rates, but there is opportunity in every market. I am still acquiring and holding rentals and as long as I have my costs covered and it's cash flowing I know rents are NOT going down. I'm in it for the long haul. 

Talk to your real estate agent and get a referral to someone they use locally or agents in their office. Brokers have deep networks of contractors they've used.