Advice for multi-family investing in Seattle WA

[Amir Zi]

Hello BP!

This is Amir. I just joined the forum, and relatively new to RE investing. I am an architect in my mid 30s, and would like to get more involved in RE in Seattle WA. 

I feel like there is lots of wisdom from many folks here that I can utilize. I would appreciate any and all advice/critique. I want to ensure I am doing the due diligence.

Brief Background:

My wife and I purchased a single family home in North of Seattle 1.5 years ago (~$700k) as our first house (owner occupied) and we paid off the 20% down. We fully renovated inside the house ourselves and the property is currently worth between 900k- 1m. There is also an ADU that we rented as an Airbnb. The Airbnb income pays almost 2/3rd of our mortgage.

Plan:

My wife and I would like to Airbnb/rent our main house as well as the ADU and then buy a duplex or triplex in Seattle (owner occupied). We're thinking to live in one unit (the best unit) and Airbnb/rent the other units. I am ok with some short-term negative cash flow for an overall positive cashflow and appreciation over the long haul.

Questions:
1- We don't have a 15-25% down for the new property. Do you think we can get 5-10% conventional or FHA loan since we are going to live in one unit of the new property (owner occupied)?

2- Do you think it's a good strategy we're thinking about?

3- Do you think it would be a good time to purchase? or it would be better to wait until the interest rates go higher, find a better deal, and refinance when the rates decreased in the future?

4- Do you know an agent/broker that specialize in this strategy in Seattle?

Thanks.

Amir.

[Eric Yu]

Hi Amir!

Welcome to BP! Happy to be a resource for you.

1) Yes, you can definitely do an owner occupied loan with much less down. (If you need to tap into equity for a down payment, you could also see if you can pull a HELOC while you're still living at the current property).

2) Yep! House-hacking is definitely the way to go & an area that I specialize in as well :)

3) I think there's always buying opportunities. You just need to find the right deals given current market conditions (e.g. maybe offering 5-10% below on some properties to make the #s work out)

4) Here to help :) 

Cheers!