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All Forum Posts by: Alex Chin

Alex Chin has started 12 posts and replied 484 times.

Hey @Nghi Le, @Khanh Nguyen, looks like another investor making their way into your neck of the woods!

@Josh Setterbo - White Center has a lot going for it and I think your plan is a solid one for househacking. You should definitely do some homework to make sure the MIL and RV hookups will be kosher with the city, I know that other investors have had issues adding MILs to their properties in the past.

Good luck with your search, and be sure to reach out to the community if you need an agent, tips, tricks, or general information!

Post: Insurance Quotes on MFR Rentals

Alex ChinPosted
  • Seattle, WA
  • Posts 500
  • Votes 243

@Pete Perez - I currently get insurance through State Farm, monthly premium works out to about $65 (I'd have to check that again, might be a bit less) for a duplex with two 1bd/1ba 760sqft units, wash/dry included, 1955 brick structure.

Let me know if you'd like my agent's contact info, I'm sure she'd be happy to give you ballpark quotes!

@Mike F. - I am not experienced enough in all these field to tell you what you should expect as a return rate. The question is also a little tricky to answer as for many of these vehicles, you may need to look at cash-on-cash, total return, and probably half a dozen other factors I'm not remembering at the moment. However, below is a few quick blurbs on a few of them:

Investing in a REIT as a general consumer has the benefit of a fairly stable dividend, plus VERY low time investment. I have focused on medical REITs for the long-term appreciation play, as well as consistent 5-8% dividend yields in my ROTH IRA and 401(k), since I won't be touching that money for another 30yrs. Note that these yields don't take into account fees or taxes.

Turnkey rentals can have returns as wide as the sky. Generally speaking though, the guys who have been doing turnkeys for awhile with success seem to get their cash-on-cash ROI into the 10-20% range. Take that with a grain of salt, as I don't have any turnkeys of my own.

Bridge loans for flippers are very risky, but yield potential returns that can dwarf the others. I've seen the ROI for such a loan as high as 40% for a 6 month loan. On the downside, you're probably in 3rd or 4th-lien position, so good luck getting your money back if things go south.

SFR purchases and multifamily investing have both been gone over in detail by other, much more knowledgeable investors. Generally though, most seem to feel that you should be getting at least 8% on your money and beating market index returns, plus you have greater control and thus greater potential for returns through your own hard work.

@Joel Owens is correct. Diversification simply for diversification's sake is no real strategy, but should be undertaken as part of a well thought out plan. Appetite for risk, anticipated income needs, desired income...all these will play their part.

Like others have said, be patient, take your time and do some serious research on the various avenues. If you really feel that real estate investing is the route you want to go, then take a few months and really explore the different avenues and determine what you and your wife really value. Is it higher income to retire sooner? Do you want to minimize your personal time used to monitor your investments? Are you highly risk tolerant and interested in greater returns? Do you simply want to replace your W-2 income in order to quit your job?

Please don't take the numbers that I spat out as a road map of any kind, nor should I ever be mistaken for a financial or real estate expert. I do like to diversify my personal investments, it works with the plan I have thought out and put some serious work into over the years.

I am a big fan of diversification and with such a large chunk of starting capital, you could easily split it up into many buckets and deploy them as you see fit.

$100K- REIT investment: will generate pretty stable dividends, you'll need to pay taxes on the gains though, and appreciation will be very limited.

$100K- out of state turnkey purchase(s)

$100K- Bridge loan funding. There are many investors willing to pay very high fees for quick bridge loans to close out deals or handle down payments

$100K- SFR purchase

$200K- loan to a hard money lender (Veristone has a good reputation and they're right in our backyard)

$200K- small or large multifamily complex purchase

Also, as @Pauline Charlton suggested, you should have a conversation with yourself, and your wife about risk tolerance. Maybe you want to keep 75% in low-risk investments, but with the final $200K, you can shoot for higher gains.

Post: Looking for Agent recommendations in Tacoma

Alex ChinPosted
  • Seattle, WA
  • Posts 500
  • Votes 243

@Corey Smith - I generally use a real estate agent as someone who will communicate with the seller and can access the MLS for me, that's it. I see my role as being the one who conducts analysis and pulls together the deal.

That being said, if you're looking for a high-energy agent who is an excellent communicator, I would recommend Nia Nguyen with John L. Scott.

Tim Tran Law Group (based in Chinatown) has done some good work for me.

Post: Pierce County Appliances

Alex ChinPosted
  • Seattle, WA
  • Posts 500
  • Votes 243

@Eric Deshaun - sounds good, I'll see about paying them a visit and checking out their inventory.

@Justin Peila - I had that thought too, but honestly, when I compare pricing, it isn't that different between HD and Lowes on the basic stuff for a rental.

@Stacey T Rodgers - gotcha, I'll put it in my calendar to look up that information and see what sort of pricing I can get.

Post: Pierce County Appliances

Alex ChinPosted
  • Seattle, WA
  • Posts 500
  • Votes 243

Curious as to who or how other investors are acquiring their appliances?

I am looking to buy a washer, dryer, and dishwasher for a C-Class unit in Tacoma and was thinking of just paying a visit to my local Lowes, but was hoping to get input from the rest of the community and see if they had any alternatives I should consider.

Post: New Member from Tacoma/Puyallup, WA

Alex ChinPosted
  • Seattle, WA
  • Posts 500
  • Votes 243

Hello @Catherine German and let me add my welcome to the Bigger Pockets Pierce County community!

If you or @Curt McClements are ever stuck for a plumber, I would also recommend Rick or Jim at Main Line Drain, they've done good work for me, both non-emergency and emergency stuff.

Catherine, I will likely be contacting you at some point related to my W-2 profession, but I would be interested in seeing if you're also looking at the city of Tacoma itself, or just the south areas?