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What to look for when shopping for a rental

stevedeardorff • Sep 25, 2020

Some detail on the Portland Metro Area

There is a lot to look at when purchasing a property and trying to decide which home makes a great rental. The most simple piece of advice is to ask yourself "If I were a young family with kids where would I want to live?" 3 bedrooms 2 baths near a park and decent schools, maybe some public transportation and shopping nearby. But don’t limit yourself either.
The Portland metro area has about 750,000 housing units and about ⅓ of them, over 130,000 are rentals of all types; studios, apartments, townhomes, condos, single family etc. Currently there is a slight housing shortage in the area so there is a tenant for every home and every home will rent for the right price. So how do you determine price?
There are some companies that have a great deal of data, you have heard of them, Google, Facebook, Amazon but another is Zillow. Zillow has data on pretty much every home in the country.  Practically every home for rent or sale is listed on Zillow, they know location, size, configuration, utilities, appliances, walk scores, school data and of course the asking price, therefore Zillow rent estimates are very accurate. But the moment the house is put on the market if there are 3 other similar houses in the neighborhood available for $150 less then that directly affects the price. Trust your Zillow rent estimate within a few hundred dollars one way or the other.
But...how long will it take to rent? Current vacancy rates in Portland Metro hover around 5% which is difficult to get below since there will always be some time between tenants; prepping, advertising, showing, and renting the property. If you have an attractive property priced right it will rent with a minimum amount of vacancy time. Usually once summer break is over the rental market is slower but this year (2020) with Covid-19 the market delayed moves and we are as busy as ever heading into October.  5% is an average though, condos in downtown Portland are staying vacant longer while there has been a flow of tenants to the suburbs during Covid-19 and the transition to work from home situations.
Another common question has to do with maintenance costs. As with anything you purchase, in most cases the newer the property the fewer problems and costs you will incur. If you purchase a 50 year old home you can expect much higher repair costs than if you bought brand new with a builder’s warranty. Of course if you limit what you are responsible for that will reduce your costs too. If you purchase a condo you won't have to worry about the cost of roofing or exterior painting or pressure washing sidewalks but you will instead have consistent HOA fees that cover those expenses. The choice is yours and depends solely on your risk tolerance.  The West side of the Portland metro area has a wide choice of age and HOA properties to choose from.
Focus on the West side of town. Beaverton, Hillsboro and Cornelius are growing fast, there are great employment opportunities and plenty of wonderful investment homes. Happy shopping!

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