Excited to be here. We're in Renton, Seattle & Everett, WA

[Christy Lillard]

Hi all!

Very excited to have people to talk to about real estate! I own two tattoo studios in Seattle and my first studio provided me the income to purchase a tiny 600 sq ft house in 2011. We lived in it and completely remodeled it from top to bottom over a year or so. Then we found a short sale on a duplex and it took 10 months for us to get into it but it's where we currently live. We've been remodeling our side of it for a while now and have a tenant in the other side that's been there since 1996.  We've had the same tenants in the 600 sq ft house since we moved out too so we've been very, very blessed (so far) being landlords.  We're about to close on another duplex up in Everett that already has tenants. We'll be closing on that on Valentine's Day if all goes as planned. We'd like to keep going from there and our next one will likely be a passive property out of state. Real estate investing makes my heart sing and, as you can see by the tattoos on my knuckles, I'm pretty excited to be a landlady. :)

[Christy Lillard]

Our short-term goal is to have 100 units in three years. I traveled to Memphis recently for a tour with a turnkey operation and we are on a waiting list with Mid South Home Buyers there. The homes are from $70,000-$100,000 turnkey. My only hesitation with that is that it seems like everyone is buying in Memphis and have been for a while now. I'm also aware that we'd only be seeing cash-flow and very little equity. We love buying in the Puget Sound area but, as we all know, it's very hard to find good deals up here. When we close on the new duplex we'll be spread out from Renton to Everett. We got the recent duplex by doing a cash-out refinance of our first home. We're remodeling the one we live in to do the same thing again. Eventually, we'd like to get into apartment buildings. The overall goal is to replace my husband's income so he can quit his job and do real estate full time. I'm pretty happy doing what I do but I'd like to retire from it in five to ten years as well. Once we have a hefty cash flow, hire property management for all of them and travel the world full time.