Confused newbie in Tacoma market

[Jay Walker]

Hey everybody! I'm a first time buyer and looking to do a buy & hold. The ultimate goal is to find a home that's livable for my wife, son, and I, with an extra room or two we can rent, and then in 2 years, look into renting that home out entirely and purchasing a multifamily or second home. Rinse and repeat.

I'm looking in the Tacoma area, but everything decent I'm seeing listed is pending within hours. My realtor states that summer in this area is a seller's market, and any good listing will have several offers above asking, within hours of listing. That makes sense, but I'm also seeing that from the opposite side of the coin. If I'm a seller, I'd be listing in summer. So as a buyer, wouldn't that narrow my options if I wait until fall/winter?

I'm trying to do a zero down loan, but the lender is dragging their feet and (IMO) being fairly unprofessional by continuously asking for more information every couple days, and pushing things back. I was approved quickly by another lender, sent quotes and pricing sheets, etc. but was told by several realtors that they'd never heard of the company and not to trust them (???)

I initially considered the potential of a property that needs some work, but I have ZERO experience rehabing, dont know many contractors (I know one plumber and one electrician), and have never really done any construction work. I think I might be putting myself (and my family) in a bad situation going that route. 

I would love any feedback, resources, articles, or advice that any of the more experienced investors here could offer me. 

Should I wait till the fall/winter so the market isn't so insane? Or am I just letting good deals pass me by?

Are there any other investors/flippers in the Tacoma area that wouldn't mind me picking their brain and asking questions?

Should I go with the lender that got me approved right away, or is that asking for disaster during closing? I've heard lots of horror stories about deals falling through because one or two items were missed.

What do you guys think?

[Jennifer Beadles]

@Jay Walker Have you considered buying an owner occupied duplex on this first purchase as opposed to competing with other buyers on single family homes? If the goal was to rent some bedrooms out, you could likely find a 2 bed 1 bath each side duplex and get the same if not more for renting the other side of the duplex. You wouldn't be competing with other owner occupant buyers since most duplex buyers are investors, so while still competitive it wouldn't be as crazy and at least it would get you into the market.

I don't so much care what the overall market is (buyer vs. seller) when I buy my properties, I focus more on what is the return on investment and since rents are at an all time high and interest rates are at an all time low, the price really doesn't matter if you can get a super good return (which is still possible). I do intend on keeping all of my investments long term for retirement income, and instead of selling I just increase the value and then get lines of credit so that I don't have to pay taxes on a sale or deal with a 1031. 

Another thing to consider is the zero down program, while it's pretty good for first time buyers, sellers and listing agents don't like it. They take longer to close, and there is always the risk of the state running out of funding (which I've seen happen). You may want to consider either a family gift and go for the FHA loan or wait until you've saved enough for FHA.

If you don't want to buy a duplex now, or if the WSHFA won't work on multi family you could always reach out to some flippers who would want to presale their property to you so they don't have to wait until it hits market. If you could find someone who would do that, you could get an offer signed around while they were still working on the house, get the loan process started and have the lender pre-order the appraisal and do an appraisal reinspect just prior to close. It would save the flipper probably 2 weeks so that could be a win-win. I've done this before and it worked great.

Best of luck to you!