All Forum Posts by: Thomas Mattausch

I remember the good old days, when I too could exercise my judgment in who I rented a house too...

I'll send you all postcards from the landlord's dystopia of Seattle.

I USED to buy all appliances on Craigslist. Preach it, Kyle. Love me a deal for sure.

But Seattle is getting so upscale, and I'm getting so short on time, that I try to buy new when I can. Home Depot has Amana (good brand, related to Whirlpool) top load washer/dryers for $300/ea. Call Depot directly to order and can sometimes give you discounts through vendors. Their people handle delivery, install, and haulaway off old. Done!

Welcome to BiggerPockets! Sounds like you've got a great start.

What was the financing experience like here? Who helped you get it done?

@Christian Wathne to be clear, you can perform background checks, just can't have a blanket policy that rejects those with a record. 

There are hoops to jump through here but I feel like I'm managing them, though they take some time. A pro property manager, as he would have for a long distance investment, will have it down. Also, if an applicant makes the money to rent in Seattle and has a good credit score, you can expect few problems from them. I essentially never have any (knock on wood). 

A bigger issue would be cap rate; don't our cap rates stink compared to many other areas? Personally I like the long term appreciation but that doesn't show up in your account every month.

Gosh, Nghi, if he does that, he won't have a new LLC to file taxes for! Everyone loves filing more taxes.

How does his plan impact seasoning for cash outs?

@Thomas S., if and when the market turns, my Seattle property will take much less of a hit than any other real estate I could buy with its sale proceeds. It's easy to self-manage and get around 4% cap, and the long term appreciation is quite certain to beat almost everything else.

Sure I could chase more cashflow with a mosquito fleet of tough-to-manage rentals, but the big/longterm picture is fine. Really the only thing I don't like about this high value property is the difficulty of accessing the equity. 

@Account Closed, can I borrow your time machine?? Please set if for a few months ago before I rented this place. Seriously though, are there HELOCs available over $500k?

Apparently in the BRRR cycle, there are advantages to moving in and refinancing as owner occupied.

Anyone else have any input or want to tell me I'm crazy in one way or another?

Hello BP! I have a very nice 5 bed/3bath SFR in Seattle that will appraise for around $1.6m, rented for $5400/mo.

It's time to leverage this equity into new deals and construction expenses for a duplex I own. King County jumbo loan limit is $592k

Lenders I've spoken with are mentioning jumbo NOO limits of 50% LTV and 24 months of cash reserves, which I can't show.

Can anyone offer any creative, big picture advice on how to leverage this huge chunk of equity?

Have an offer to rent my high-end 5bed/3bath Seattle property from www.livebungalow.com, a startup that rents houses and sublets individual rooms. They have relationships of varying formality with local corporations to place their transferring employees. 

Anyone had experience with this company, or similar? Input on issues to consider, or what to expect out of this relationship? They want a two year lease, no last month's rent, and a discount off the premium price I probably could achieve with more time on market. 

@Roger S. I absolutely agree that this law is terrible for everyone. Our politicians in Seattle are writing laws that would have been wonderfully relevant 60 years ago, but today just contribute to expensive housing that is subsequently blamed on the free market system. 

It's still vitally important for us to know the history of our industry, how racial dynamics and disenfranchisement were a very real part of the business landscape in the past. Understanding and acknowledging that is part of having a broad and accurate view of where we are at today.

In the long term, wouldn't it pencil out better to get your maximum mortgage amount, invest the desired amount into another property/venture, and leave your excess slush fund in a stock market index? 

Also, interest is only tax deductible on HELOC amounts up to $100k unless the HELOC is used for buying or improving your home.