All Forum Posts by: Chris Evans

I would look at the king county metro trip planner website.  It will provide you with trip times using metro transit to and from specified addresses.

Maple leaf is hard to beat.  A bus leaves every 7 minutes downtown using express lanes from the northgate park and ride.  Light rail will be available from there in 2 years.  And 1.2M will get you a nice house there.

Good luck on your search.

Everyone has different investment objectives, and this is certainly a different way to look at it.  Instead of multiple properties that cash flow at $200-$300 per month in low appreciation markets, look at focusing on less properties from higher appreciation markets like Seattle/Portland/Denver/Silicon Valley.  Of course diversification is important.  I just don't see any end to the growth in the near term.  The company that I work for isn't able to fill high tech positions fast enough.  We are having to tap into talent pool out of state.

I took a different route than most.  I invested right in the heart of northeast Seattle a year and a half ago in a very desirable area where the schools are good.  The house does not cash flow yet.  I lose $400 per month at this point.  I still have the original renters.  The house is in very good shape and I haven’t received any maintenance calls yet. The house has gone up $165k in value in a year and a half.

I am 41 with a family and both my wife and I have well paying jobs. I have 100k in savings that I would like to invest in something other than the stock market where I am already heavily invested. I have read the beginners guide and am just starting to digest some of the material. I am comfortable with the idea of being a landlord and would like to diversify by purchasing a Condo/Townome/SFR and renting it out for some passive income. I am not as concerned with appreciation as I am with cash flow. I wanted to get an idea of what is out there for under $100k assuming that I would purchase outright. I set the screener to residences in my area for under $100k. Here is a property that I found as an example http://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/Paine-Field.dash.Lake-Stickney-WA/pmf,pf_pt/condo,townhouse_type/38596969_zpid/396858_rid/2-_beds/1000-100000_price/3-391_mp/days_sort/48.57479,-121.416779,47.185979,-123.059235_rect/8_zm/

This is 2/1 a condo in Everett with HOA fees of under $200 per month. The zEstimate for rent is $1450 per month. I know that there are a lot of jobs in the greater Seattle area, particularly Boeing which is close to Everett. And there are lots of jobs in the Greater Seattle area that is a 35 minute commute from Everett. I know that single bedroom homes have the most demand in this area with 2/1 also having considerable demand. I know the vacancy rate in this area is 4.6%. I know this is selling for less than the Zestimate.

This is just a start but tell me, what other things are there to scrutinize? I know there are lots. I am looking for a list of things to look at to see if this is a good rental candidate. This place was just an example of many that fits my budget.

Chris