What makes Spokane and Washington a great place to invest?

Question

BiggerPockets! I work at BP and I'm working on building a landing page for Washington and the city of Spokane. Would anyone be willing to share why you choose to invest in Spokane or the state in general? What makes it so wonderful for investors?

Phil Wells · Answer

We're seeing excellent appreciation in the Spokane markets - approximately 15%-20% annually - making this market an excellent market to flip, BRRRR, house hack or buy and hold. Rental markets are appreciating slightly slowly but the rental market is strong too.

People are moving to Spokane at a high rate from places like California and the West coast of Washington State where prices are becoming unaffordable. I regularly work with out of town buyers and investors.

Big businesses are increasing their presence in Spokane. Amazon is opening a new distribution center, the Air Force Base is expanding bringing in more jobs and the service members family members, there's even talks of Boeing opening a manufacturing plant here.

On top of big business small businesses are experiencing a boom in Spokane, there's new breweries, bars and restaurants opening all the time as well as craft industries doing well in Spokane.

On top of the above Spokane downtown is a real cool place to hang out, the city has great public transport as well as access to nature in every direction. Spokane frequently pops up on national lists, for example, REI lists Spokane as one of the top cities in the USA for outdoors pursuits, Livability.com puts Spokane as one of the top most livable cities in the USA.

Spokane is about to blow up, get in while you can.

Good luck in all your real estate ventures!

Tony Wooldridge · Answer

@Lauren Hogan, GR8 question thanks for asking.  I cannot speak to investing in the Spokane market, although a very attractive hidden gem, I can speak to investing in Washington State.  My farming area is in the Walla Walla Washington Valley.  Yes, there is other Real Estate markets besides the Seattle area in Washington State.

The Walla Walla Valley area is on the Eastern side of Washington State.  It sits on the Oregon / Washington boarder.  It is also only a couple of hours from the Idaho boarder as well.  There is a lot of out door activities, mountains, lakes, rivers you name it.   Walla Walla is one of the real estate markets in the state that doesn’t depend on Seattle’s growth for appreciation.  It slowly and quietly has become the premier hub of the Washington State Wine country.  This has brought a GR8 deal of new businesses and people to the area that has increased our small population (33,000) and increased our home values and appreciation for greater returns and opportunites.  For real estate investors, one point in favor of Washington State is the lack of an income tax. Walla Walla doesn’t provide the excitement of Seattle property prices rising by double digits, but you also don’t see housing prices crash because a tech giant decides they want to leave the area, citing insane real estate prices. Interestingly, the Walla Walla housing market has been attracting people to live here due to quality of life issues like good schools, while the Seattle market declines. This led to ten percent appreciation in the past year.

We can’t call Washington state landlord friendly. What we can say is that it is more landlord friendly than the rest of the West Coast. There are no limits on late fees or a grace period, though everything needs to be in writing. You have to provide notice before entering unless it is an emergency.

Seattle is far tougher on property owners than the Walla Walla area. For example, Seattle limits the reasons for which someone can evict a tenant.  California makes it much harder to evict a deadbeat tenant. And it is certainly better than Oregon, a state that passed state-wide rent control laws.  However, we do unfortunately have this on the books:https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/589/topics/801390-horrible-landlord-laws-are-being-proposed-in-olympia?highlight_post=4707223&page=1#p4707223

Lauren, once again thanks for posing the question and thanks for allowing me to share.  Here is to wishing everyone GR8 success in your 2020 REI ventures and beyond!

Gabe Fernos · Answer

Coming from a beginner with only two properties it's very appealing with the Amazon distribution center that has been built and what other business Amazon may attract here. As well as expansion at Fairchild AFB.

Also I do Graphic Design for work and would love to help in any way possible with the landing page.

Josh Burdick · Answer

Spokane is definitely a hot sellers market. One negative not mentioned in previous posts is potential rent control/tenant friendly laws being considered by the City of Spokane city council.  Here's quote from the local paper, The Spokesman Review.

"The backbone of the first ordinance, considered to be less divisive than its counterpart, is a tenant relocation program that would force landlords to pay $2,000 to help relocate any tenant forced out due to substantially increasing rent.

The second ordinance, which is expected to face stiffer opposition from landlords, is what is frequently referred to as a “just cause” eviction protection, though labeled as “specific cause” in Spokane’s proposal. The new law would force landlords to cite one of seven specific reasons for a tenant’s eviction."

Sean Poulos · Answer

I would imagine it has to do with the low property costs, even as obvious an answer that is. I've lived here for 28 years and know of many friends and family that come here from other more expensive markets. The city is at a population level where it's not too populated (although it's getting there lately!), but big enough to attract enough fun entertainment which makes that nice for people 20-60 years old. The region experiences all 4 seasons and has a beautiful river running straight through the middle of downtown which attracts the outdoors-type of people. As stated above, a lot of job growth is happening with new businesses coming into the area as well.

Timothy Chi · Answer

I'm from the Seattle area and have been interested in this region.  As a first time investor, western washington is getting pretty tough and Spokane seems like an area that has a lot of growth potential. Also not a bad place to live! I've seen some properties show up around Gonzaga. Anyone have any opinions on that part of town?

Adrian Chu · Answer

I don't own properties there, but from what I understand: lower price to entry, higher cap rates, less sophisticated investor ecosystem (this could be good or bad).

Aaron Farr · Answer

@Sean Poulos no those are not mine but I know the investor who built them.  Mine are in north Spokane.  Mead area

Lauren Hogan · Answer

@Phil Wells @Tony Wooldridge thank you for the thoughtful answers. When the page is live, I'll make sure to share the link with both of you.

Sean Poulos · Answer

You wouldn't have happened to recently complete a new duplex community on Knox Ln in the Valley would you? A friend just moved in to a brand new duplex. They're very nice.

What makes Spokane and Washington a great place to invest?

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