All Forum Posts by: Scott Pennington

Following - very interested to hear how this takes shape. An attractive enterprise for folks living in markets like Portland.

Yes - quite a bit of the work (including egress for main living + each bedroom) was done specific to a foundation retrofit.

We're in the middle of a value-add on our primary residence in Portland, OR, building out the basement to take the house from a 2/1 to a 4/2. Used a HELOC for much of the work and will roll it into a refi when we're finished.

Suppose this question is targeted more at those familiar with the specifics of Portland, but what we're wrestling with right now is whether to spend the extra time and $ to make the basement space a fully-permitted ADU, or whether to wrap the work and get to the refi sooner, with less $ outlay, since using the new space as a LTR is not an immediate priority.

What this boils down to is: how much of a premium, if any, should a permitted ADU add to our refi appraisal vs. just the additional 2/1 living space? FWIW the house is in the Sunnyside neighborhood, just north of Hawthorne/west of Tabor.

We've tried to study the limited sale comps over the last few years but it's been difficult to get a great read on how Portland appraisers are treating ADU space these days.

Tiny House On Wheels

@Mike Nuss Thanks, so helpful - as a newbie I had to first understand that by R1 we're talking about State of Oregon/IBC occupancy, not Portland municipal R1 zoning :) So now I'm down the rabbit hole of researching R1 transient hotel occupancy standards (for <10 people, as will be the case for most SFH structures).

@Mike Nuss you mentioned in this older thread that you have been through the process of converting a building in Portland to hotel occupancy. 

Do you have any suggestions for where to find the specifics on those requirements besides engaging with BDS about a specific address, which is how they seem to prefer interacting?

BDS has a good Change of Use or Occupancy flyer - https://www.portlandoregon.gov/bds/article/125287 - that lists the exact situation I'm curious about: "changing a house or duplex in a non-residential zone to a short-term vacation rental," but I can't find more detail about it anywhere else.

The City has no shortage of info about accessory short-term rentals that Airbnb will partner with Portland to enforce permits for next year, but I'm interested in requirements for non-accessory short-term vacation rentals (as articulated in that link) located in non-residential zones.

Per Portlandmaps, the tiny home hotel lot is zoned CM2. 

A collection of freestanding condos in my neighborhood, Butternut Condos (featured in this old WW article: 
https://www.wweek.com/portland/article-23993-hotel-california.html), is zoned CM1. I recall that after the complaint about their unpermitted use on Airbnb, all their listings were changed to 30+ days, but today they are back to nightly rentals on Airbnb. Not sure if they got rezoned or perhaps one of the owners is residing in one of the units?

@Mike Nuss really appreciate this great, specific advice. I hadn't realized until I looked up new code that any type/duration of lease will require relo $ (with a few exceptions). 

We're on a quiet Sunnyside street literally around corner from great Hawthorne shops, restaurants, bus stop, etc, so we will certainly look to leverage that and do robust screening.

@Caleb Webster great advice - we certainly don't want to get encumbered with that kind of a tenant situation. Appreciate the nod to Mike - this article doesn't necessarily solve my problem but reassures me that many others are dealing with similar issues: 

https://www.biggerpockets.com/member-blogs/5953/41266-5-ways-to-cash-flow-in-appreciation-markets

@Mary M. I hadn't even considered that - thank you. I'm aware that niche exists, but I know next to nothing about it. Are there other platforms like 2nd Address that cater specifically to furnished 30+? Can anyone speak to experiences listing on 2nd Address?

Utter newbie here - first post.

We own a small, appealing SFH in a desirable area of SE Portland.

We're looking for our first deal - aiming to house hack/BRRRR a larger SFH or duplex - and were planning to Airbnb our current residence.

With Portland's crackdown on licensing short term rentals and Airbnb's very recent cooperation with the city on actually enforcing those rules (de-listing those who are unpermitted/not in compliance), it appears that we will have to go LTR instead of STR with our current house.

That makes for a much dicier situation in terms of attaining positive cashflow on the rental.

So my question is... best resources or advice for how to absolutely max out the upper ceiling of what we can get for this house as a LTR. Furnished? Unfurnished? Which utilities if any to cover/not cover? What adds or amenities can we incorporate now to give ourselves every possible advantage when the house finally hits the rental market?

Thanks in advance - already learning a ton from the forums. Special thanks to those folks discussing the specifics of our tricky PDX market.