Relocating to Seattle Any Advice?

Question

Long story short.  I currently resided in Phoenix and make my living as a residential and commercial general contractor.  I spent about six months managing a commercial project in Oregon in 2013 with a couple ventures up to Seattle.  We fell in love with the area and began discussing a potential relocation.  Fast forward to today and the decision has been made to make the leap around the 1st of October.  We have a larger motor home that would double as our residence for 2-3 months while made some decisions on an area to put down roots.

How's the spec home market in the area?

I would like to get back into building but we'll be in a market so I think it would be advantageous to possibly team up with a small local developer with area expertise.

Any Seattle developers or new home builders out there want to connect or if you are up for a phone conversation send me a private message i would love to talk

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Thanks, Mitch VanDeveer

Account Closed · Answer

Hi, I used to work at Seattle Lighting. We used to sell lighting to a lot of builders and flippers. You might try calling there to ask if they could refer you to some of their steady accounts. Call downtown Seattle or the Bellevue location.

Chanté Owens · Answer

@Mitch VanDeveer Hi! I left Phoenix area a few years ago, but didn't move directly here to Seattle until last year. And while there are definitely areas of Phoenix that are expensive, Seattle is definitely more expensive than Phoenix in many ways. I like Seattle a lot, and am feeling at home. I especially enjoy it here during this time of year. I will admit that I do love Phoenix in the winter though =)

Yes, I write Commercial Insurance; actually, that's all I do, as I don't write any personal lines insurance. With my General Contractors, it depends if they are are doing new builds vs. remodels/rehab. Recently I've written quite a bit of my GC's through Western World Insurance Company; their rates have been killing it over some of my other carrier offerings. In some cases by being 30-48% less! Since I am a broker, I can go to various markets, so while price is important, I definitely have conversations with the GC's to see what they are doing to see the best carrier placement. Some need wrap-up (course of construction) policies, and some don't. Also, some do a lot of work themselves; others higher out to subs; which obviously affects the price considerably. Most of my flipper clients are GC's and do the work themselves, and don't hire out a lot of subs; while full blown (larger) projects tend to have more subs.

Sorry for the long winded response. Feel free to PM anytime, and I'll answer questions and help you as much as I can.

Mitch VanDeveer · Answer

@Troy Fisher Will do!!  Phoenix has many areas that are comparable in price to the Seattle area.  It looks like low inventory is going to keep pushing your market for a while.

Troy Fisher · Answer

@Mitch VanDeveer -- you'd better!  We love new faces, but if you think Phoenix is expensive it's time to start looking at Seattle where prices are racing forward everyday!

Mitch VanDeveer · Answer

Jessica Stefflundefined

Thanks for the tip!

@Chanté Owens

The majority of the good oppurtunities here in phoenix are in the expensive parts for town.  How long ago did you relocate? Are you still happy with the decision?  Thanks I'll check out the local reia, I a member here in Phoenix.

Do you do commercial insurance?  If so, what companies are currently writing policies for General Contractors in Washington?

Troy Fisherundefined

I'll have to check out the meet up when i get to town around the 1st of October.

Thanks for the info!

Troy Fisher · Answer

There's a lot of spec building going on.  Plenty of opportunity, maybe not in Seattle Proper buy through out the Eastside. Plenty of land available and plenty of employment opportunities.

We've got an active BP membership in Seattle and we get together and network a lot at all of the different local reia.  I'm running a BP member focused meetup on the eastside with a couple of my awesome friends who also do a southend meetup and a seattle meetup.

Chanté Owens · Answer

@Mitch VanDeveer Hi! I used to live in Phoenix area for a long time, and now I am in Seattle :)

I belong to the REIAWA (Real Estate Investors Association of Washington State), and am certain that there are some people that you could definitely meet and possibly do some future endeavors. There are a lot of opportunities (though expensive) in this area, so you should be good to go once you get here and meet some people to work with.

Please feel free to PM. Also, there are other RE Associations here too that you can research and see which one resonates with you, and your objectives!

Good luck and have a safe move.