All Forum Posts by: Edward Seid

@Adrian Chu - Yes it is at the Elektra. It seems there's a pretty lax policy there for short term rentals. 

@Chris Carollo - Her turn over costs are put on the renters. Good point about the regulations as I don't believe the city would outright ban short term rentals, but would rather impose a tax on it. 

@Joseph Delia - Thanks Joseph, I'll ask her about her vacancies for the trailing 12 months. My estimate does include a 75% occupancy rate so it's adjusted to reflect the slower months. 

Yesterday, I was talking to friend who has a condo near the convention center... she rents out her place around $180-$200 per night. It's a 1 BD condo unit ~600 sq ft. Her bookings are full about 2 months out. 

Now, to buy a place like this in the same building, it's about $300k. Assume a 20% downpayment and your initial investment is only 60k. 

Here's the math (conservative numbers):

Rents:

$180/night * 365(.75) = ~$50k/year

Mortgage/Ins/HOA = $21.6k/year

Your cash on cash for year 1 is a whooping 43%. 

Am I crazy not to do this? Of course, there are some scaling issues, but that's easily solvable with a paid team. Another concern I have is short term rental regulation (possibly?) in the Seattle area. I know some cities are really clamping down on AirBnb type rentals and regulating them (the way it should be, just like with hotels).

What do you guys think???

Welcome to BP and the great PNW!

Welcome to BP! :)

@Andrew Bjorklund I recently had a 10-yr tenant move out via notice of vacate in Seattle. Like many have said, if M2M, give the required days of notice to vacate. 20 days is the standard, but it sounds like 10 is stated in the lease. I'd recommend doing a 30-60 days notice if they're the hoarder type. Maybe you could stagger the dates for the 2 units?

Couple of pointers:

-When taking over the property be sure to DOCUMENT the current condition of all the units (photos, notes, etc), especially if you do not inherit the move-in inspection reports from the previous landlord. It's imperative you try your best to get the move-in inspection report because you cannot legally take their security deposit w/o a move-in inspection. If you do illegally take the deposit, they are legally entitled to 2x the amt taken if taken to court. 

-When asking the tenant to leave, DOCUMENT everything and follow all rules to the dot when issuing the notice to vacate letter. It'll come handy when/if tenant has to be evicted. 

Washington tends to be more LL friendly than some states, but certainly look at the LL laws for Washington as it is a little different. 

Also, if you have any Q's about Redfin, feel free to msg me. I'm an agent with them. 

Hey Mushfiq - I just sent you a msg!

You've gotta be hard lined about this, Nathan. Tenants will push and push boundaries to their limits. Speaking in general, if they can get away with paying late, they will keep paying late! It was something I learned when I first started so let this be a good lesson for you! :)

I'm in the same boat. Sometimes craigslist is your best bet. Post a general labor ad and you'll get 10+ hits immediately. It's a hit or miss process but you'll eventually find a reliable handyman.

Think economies of scale for some of the expenses... one roof/siding and one yard for maintenance. On top of that, having one unit vacant on a quad is less of an impact than on a duplex or triplex or SFH.

You may also want to do some research on insurance policies as well for the 2-4 plexes.