Assessing "good" deals in the Seattle area

[Michael Spearman]

I'm looking for SFR and duplex rentals with little to no remodeling that I could house hack in the South Seattle neighborhoods (Columbia City / Beacon Hill / Georgetown). My budget is ~7% down on 500k-700k and this would be my first property. Given these parameters, what numbers would people consider a good rental investment? After calculating numbers on quite a few properties, I consider to be a "good deal" to be: ~7% CAP rate, ~8 yearly CoC ROI, and any positive cashflow (this is total rent after after I no longer live in the property). In the end it seems like not a very good deal after all. I know people are finding better deals than this. However given my budget and location, maybe better deals aren't there. Maybe I'm just not looking hard enough?

Note: For my calculation I'm using the method mentioned here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2013/01/1... This doesn't include expenses like CapEx or Utilities.

[John Barrett]

@Michael Spearman I would not worry about what others investors consider a "good rental investment".  The only opinion that matters is what you consider a good return on the money you are going to invest.  Every investor has different tolerances for risk vs return. 

House hacking is a great place to start.  Just understand that due to putting down a lower down payment it will cause your returns to be lower than they otherwise would be.  The benefit is that it allows you to get started with less money. 

Best luck with all your investments.

John