All Forum Posts by: Rusty Pollard

Welcome to BP Chante! I'll be relocating to the Seattle area in a few months myself. The prices are a shock, but there are still opportunities! Good luck!

@Kenny Anderson , the way I understand cash on cash is: the return on the money you actually invested (in a percentage form). So, it you put down $20,000 and are receiving $2500/year net return from that 20k you invested, that is a 12.5% cash on cash return (2500/20000). Hope that makes sense!

- Rusty

@Zach Schwarzmiller , thanks for the info! I'll definitely connect with you in the future and would love to hear more about buying in a more pricey region and neighborhoods up there. I'm glad you mentioned an REI group because I am planning on getting into one for sure when I move up in the Spring. Thanks again! Talk to you soon.

- Rusty

@Jordan Meyer, there seems to be some potential in the Everett/Lynwood area, which is actually where I will be working so it may work out. I'm just crossing my fingers to find a place that is undervalued at the right time to I can build some sweat equity. That's what we did with this current house and we are sitting pretty good as far as equity goes (which may be how we get our down payment money for the next one--through a HELOC).

@Brandon Turner, I followed you over to BP from your earlier project: realestateinyourtwenties.com I found about six months ago and loved that book you put out! I'm looking forward to heading back up to the sunny Seattle area--I've lived up there for a couple years before and also interned in Everett last summer. It's a beautiful place... and it will be great... if I can get my wife through the nine months of drizzle.

@Josh Farrer , I would love to hear more about the seller finance/lease option that you have experience with. I would optimally like to hang on to it, but I do realize that there might be other areas where my money is better placed for long-term holding and cash flow.

Thanks for the warm welcome, guys!

- Rusty

Thanks for the welcome, guys!

Michael, I have been looking in the area for about six months now and you are right about the prices! About double what we are working with in Utah right now. Any tips or thoughts about working more expensive areas? I don't want to buy in a bad part of town for sure... I'm hoping for a happy medium between price and quality of neighborhood.

How has the Colorado market worked out for you? I've always thought about heading back there in a few years.

Hi there, BP friends! My name is Rusty Pollard and I am a 28 year-old from Colorado Springs. I'm going to school in Provo and will be moving up to the Seattle area (Everett) in about six months upon graduation. Real estate is a hobby of sorts for me, and I love learning more through reading, my classes in college, and the BP podcast/articles--of course. One of my real estate classes counted for two-thirds of the education requirement for my license, so I went ahead and got that this summer. I have it hung with a referral agency/brokerage while I figure out what I am going to do with it now (I should have planned that out a little better).

I am majoring in Facility and Property Management with a minor in Business, so it actually has worked out quite well to get into real estate investing on the side and build on my education. I actually worked and pursued other things instead of my undergraduate degree, so I'm a little older than most college students and my wife and I bought our first house last spring. It was a foreclosure, and needed some work, so we lived in the basement apartment while I fixed it up and rented out the upstairs for the first year. This year we are upstairs and renting the basement and it's still covering PITI--which has been amazing! It has been a TON of work, but well worth the experience and lessons learned, and we're about ready to make our next purchase when we head up to the Seattle area after graduation.

We're currently trying to decide what we're going to do with this house when we leave for my job in Washington... zoning laws are such that I can't rent top and bottom separate because it needs to be owner-occupied. So we may just rent it as a whole house, which would still work out alright with some cash flow. Our hope is to get into a duplex up there and I'm still working on those details. The long-term plan is to build a buy and hold empire so I can be with my family more.

Anyhow, sorry for the book! I'm finally making the step to get involved here and I look forward to interacting with the BP community for years to come. Talk to you soon!

- Rusty