All Forum Posts by: Andy Whitcomb

Thanks @Ben Lukes, I'll consider that!  

@Ben Lukes Yes, I'd love to get your referral for a painter!  We'll probably be doing the painting ourselves on this one, but it would be helpful for our next project.

@Account Closed I would really appreciate it!  Thanks!

@Arlen Chou

Yes, the owner loves it!  It's a win-win for everyone. I've had many other investor friends here in Seattle approach me to do the same strategy, but nothing seems to pencil out as well as the house we currently have.  We really lucked out with the location.

@J. Martin

Yes, in July and August of last year we grossed $27k and net $15k per month, but that was at the highest point of our busy season. We also lost $1000 in February (because who wants to visit seattle in February?), so the average is around $5k/mo.  

Ours is a large 6bdrm house in the heart of Capitol Hill/downtown seattle and we rent it as a whole house rental and fill in the gaps with individual room rentals.  It works pretty good. Also, we have a lady that cleans and manages guest inquiries, so it is pretty much hands off. 

@Syed Lateef Yes, furniture is a big upfront expense, but totally worth it.  I own a furniture company, so I use all of my own product. Unfortunately that seems to make it more expensive because my furniture isn't cheap (even my cost is quite a bit).  I know quite a few people who are quite happy just renting furniture from one of the big box rental companies.  It's not my style, because I'm a designer and very picky, but it works for lots of others.  It's worth looking into, especially if you just want to do a 6 month trial run.

@Syed Lateef thats great!  In my opinion, I'd say move forward but use caution.  As a few others have said here, this is a sensitive time for short term vacation rentals.  Make sure you have a backup plan for these properties, because there is a good chance that one of two things will happen:  either your city or municipality decides to clamp down on vacation rentals, making it very difficult or illegal to operate them profitably OR they don't, and everyone else starts doing it, causing the market to flood and prices to drop.  Just like any real estate investing, have at least backup plan and exit strategy.  

@Syed Lateef The owners are friends of mine, and they own a lot of properties in the area, mostly apartment buildings.  I simply approached them about my idea and they were happy to work with me on it.  It helped that I had a personal relationship with them, but at the end of the day they're businessmen who look at the numbers. They get market rent, plus 22% profit share, and with me as the tenant they have less maintenance and overall headache, because I self-manage the property.  Keep in mind, also, that vacation rentals are not as hard on the property as standard rentals because of length of stay.  We clean and inspect between every guest, so any problems (which are rare) get addressed asap and never get out of control.

Anyone have a good contractor or handyman they trust in Kitsap County, specifically Bremerton/Silverdale?  

I just picked up a 4 plex in Bremerton and two of the units need renovation.  I'm looking for a reputable contractor who could assist with the job.  

Any help or suggestions are appreciated!

Hi Christopher,

I have a vacation rental in Seattle, WA and it does very well.  As Nathan pointed out, you want to make sure that your location will rent out fairly regularly all year long.  This is partially determined by weather, but is also massively impacted by the local attractions of the area.

Our 6 bedroom home is located close to downtown Seattle, in a very popular neighborhood called Capitol Hill.   It is booked around 95% all summer long (we rent it both as an entire home or as individual rooms, to maximize potential) and it slows down to about 40-50% in the winter months.  

Our home rents for between $650-950 a night, and this year we did $160,000 in gross revenue.  Unfortunately, the RE market in Seattle is about as hot as it gets, so buying here right now is very difficult and expensive.  If you have deep pockets, Seattle could work out well, otherwise I'd look elsewhere around the US for a more approachable price-point.