By Living Room Realty, December 10, 2018
Buying a rental property is a very different experience from traditionally buying a home for your family. A rental property must fit into a special formula in order to pencil out. The home must be able to rent for enough to cover the mortgage, taxes and insurance but the purchase price can not be too high or the formula doesn’t compute. As Portland home prices have continued to rise this formula becomes harder and harder to work out.
Recently a friend referred me some buyers who were looking for a rental property, with the ultimate goal of moving to Portland full time in a few years. They came into town for two days in mid November. I spent a few weeks preparing for their visit and scouring homes in highly rentable areas. When they arrived I had a lot of homes lined up to see and the prices ranged considerably, as did the condition and location. All of this factors into the rental equation.
The very first home we visited checked nearly all of the rental boxes. It was in a highly walkable neighborhood with good restaurants, shops and schools within a a few blocks. Three bedrooms upstairs, two remodeled bathrooms and an updated kitchen, this home boasted all things renters will pay top dollar for. The rest fo the day we spent comparing every house we saw to the first one. There was no doubt, the first one was the right one.
Things don’t always work out like this…my new clients had trusted their friend’s referral and thus trusted my research and knowledge and we got lucky! The magic rental formula = Trust + Luck
