All Forum Posts by: Julian Caiceros

Hello All!

I'm looking at purchasing a 4plex using owner-assisted financing for 3 years and then financing with a bank and putting it in my name. If I'm not the registered owner of the property on the county registry, am I unable to arrange for Section 8 tenants?

Current rental rates are well below average and I was thinking that renting to Section 8 applicants would be a useful tool to raise rents up to local market levels. However, my plan is dead in the water if HUD is only willing to deal with the registered owner.

@Tiffany Plovie 

Hi Tiffany.

I'm honestly so new to this that I hadn't thought about investing out of my area due to the difficulty of keeping an eye on my investment. Do you have any good recommendations as far as books or bloggers regarding investing out of your local area? I'll be searching for that subject here on BP of course, but any additional info would be welcome.

Thanks @Angelique Tinney !

@Account Closed 

I know an elderly gentleman that has a house with 6 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. He keeps the master with the master bath and rents out the other rooms to supplement his SSI income. Great ideas that I'll have to pass on, we have a university in town that would probably provide student tenants.

You sound like an old hand at this sort of rental arrangement. Do you make contact with the university's housing department and try to network through them to funnel business your way or do you just post on the usual online listings (craigslist, etc, etc.)?

@Dmitriy Fomichenko 

Thank you for the heads up. This site has so many features and tools! The 'meet' feature is awesome, I really would like to meet up with local REI so that I can make better decisions by bouncing ideas off people familiar with my area and with more experience under their belt.

@Michele Fischer 

Yes'm. My duplex is owner-occupied. I purchased it as a 2/1 on each side and am wrapping up a remodel on my side where I added a full bathroom and another bedroom in the basement.

I've had good luck with my renters so far. My first renter was my best friend of 10 years. He actually moved in before I did! It worked out well and he went from there to buy his own home. I know it's not a good idea to rent to friends/family but I naively thought it'd be fine.

It is NOW, but it was touch and go when he moved out due to some difference of opinion on damages and rental deposit refund. I ended up just eating the cost and trying to take the high road in order to conserve the friendship. He's also my coworker so keeping things NICE was in everyone's best interest. Lesson learned: no co-workers, friends or family.

My second renter has now been with me for about three years and is a great renter. She has been awesome...I can't say it any simpler. And I, on my part, do my best to provide her with a high quality product and immediate responses to any concerns she might have.

I used a background-checking service out of Spokane to screen my tenant and will continue to do so from here on out, no exceptions. Gives me more peace of mind. Especially since me, my wife and my three little girls live next door.

I guess I consider myself a newbie because other than some pamphlets listing "Landlord Rights and Responsibilities" and "Tenant Rights and Responsibilities", for the most part I've just been flying by the seat of my pants. I'm trying to become more knowledgeable and a more productive/efficient real estate investor.

@Gerald K. @Christopher Hunter 

The Tri-Cities (as my region in Southeastern Washington is locally known) has been home for 15 years. It's treated me well, but right now the market is trending toward a seller's market. I currently live in Richland, the other two cities are Pasco and Kennewick.

I keep an eye on what's out there for SFH under 150K and also look for reasonable small MFH's (duplexes mainly) and unless it's a blatant eyesore homes aren't remaining on the market long. And sellers are getting their asking price and then some. Main reason I know about asking prices is due to a co-worker who is currently house hunting and has been struggling. One house in particular that he really liked was under contract less than 48 hours after it hit the MLS.

I'd like to find another nice duplex to move me and my family into one part and rent the other side, but... I hit a home run with the duplex I'm living in now as far as location and neighborhood, so the wife and kids don't want to go anywhere.

My duplex is one block from the Columbia River with some great walking/biking trails that run the length of the river through most of Richland and the kids' school is one block in the other direction. So for now I'm going to hold tight and keep an eye on my market.

My goal is to put away some cash that, combined with money I can access off my current home's equity, I can sometime in the future put down a 25% down payment to take out an investment loan to purchase a property.

Thanks Paul!

Appreciate all the info. I see I have a lot of reading to do. I am up to the task. Have a good one!

Hello everyone!

My name's Julian and I am a VERY new RE investor in South Eastern Washington state. I've owned a duplex for almost 4 years now and looking to continue to add to my portfolio.

Even after 4 years, I still feel like I know next to nothing about Real Estate Investing. I'm so glad I found this website!

My goals are to learn more about fix & flip, buy and hold, and eventually earning enough passive income to "retire" and spend more quality time with my family and focus on my hobbies, which are woodworking and maybe even some furniture building...down the road.

Love the website, great information and lots of nice people willing to share their knowledge and experiences.