All Forum Posts by: Chen Su

@Ali Boone Thank you for asking to clarify my question! I really meant to say states/cities with"strong/stronger renter protection". It is definitely not landlord friendly or maybe to the extend of dangerous sometimes. It is one of my biggest worries as a new landlord, so I wanted to be prepared and know how to be successfully despite of being in a such environment. In fact, I was so worried that I almost didn't take the step to purchase an investment. 

I am very new to real state investment, I would love to hear what you and other experience investors think! Rapid equity gain, good rental market, convenience and familiarity are the some reasons, I guess, why local investors do not stay away from such areas. I really appreciate what others have mentioned earlier! I need to join some local landlord associations and spend time understanding different rental laws among cities.

I am think it would be healthier to have a more balanced real estate investment pro folio. So, my plan for the next 5 year is to research areas outside of western Washington to find properties that may not have as much equity gain, but better cash flow, and more landlord friendly or at least not biased to just one side. I would love more suggestions on where to look!

Thank you!

Are there any fellow Washington state investors/landlords here or others who are investing in states with strong renter protections? What kind of legal protections or advice do you recommend? I saw many news about landlords going bankrupt due to the new eviction policy. I would love to know if there is any local landlord groups to learn on this topics.

What areas/states have really balance approach that protects both sides? 

Thank you!

Hi, 

I am brand new to being a landlord and in the process of purchasing a house in the south Juanita area, Kirkland to rent out. I have a lot of questions about its basement. How to be legal compliant when renting the house out what makes sense in term of market appeal. Apologize this is a long post.

The house has a daylight basement. It has a very bright large living room with patio door. The living room lead to  another large room (let's call it room 1) via a French door. Room 1 has a external door that leads to back yard/can be locked from outside. It also connects to two rooms (room 2 and room 3). Room 2 is unfinished and a walk-in closet size and currently has a very nicely professional stalled sauna in it and shelves on the side, along with water heater, furnace. We plan to finish it so it can function as a walkin close/spa.

Room 3 is trickier, because it is large enough to be a bedroom but also small enough can also be considered as a huge walk in closet with windows. For it to be considered as a bedroom some modification needs to be done. It has two windows, the large one has the egress size, but it is only 4 inches higher. To make it a legal bedroom, we are wondering who can we contact to make sure that is it ok for us to raise the floor under the area for 4 inches to be legal compliant? If so, how big of the area need to be raised? I tried to call the Kirkland city building department, but they are too busy to answer my phone. The window is at a corner and there is a small nook right next to a small closer. So another option is to put a permanent window seat and have some storage shelves build in to make it look like a feature rather than a cheap fix. Again, how do we make sure that this is legal compliant before we do so?

Another option we have is to call room 1 a bedroom (technically it qualifies since it has two walk in closet, two egress: external door and the french door lead to living room). In that case to prevent renter use it as a bedroom, do we need to put in shelving to make it look like a closet?    Which option makes more sense in terms of rental market appeal and legal perspective? Who should we contact to be sure that we are legal compliant for the room 3 as bedroom situation? Thank you for your inputs!