Tri-Cities Investor looking at Spokane Market

[Derek Tonn]

Hello BiggerPockets members!  My name is Derek Tonn and I live in Richland Washington.  I have been a buy and hold investor for almost 8 years now with properties in the Tri-Cities (Richland, Pasco, Kennewick).  I am looking to expand my portfolio and have been amazed how difficult my home market is for buy and hold investors right now.  Prices have gone up quite a bit over the past 5 years.  This is good for people holding property over that time period but not so good if you are trying to acquire new properties right now.  

Having listened to several of the podcasts, I was given the idea of looking outside my immediate market.  This brought me to looking more closely at the Spokane market.  One of my son's plays basketball and we seem to have a couple tournaments a year there.  I also have been getting season tickets from my brother in law to the Gonzaga Bulldogs basketball games (Go Zags!) so I have been traveling to Spokane quite frequently.  I also have a sister in law who currently lives there. 

Based on my initial research Spokane appears to have some solid opportunity for a buy and hold investors. The BRRR strategy might also work well here given some of the prices I have seen. I understand that a big factor will be the specific location of the property as just a couple blocks can make a big difference in desirability. Recent news articles say that the rental market is very strong and prices are much lower than what I can purchase for here in the Tri-Cities. I really love the downtown area (have spent several nights at the Davenport). It has a vibrant college community and I believe they are establishing a medical school. I know a big local employer is the hospital system but beyond that I am not sure what the major economic drivers/trends are in Spokane.