All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

Thanks @Basit Siddiqi.  I am looking into the cost impact of the setup (new ID, car registration, etc.) but good point on making sure I do it in a way to avoid the "multiple home" situation where I can't be reimbursed for the travel.

We are coming to the college years with our kids and we are finding (no surprise) that college is expensive and very expensive if you are an out-of-state student.  As a full-time developer, investor and consultant, I could theoretically work from anywhere (although most of my income would still come from my Idaho).  Has anyone done this?  I'm thinking of buying a place in another state and officially making it my "home" (for tax purposes, for homeowner write-off, etc.) but the majority of my income will be from Idaho and my son will finish high school here.  Most universities look at the parent's residence status for the kids application - if I do this a year or more ahead of time, would I be able to have him enter a university in my new state as an in-state resident?  Any challenges or things to avoid?

Boise, Oregon?  Is that perhaps a small town in Oregon and not Boise, Idaho?  I see listings sometimes for Atlanta, Idaho when they are actually in Atlanta, GA...

@Jo Kinal Eagle is a great area and is growing tremendously but it also a bit different from other areas around Boise.  I know the Eagle area very well (I live here and have worked for developers here).    A couple of things that make Eagle a bit different than surrounding areas:

1) The homes are large and more expensive than most of the Treasure Valley.  This means large dollars to buy, and while rents are also high the rents don't necessarily scale up as a percent of purchase price.

2) There is a LOT of new construction in brand new subdivisions.  This makes for a lot of inventory (relatively speaking) at the $600K+ range where these homes are sold.  Look into how it may impact your particular strategy.

3) Any rental strategy here would need to be adjusted for the renter type.  My gut feel is that many renters are shorter-term.  They come to town and are renting until they can buy a house.  Likely better renters but also turn-over may be higher (just my gut feel)

4) Eagle has a lot of rental supply coming on the market soon - apartments (55+), luxury communities of apartments, townhomes specifically built for rental, etc.  This may have an impact on rents for houses as the new supply gets absorbed.

5) On the plus side, Eagle is VERY anti-growth and may start doing things to make development harder.  Bad for us developers but good for those who own property and see prices rise as supply dries up.

Lots of macro info there and take all of it with a grain of salt, but hopefully it helps you to get a feel for Eagle as a market separate from the rest of Boise or Meridian.

Finally -- if you really are interested in Eagle, we are under construction on two spec patio homes that would fit a rental scenario well.  Message me if you want details on those or on the market in general.

@Shrikar A. sorry for the late reply.  If you want to get supply numbers you will have to reach out directly to the planning departments in each target city.  I know the City of Boise publishes a report on the permits issued.  If memory serves, it breaks down multifamily, single family and commercial.  Actual permits = finished units within the next year (approx).  Bigger cities likely create a regular report while smaller areas will require them to run numbers for you.

@Susie Lowe if you get a multifamily meetup started, let me know.  We do mostly new construction in the space but would love to network with others who are focused on apartments in the Treasure Valley

@Account Closed It looks like the article mixes its stats (likely to fit the narrative).  Buckeye is fastest growing "percentage wise", which is often the case of small areas.  Phoenix, which is HUGE, they rely on total numbers not percentage growth.  All depends on what you are looking for really

@Shrikar A. It is a good start on analysis.  The point above may be helpful - are you looking for rapid growth (% wise) or just more households coming into the market?  I'd say you likely care about new potential renters regardless of how many existed last year.

With that said, you are researching the demand side of the equation.  Don't forget the supply side - one of the reasons that Boise is such a hot market right now is that there is a flood of new people coming to town and the supply hasn't been able to keep up resulting in rent growth (and property value growth).

As a side note, you should also be cautious when comparing wages and other income-based metrics.  Keep in mind the cost of living in these places.  Boise wages are much lower than those on the coast but then again, so is the cost of living.

@Emma Brooks I'm not sure the reason, but I do know that we have a serious lack of supply.  If I had to guess, Boise has been a smaller market where people preferred single family.  I can remember in the last up-cycle the common wisdom was that no one would buy a townhome much less a duplex or condo.

You will find the best luck with four-plexes as many developers (including ourselves) like to build them and sell them into the investor market but these are being snapped up right now at very aggressive cap rates due to the under supply and due to rental rates steadily rising.

One suggestion for a house hack is to look within Boise for a home that can be split into a duplex.  Unless the zoning rules have changed in the last 9 months or so, all single family residential lots are allowed "by right" to have a duplex on them.  You just have to meet certain design standards with regards to egress, parking, etc.  You can theoretically buy a house, split it into a duplex and live on one side.  It likely doesn't pencil as an immediate flip but as a house-hack it may make sense for you.

@Cami Bustos Multifamily is going up all over the Treasure Valley right now but the bulk of it (almost all) seems to be in Ada County.  The intersection at I-84 and Ten Mile west of Meridian is turning into a cluster of mid-rise office plus some very large multifamily projects.  Harris Ranch in SE Boise is building townhomes, multifamily, etc. and there are several infill projects all around.  The Eagle area is completing a couple of large luxury multifamily projects and has a couple more on tap.

We are very big on Caldwell with the new downtown, family feel and growth in jobs.  We are constructing a 24-unit building just south of downtown.  It will be the first market-rate multifamily built to our knowledge.  There are several new 55+ projects but that is about it.  We are also talking with other investors/developers to act as GC on projects in the Nampa/Caldwell area so there is activity but not to the scale of Boise/Meridian.

One thing to note is that the area does have a lot of four-plex communities being built.  These don't tend to hit the new radar but provide much needed supply.  Right now in Canyon County they are clustering in western Nampa rather than going into Caldwell proper but I think that will change quickly.

@Lore Postman @Miles Gastil Lore's process works well but keep in mind that the Registered Agent and the owner are often two different things. The Registered Agent is often the owner's lawyer or other entity that is in charge of dealing with legal issues associated with the LLC. Often the owner and agent are the same, but not always.

Another way to approach this (in Ada County) is to go to the City of Boise's mapping tool (here).  Look the property up by searching the address or moving around the map and then using the "Point" tool you can click on the target parcel.  This will bring up detailed info in a left-hand pane.

In the detailed info you will see the address of the site and the address of the owner (but no name for the owner).  Click on Ada Land Records link above and it takes you to the Ada County Assessor site where you can get the owner name.  You now have physical address and name.  Of course, in the case Lore did above it just gives you the PO Box that you get from the SOS website but this process can work for owner that do not register with the Secretary of State such as individuals.

One other note on the Boise mapping tool.  The left panel has info on Total Value (the most recent assessed value) and Home Exempt.  If the Home Exempt line is zero you know that the property is not occupied by the owner -- a good way to see if it is a rental or if the owner lives there.

I hope that gives another avenue of research for folks.  The site happens to be for Boise but it covers all of Ada County so it will work for Meridian, Eagle, Star and Garden City as well.