Newbie from Auburn, Washington (Seattle and Tacoma)

[Kathleen Hammerquist]

Hello BP Friends, My name is Kathleen Hammerquist and I'm new to BP and am looking to buy/flip houses. I am a little experienced, but still a beginner in many ways. After all, I've lived most of my life in another state (Arizona). In the last few years, I have had several buy and hold properties--both commercial and residential. Due to a family member's illness, I had to sell the properties, but fortunately I did so at considerable profit. I have done several flips over the years which have been very successful, but made a big mistake (maybe I'll just call it a learning opportunity--BOY, did I learn!) with one a few years ago. I'm reading every book I can get on real estate investing. I'm making changes to how I've done things in the past and am currently looking for the right property, the funding, and putting together my contractor list. Things are looking pretty good. Now, if I just new more about the Seattle/Tacoma market.

[Michele Fischer]

Welcome to Bigger Pockets Kathleen! This is a great site to study up or to post specific questions.

If you want to market to homeowners and investors, you may want to be leary of King county. It has much more stringent tenant-landlord laws, so fewer potential investors.

I'd suggest driving around until you get a feel for areas. http://neighborhoods.findthebest.com. is an interesting tool as well. I imagine quality of schools is a big deal, as are differing property tax levels, for marketing. I'm not sure which areas are best for getting permits, etc. May want to look into Milton and Northeast Tacoma, they seem like desirable areas on the outskirts of Federal Way.