Elijah & Isabel - Tacoma, WA

[Elijah H.]

Hello, my name is Elijah. My wife, Isabel, and I are interested in investing in real estate. We are a military family currently renting in Yelm, outside Joint Base Lewis-McChord in WA. We have spent a few months reading books, watching YouTube videos, spending time on the BP forum, etc. trying to gain as much knowledge as we can before jumping into this new adventure. We are set on our first investment being a house hack, and will be looking to buy our first duplex/triplex/ etc. by the beginning of next year. We don't want to just keep talking about this, and want to set our plan into action! So we're making this post to say hello to the community and have the opportunity to network! We also have a few questions, which are: Does anyone have experience renting to military families?... In particular around Joint Base Lewis McChord in Washington? We have seen a lot of the pro’s and con’s to having military tenants and would love to hear some real world feedback! With that, we are pretty convinced that our best bet will be purchasing near the base. I’m thinking that the constant demand from the military tenants, as well as the housing allowance, would be beneficial to us. Does anyone have experience purchasing multi-family properties in areas such as Spanaway, Graham, Puyallup, North Tacoma? Also since we are military, we are looking to use a VA Loan to purchase our first property. I know that you can purchase multi-family with the loan, and that you can have multiple loans so long as it does not exceed the amount for your location, but we saw that it can’t be used on multi-family properties with separate utilities? Some clarification on those limits would be really appreciated. Lastly, Does anyone have advice on how to get realistic estimates when running numbers? Specifically how you get the numbers you do in order to make your calculations. We’ve been able to use mortgage calculators, and Zillow for some ideas on property tax, etc. Sorry for the lengthy list of questions, hopefully you are still reading to this point! We look forward to any feedback, and questions that can be answered. Also to meet other investors, even in our local area! But most importantly, we are thankful for this app and all of the resources out there to make the jump into this adventure. Thank you so much for your time.

[Christopher Price]

Hey Elijah,

I used my VA loan to buy a 4-plex with separate meters. I got my loan through USAA and so long as I lived in one of the units they had no problem with it. The limits I have run into are:

1.  You can only buy for units up to 4, anything higher is considered commercial.

2.  You must intend to live their as your primary residence.

The best way to get an estimate on your mortgage rate would be to get pre-qualified.  USAA was able to give me my rate the same day I applied online.

Regarding your property tax, look at your county assessor's office.  This is the one for Pierce County.  Get familiar with it, I use the assessors in my area quite a bit.

https://www.co.pierce.wa.us/91/Assessor---Treasure...

Regarding the current pricing and market conditions you will need to check comparables with the property you are looking at.  If you don't know how to do this, find a good real estate agent to help you.  They are all trained in this.  Find one that has a good pulse on your local market and don't be afraid to ask many questions.

One mistake I made on my first purchase was the utilities.  If you plan on paying for your tenants call the service providers and see what their rates are.  Our local laws state that if someone fails to pay the water bill, the water company puts a lien on the property.  Unfortunately our water bill is about $300/month and $260-ish is just the base cost.

I hope this helps and hey, Happy Veterans Day!