When I was a kid, I was taught to fish in a tributary of the Klamath River, called the Sprauge. Like anyone who has grown up here, I pretended I knew how to grab fish out of the water from the moment I was walking, but of course, I needed the right tools. And I needed guidance from the best fisher in the parts, who, luckily, was my mother. 

It’s the same way I built my Oregon real estate investment business (except without my mom). I searched and used tools that helped me with my finances, lead generation, and everything else. I read books on understanding the rental market. I went to conferences and talked to experts, until much to my surprise, I became one of those veteran experts myself. 

So it’s with experience that I tell anyone building their Oregon investment property business that there’s no way to go at it alone. A person has to be taught to fish, after all. Finding a way to access the best tools and resources to advance your knowledge and give you an edge is the smart play. 

Understanding Investment Property in Oregon

Knowing what to look for in an investment property in Oregon can be tricky. After all, there are pretty big differences between the real estate market in Portland and, say, Bend, not to mention the eastern part of the state. 

But there are some things you need to know that are universal. 

Know the rent that the market can bear 

In Portland, a 765-square foot apartment goes for $1,400. In trendier Klamath Falls, rentals are closer to $3,000 for a one-bedroom dwelling. In Pendleton, you can be looking at $700 for the same size. Obviously, if you are buying a house, prices will be higher, but they can’t be so much higher that someone decides an apartment makes more sense. 

Know the neighborhood

Before you start to rent out a place, you need to know lots of factors, for example, a property’s Walk Score which rates its walkability quotient and its nearness to transportation. Another aspect to consider is if the neighborhood is up-and-coming, or stagnating. You might have a great house, but if it is in a neighborhood no one wants to live in, you won’t get the price you need to turn a profit. Conversely, if you have a run-down place in a great neighborhood, there’s a chance that people won’t want to live there. 

Know the work that will need to go into it

You might have to do upgrades on the house in order to bring it up to neighborhood standards. That’s fine—it’s part of the business—but that factor absolutely has to go into your calculations to determine when you can start turning a profit. Being able to estimate the costs of material and labor will help make sure you don’t sink into a money pit. 

That’s a lot to know going in, especially when you are first starting your investment property business. That’s why you want to take advantage of all the real estate investing tools and resources available. 

Tools to Build Your Oregon Investment Property Business

Just like a good pole helps when fishing, the right tools can get you started when building your real estate investment business. Here are some must-haves: 

Marketing Tools 

There are a lot of ways to generate leads, but marketing is one of the best of them. If you don’t have the advantage of a national marketing campaign, you have to make sure that people can find you when they are looking to sell. Probably the best way is to have a website driven by SEO for real estate. When people search for terms like “sell my house in Portland” you’d want them to see your website at the top of the search results. An effective SEO-approach can also help you find renters. 

Lead Pipeline Management Tools

It’s a big state—hopefully, you’ll be getting a lot of leads. A management tool will help you keep them all in one place. It will help you track incoming leads, prioritize the best ones, and keep at the forefront the ones that are close to closing. 

Valuation Tools

When I talked about evaluating how much you’re going to spend on a property, I had valuation tools in mind. It’s not a matter of eyeballing and intuition, especially when you’re starting, but really at any point in your career, valuation tools help you understand your costs vs. your expected rental income, and help you make the right choices. 

Money-Management Tools

This business is all about managing your money effectively. You might be searching for the best hard money lenders in Oregon. You might be authorizing purchases, paying bills, and collecting rent on multiple properties. Having easy ways to evaluate lenders and a simplified account and payment center means that you won’t always be drowning in numbers. 

Real estate marketing and tech tools are a key part of growing your Oregon investment property business, but they aren’t the only things needed. 

Resources to Build Your Oregon Investment Property Business

If, as a little tyke, I was handed a fishing pole without instructions, I wouldn’t catch anything except mosquito bites; I needed guidance. That’s why resources are a key part of building your business. 

High-Quality Real Estate Content

There is a lot of real estate content out there. There are YouTube videos by so-called real estate gurus, websites by random investors, and actually some very good stuff. I personally like resources created by actual real estate investing professionals, who are still working, who don’t rely on catchphrases and “surefire ways,” and who know the reality on the ground.  

Training

My mom was the best at fishing on the whole Klamath, and she trained me on what to do. Being trained when starting your real estate investing business can be invaluable. The best real estate training teaches you how to get leads, evaluate houses, close the sale, and have a rental and exit strategy. Remember that no one just knows how to do all this stuff, no matter how many shows you’ve seen. Watching Top Gun 100 times doesn’t make you a fighter pilot. 

Mentorship

Training is important and needed, but as someone who has been on both sides of this equation, I don’t think you can overstate the importance of ongoing real estate mentorship. A mentor can help you develop your business by identifying and planning to meet your goals. Mentors can help figure out tough decisions. To me, talking to a working expert, having a pro as someone you can lean on, is worth a thousand videos by gurus. 

This is a lot, of course. So how do you make sure you have all the tools and resources you need? 

The Best Way to Build Your Oregon Investment Property Business

You’re purchasing investment properties because you are planning for the future, but you need to have some profit (or at least acceptable losses) in the present. You need tools and resources to help. That’s why I think your best bet could be becoming an independently owned and operated HomeVestors® franchise.

I’m a franchisee. And as one, I have all the tools and resources needed at my fingertips to help me run my business efficiently. Not only that, but I am a beneficiary of the nationally-known “We Buy Ugly Houses®” marketing campaign. It ensures that I have a steady amount of quality leads, more than by augmenting my own marketing efforts. 

Building your Oregon investment property business doesn’t have to be a fishing expedition. You can go in with a plan. You can go in with the tools and resources to give you a leg up. So if you’re interested, request information about becoming a franchisee today. From the coast to the range, it’s the best way to boost your real estate investment business. 

Each franchise office is independently owned and operated.