Buying out of state, buy and hold in WA

[Jacob Tomko]

Hi All, I've been creeping on this site for awhile but have finally settled down with my first place in LA and am now looking to buy and hold out of state. So I figure it's now my turn to take a shot at posting. Hopefully the first of many. 

I'm going in with two other individuals and we have whittled down the possible areas to Western Washington & San Antonio. We are looking for properties in the 150-200k range.

 I grew up in Tacoma, WA and have heard nothing but good things about the market. The problem is that it already seems to be getting expensive there and it sits at the higher end of our budget. Are there any other inexpensive but positive in cashflow areas in western WA tied specifically to the Seattle boom? Do those not exist anymore since too many people have already caught on? I figure Olympia is too far down south and Lakewood is tied too much to the military.

Also, are there any rules to be aware of when investing in Washington, especially when out of state?

Thanks for listening and I hope to have many more conversations in the future from this site. 

Best, 

Jacob

[Ryland Taniguchi]

Originally posted by @Jacob Tomko:

Hi All, I've been creeping on this site for awhile but have finally settled down with my first place in LA and am now looking to buy and hold out of state. So I figure it's now my turn to take a shot at posting. Hopefully the first of many. 

I'm going in with two other individuals and we have whittled down the possible areas to Western Washington & San Antonio. We are looking for properties in the 150-200k range.

 I grew up in Tacoma, WA and have heard nothing but good things about the market. The problem is that it already seems to be getting expensive there and it sits at the higher end of our budget. Are there any other inexpensive but positive in cashflow areas in western WA tied specifically to the Seattle boom? Do those not exist anymore since too many people have already caught on? I figure Olympia is too far down south and Lakewood is tied too much to the military.

Also, are there any rules to be aware of when investing in Washington, especially when out of state?

Thanks for listening and I hope to have many more conversations in the future from this site. 

Best, 

Jacob

I live in Seattle but have lots of rentals in Phoenix, Memphis, Houston, Kansas City, Birmingham, Tacoma, Lakewood, Lacey, and Olympia. There are still plenty of great deals in Tacoma. We have bought several homes this year under $80,000, put about $30 k in and the ARV is around $200 k. We buy, rehab, rent and then refinance. I think Tacoma is ideal if you are local and using the BRRRR strategy.

I am concerned about rentals in Olympia, Lacey, Yelm and Tumwater because they are closing down 16,000 military jobs in the area. I might sell my rental properties in these areas.

If you are investing from California, the cap rates in areas like Kansas City and Birmingham are just flat out better than Tacoma or Olympia. If you can't take advantage of BRRRR, I would look where they have better turnkey providers and better cap rates.