All Forum Posts by: Harrison Liu

I am facing the same dilemma. Here is my thought on this. if the property is priced mid range, here in seattle is between $500k to $700k, buyer will be struggle to come up additional fund to purchase appliances after closing. the thing with appliances is it's must have not nice to have items so without it, it might be a potential deal breaker.

@Brendon Toyne too much education is an overkill. real estate is not rocket science. especially if you start small like house hacking or buying single family rental. the best way to learn is by doing. the lesson you learned from doing it will be with you forever it is way better than learning it from others or reading books. real estate is a relationship business. a lot you have to learn from experience not from reading books. when I first bought my rentals. I have never heard of rich dad poor dad. From my personal experience, finding a mentor will help you way more than reading. A mentor will make you take actions and gives you a map to be successful in your local market, not one size fit all guru talks.

a college degree doesn't guarantee you will have a w2 job unless you are in a high demand area like software. business degree not from an Ive league college does not seem to have prospect of a high paying job. having more debt like student loan does not help you to qualify for loans. My suggestion is to look at job prospective after graduation. if you have a good chance of getting a good paying w2 job, then finish the school. otherwise think twice before taking the debt to get a degree that might be worthless.

@Diane G. I agree with you a down turn might have started. even though I am not in the bay area. in Seattle, the way you can tell is there are more for sale signs. price always follows inventory. when inventory starts going up, price will plateau and starts to fall a little bit. people are still coming here for jobs. so buyers are still here, except they start seeing more choices and interest rate is still favorable although climbing. so it's nothing like a crash is coming. but it does feel like a slow down is coming. another way you can tell is that all the new listings assume a 10% price increase is already baked in the market. it is a classic sign of a slow down or down turn if you will. my question is 15% drop is a big number, what if it doesn't happen before price resumes up trend again? then you will miss this down turn and you may have to pay even more to catch the next one. it's very tricky enter a hot market, imo.

how much will it rent for after rehab? If it can cash flow, maybe partner with a investor, hold till market goes up then sell it.

what will each unit rent for after reno?

being in California, a renter friendly state I would move on. not worth the time and stress for a couple hundred bucks, if tenants going to court.

@Peter Bowen wow! what a story, I wish it could happen here. they are building new apartments here like hot cakes, someday the bubble will pop and I can see that happen here except people will leave when they are priced out, they don't stick around like people in your town does. I lived in midwest before it is a completely different market, it can get very frustrated for home buyers and investors. it will only get worse.

@William C. you forget the number one rule in real estate, location, location, location. I paid a heft tuition for it in 2008. I started investing in 2001 after 6 option arms loans and two loan modifications. I actually came out a winner and retired last year. talking about blessing in the sky. most importantly my credit never dropped one bit. I get it a lot of people want to learn from other's mistakes, you can to some degree. but the one that pushs you close to the edge, you can only learn it from yourself. And if it doesn't kill you, will make you stronger!

sorry but I can't help keep posting it. I don't know if you guys are walk the talk or just talk the talk. creating a waiting list? really? if your property is that sought after you don't need any freaking list, all you need to do is just put a vacancy sign you will be flooded with phone calls. I have a property right up the hill next to the space needle, if you have been to Seattle you know south lake union is the hottest market in Seattle right now. even so I never have a waiting list and even if I do after 6 months who will still be on the list? the only place I heard about waiting list is in new York and San Francisco maybe. get real people.