House hacking Tacoma/Olympia Newbie

[Ian G.]

I've been a lurker for a couple months and there's a TON of great info on this site, but I'm hoping I might get a little specific advice. My wife and I are looking to move to the Tacoma or Olympia area around May of this year, and are looking at making the jump from renting to owning. We've talked for some time about wanting to manage both short/long term rentals down the road, and need to start taking steps towards that. We both have careers that allow us to work remotely (not just due to COVID), so we have flexibility on where we live and we have family in the Olympia area. 

We have been discussing the idea of investing a bit extra to get a place that would work to rent out while having minimal to no shared common space (duplex, ADU, separate entrance). We're looking at living in this property for a shorter time (5 years or less) with the intent of renting out the space we lived in and seeking a new/upgraded primary residence nearby, and keeping keeping the property if it is performing as an investment.

-With JBLM being a big source of tenants, and with potential employer growth in the Tacoma area plus further infrastructure to support commuting to Seattle, we are considering Tacoma as a primary market, though Olympia is definitely an option. If investing were off the table, we'd likely buy in Olympia to be closer to family. 

-We have also discussed moving to the area and renting for a year or so to get to know the area, but with appreciation being what it is we're a little hesitant due to the opportunity cost.

-We have been watching listings in the area and are worried about the limited inventory, that it will be very difficult to get a decent property that fits our purpose.

I'm happy to reply to any questions or connect with members or maybe agents about if now is a good time to pursue these goals, and any suggestions for specific neighborhoods or agents to look at.

[Josh Engen]

I live in Olympia and an a part owner in a couple duplexes, both on the east side of Olympia. Olympia market is hot as a teakettle and especially the duplex market. Very very limited inventory. And when a duplex does come on the market, most of the time both sides have tenants which can be a challenge if you're trying to house hack. We're probably going to sell one of ours once the rehab is done on the vacant side in large part for this very reason. There are very few triplexes and fourplexes in Olympia/Lacey/tumwater but there's a decent amount of duplexes, mostly built in 1950's - 80's. The other thing I would recommend if you're thinking about olympia/tumwater/Lacey is a home with either a detached garage that you can convert to ADU or a big enough lot that you can build one from scratch. Lacey has a program in which they have pre-approved ADU plans they will give you for free if you're property qualifies and drastically reduce the permit and other city fees because they're trying to incentivize more ADUs. And this program is coming to Olympia and Tumwater in the near future also. The rules are slightly different in each city, for example I think Lacey is the only one that will allow for the ADU to be built on a non owner occupied property but if you're interested I would just call the city. They're very helpful because like I say they're trying to incentivize more ADUs to help with affordability. Long post but those are some things to think about...