Investing locally in WA

[Teju Satish]

Hello all, first time investing in real estate and need some advice. Spouse and I work in WA. Have a primary home and saving up to buy our first investment property. Talked to a couple of lenders to check our affordability and planning to talk to realtors in Seattle area. Watching Redfin/Zillow for recent closed deals to assess the market & spending a lot of time in BP forums.

Here is where we're confused and why it's getting difficult to make a decision - on one hand we understand that it's better to buy the first investment property near the place you live. On the other hand, we're reading that buying a rental property in Seattle area is a headache due to the rental laws.

If you're in our situation (first time investors), what do you do?

Thanks!

P.S. Biggerpockets is awesome! What a great resource to learn and grow!