All Forum Posts by: Edward Seid

Regarding first come first serve, I've heard some LLs are setting "review dates" for applications. Every applicant has to submit by X date and time to Y inbox. That way, when you open your inbox after the review date, you're actually receiving all applications at the same time and free to choose which tenants you want. I've never personally done this since my property management company does not condone this, but I'd do this in a heartbeat if my properties were self managed. 

Joe the plumber. I've worked with him a few times (with clients of mine). He's very friendly and honest and charges pretty fairly in my opinion. Please don't hire the likes of southwest or beacon plumbing... :)

Also, and I've only worked with them once for extensive work, pricebustersplumbing.com. 

@Kevin Huang

Welcome to BP! Feel free to msg me if you have any questions. Hope to see you around in the forums!

I use one rent in Seattle. Shoot me a message if you have any q's!

$200-250 in Seattle. Definitely should do it if home is 60yrs old. Probably concrete pipes if no work has been done before. You'd want to know if the line is sagging in certain spots due to erosion of the concrete, any offsets in the line, cracks, root intrusion. Would be good to know if any part of the line is shared with a neighbor too. If there's roots, don't go with Roto root, use hydro jetting as it will be less harsh on the pipe. Should cost around $500 and includes a rescope.

@Matt Hintzke, Because you have less skin in the game (3.5% DP) with FHA, your loan amt will be greater than when compared to a conventional 80/20 loan. You will cashflow a little with a conventional loan, but with FHA it'll be even more difficult because of your DP/mortgage ratio. I would not let that hinder you from house-hacking though. Even if you rent out one unit (assuming its a duplex), you'll still end up paying for part of the mortgage, but it will be much less than what you're paying for at an apt and you'll be able to take advantage of tax deductions that come with owning RE.

With less DP, you should expect to be more exposed to risks (ie - less cashflow), but the ROI will much, much greater because you're only putting in 3.5% vs 20% DP.

@Matt Hintzke

Hi Matt,

In and around Seattle metro, most MFH will get you very little cashflow. I find that most MFH will be 80% appreciation play, 20% cashflow (that # is just my guess...). Don't use the 2% rule - its difficult enough to find 1% deals. 

Also, I'm getting an estimate of ~$3k/month that includes mortgage (@3.875%), insurance, RE tax, and mortgage ins prem.

In my opinion, if you go the FHA route, you won't cashflow because your skin in the game is a measly 3.5% down payment. It may be a couple years of good rental growth before you start cashflowing.

I also recommend using Redfin if you don't have access to the MLS. Redfin pulls data from the MLS every 15 mins so it is accurate. Don't use Zillow - it's just a data aggregating website that pulls info from other real estate websites.

Welcome to BP, Peter! Are you related to Armand Tiberio by any chance? :)

@Eva Croasdale - I do multi fam buy and hold and eventually want to work my way into commercial retail. 

Originally posted by @Jared Carpenter:

@Edward Seid Thanks!  How has your transition been going from desk job to RE investor?

 It's been supremely flexible and I really enjoy the freedom from the work clock.