All Forum Posts by: Angela Strotz

Hi Christopher!

I am also an investor in Bellingham. Would love to connect!

Angela Strotz

yeah, ideally we'd like to get our equity out of it and 1031 to a multi-family

Hey everyone, 

I have a house with a current tenant in it, who has been there for 6+ years.  We'd like to sell the house, and figure it's worth giving the tenant a 10% discount to buy it from us.  (Saves us from having to get them out and doing the necessary cleaning/upgrades to get top dollar for it, in addition to the vacancy time).  It's somewhat unrealistic that they'd be able to come up with a significant down payment, so I'm wondering if there are any creative ways for us to sell it to them in order for them to qualify as a buyers.  My only thought so far was to 'sell' it to them for fair market value, and then offer a significant seller credit at closing to act as their down payment.  Do the banks go for stuff like that?  Any other suggestions of ways to make it work?  The house is worth about $340k, and we'd be willing to sell it to them for $310k  

Hey Chris!

I would call Sumas a great starter market. Your not really going to find any A or B properties, but the properties you can get your hands on are much more affordable than other areas in the county. Surprisingly, the monthly rents are still decent, so when comparing to the prices of the homes, you can find some good investments. With that being said, the market for tenants is not great. It's  very unlikely you'd find someone like a border patrol agent renting in Sumas (though not saying it would never happen). Finding good renters will be your biggest challenge. One final note - most of Sumas is in the flood plain and requires flood insurance, which has become quite expensive.  Dont hesitate to reach out to me if you have any more questions, as we've had a rental in sumas for the last 8 years. 

Hi Aaron, welcome to Whatcom county! I'm no real estate expert, but I think you'll find this area to be expensive to invest in, though less volatile than other areas. You'll see the most opportunities in Bellingham, but also the higher prices. Lynden and Ferndale are also growing communities that are great for investing. Personally, I've been involved in SFR, and am slowly transitioning to MF.

Thank you all!

Can anyone reccomend a broker in the Tulsa OK area who specializes in multi-family?  Specifically someone very trustworthy as I'm an out of state investor.

Hi David!  Welcome to BP!  This is a great place to continue to educate yourself. I'm fairly new to the 'shopping' side of real estate, but in shopping for single family and small multi family for the last six or so months, I've found those numbers pretty unrealistic in Bellingham.  I've seen most things going (and going quickly) at around a 5% cap rate, if not lower.  I've not seen any markets in Whatcom county that follow the 1% rule either. My advice would be, if you find anything with those numbers, jump on it, it won't last long. 

@Jibu V. Does Cozy.co still allow you to charge late fees through them?  I can't figure out how to do it, or does it alert you once the rent is late?  I just signed up because I'm horrible at enforcing late charges, and hoping this takes the emotion out of it.  

Just bought my first flip!  I'm so thankful for listening to an old podcast the other day where someone said something to the point, "If your offer doesn't make you blush, it's too high".  With that mindset, I offered an embarrassingly low amount, and managed to get the house for $5k less than I would have liked to buy it for, and $15k less than I thought I might be able to get it for.  It's my first flip, so I'm most excited about the learning potential, and if I make a few bucks, that'll be the cherry on top.  We're in the VERY beginning stages, just got my counter offer signed off by the sellers, any advice for me?!?!