New up-and-coming in Seattle, WA

[Karl Krauskopf]

Greetings from the beloved Pacific Northwest in Seattle, WA where the market is red-hot, prices are high and climbing, and its still a great time to buy - that is if you can afford it.

My wife and I grew up on the sunny beaches of South Florida where we both got our masters in West Palm Beach, FL.  After graduating with my MBA, I took a job in Frisco, TX (suburb of Dallas).  We quickly realized that we wanted to own and could afford a home so we ended up purchasing a great deal that required ~$15k of renovations.  After ~3.5 years we sold for a great profit (great deal + reno + appreciation) and moved to Seattle for the love of the outdoors.

Our home, just north of downtown in city of Shoreline, has seen extraordinary appreciation in less than 1 year. It's been ~2 weeks since I've been listening to BP podcasts and the beginners guide and strongly feel that this is a great future. We're aiming to begin our journey through single or multifamily rentals utilizing the BRRR Strategy and targeting to accomplish 1 in the next few months. I've worked in the corporate world since I graduated from undergrad and have felt the sting of burnout. My long-term goal is to replace our income over the next several years and invest full time.  My short-term goal is to close on at least 2 successful deals this calendar year.

Areas of familiarity include finances, modeling, creative partnership agreements, negotiation, etc.

Areas I'm seeking guidance include market identification and analysis, pricing and cost basing, and scaling techniques 

[Karl Krauskopf]

@Julian Sibley You're exactly right, we're looking primarily in/around Everett and Tacoma.  Your insights for Everett are highly valued - thank you!  Do you own and rent, and if so, do you use property management?  I'd love it if you would share any preferred PM and contractors you have that are local.  I'm currently pursuing a loan with Umpqua as I use them on our primary residence but unsure how long I will stick with them.

My thought process is to initially acquire a 2-4 unit MFR, through a HELOC that I will have secured within 1 month, and BRRR it with positive cashflow on the back end. Ideally with the cash-out refi from that property, we'd use it to a) acquire another property and b) pay down the HELOC. Again, I'd prefer to continue investing locally but have experience in West Palm Beach, FL and Dallas, TX, both of which are significantly more affordable for entry.

Plan is to keep our current home as long as possible.  Like your brother, we've seen great appreciation and only see it increasing.  Depending on the MFRs that I hope to acquire, we may house hack those and rent our Shoreline home, but that's all dependent.