All Forum Posts by: Pete M.

I've seen a significant slowdown in SFR purchases in my neighborhood (Issaquah) over the past month or so. Homes used to be on and off the market within a weekend... and now many are taking their homes off the market after being up for three or more weeks.

Saw this several weeks ago: https://www.seattletimes.com/business/real-estate/...

"But the regional averages mask the extremes in neighborhoods getting the most apartments: A stunning 26 percent of all apartments in the core of downtown Seattle right now are empty, up from just 5 percent a year prior (the number is skewed by brand-new buildings that take a while to lease up, though vacancy rates at older buildings downtown are also rising)."

Here's the article @Steve Vaughan: https://www.seattletimes.com/business/real-estate/... (tl;dr: 65 cranes in Seattle)

Massive building projects coupled with a huge growth cycle nearing the top of what the market can support is my guess.  Not to say the growth is over, but it certainly can't continue forever either.

@Will Gaston It's in the Cayce/West Columbia area.  Older building, needs a few relatively minor immediate fixes, and there's room to build another duplex or triplex in the future.

@Andrew R. Lucas Will PM you.

Thanks.

@Andrew R. Lucas  Probably not many... we're closing on our first property (duplex) next week, but plan to expand in the future.  So it'd start slow, but the sky is the limit as we grow.  No immediate projects, just looking to establish reliable folks for the future.

Thanks.

I'll give them a call--thanks, @Adam Odom and @Will Gaston!

@Reese Haley  Did you have any luck, by chance?  Still curious to have a pocket GC in that area.

Thanks.

Hi all,

Looking for any recommendations on insurance agents or companies for the Columbia area.  My partners and I are in the process of closing on a duplex in the area and need to line up insurance.

Also, any tips or "remember to ask this" or "get coverage for that" advice is welcome!

Thanks in advance.

+1

My partners and I will be looking for a good GC in Columbia as well--let me know if you find one, @Reese Haley.

Thanks.

Already pending, as someone mentioned on the other thread (it was wide open), so I'll just link it directly:

https://www.redfin.com/WA/Lakewood/7902-146th-St-S...

Good points from all.  I didn't realize those units were on a monthly lease, which certainly makes raising the rents and removing problem tenants a much easier affair.

@James Lusk Would you be willing to share the numbers you ran for that property?  I had it running at a hefty loss to begin with, assuming a sale price of $795k and 25% down.

Thanks.

@Curtis Bidwell  Thanks for the input!  The major difference I see with the example property you bought a couple years ago is the purchase price being less than half of what's being asked for this one.  That means this one would be running at a loss for a while... which is where I'm wondering what should be expected.

@James Lusk  Thanks as well.  This one was wide open and out there, so I'm not surprised it's already gone!  Would you have deemed it acceptable to have negative cash flow for potentially a year until you could raise the rents?

I've always heard to pay what the property is worth now, not what the seller thinks it could be worth; is that a myth in this market?

Thanks.