26 Investors Who Have Way More House than You
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'For Sale' and 'Sold' signs are common in the Humboldt neighborhood of Portland. Photo: Jason Alcorn
There are 26 investors who purchased more than 10 homes for cash in the listed market in Multnomah County through the recession. The equity firms in the bunch were American Homes 4 Rent and Equity West Capital Partners. Equity West Capital Partners topped the activity list, followed by Dilusso Homes, run by real estate mogul Chris Baird, who has purchased more than 500 properties in California, Alabama and Oregon, at least 29 in Multnomah County for cash and more than 100 others in Multnomah County through a combination of cash and other means.
Also high on the list were a trio of private investors: Pak Leong, Hongbo Li and Fuk Chan, who sometimes partner on deals. AAV One, owned by private investor Tina Lei, landed on the list as well, along with private companies Red Gap Holdings and JET Investments. BKB Investments and NSI Investments, private-investor upstarts in the flip market, have since left the game. BKB’s AJ Kitt said the company couldn’t make money on its flips. NSI’s Nick Stearns said he has retired.
Remodelers Eden Enterprises, Willamette Valley Properties, John Reilly and Wilde Properties were also frequent cash buyers, mostly working on the inner east side. John L. Scott Realtor King Brendenkamp bought in east Portland along with Gresham and Troutdale.
Portland social service agency Proud Ground landed on the list with the help of stimulus money to boost its holdings. Portland Habilitation Center Northwest, which provides affordable housing to the disabled, was also on the list. True Bread Properties, Inc., a religiously themed, for-profit investment company headed by remodeling contractor Will Davis, purchased damaged properties cheap and flipped them at low cost to buyers on the low end of the market.
Developers including Renaissance Homes, Liberty NW Homes, Everett Custom Homes, and Randall Palazzo, through his former company RP & Associates and Metro Homes Northwest, bought properties in east Portland and St. Johns. Big Moose Development focused on the hills of west side, north and south.
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