All Forum Posts by: Jason Emery

Looks like we're neighbors.  I've had a condo in Kirkland for about 10 years.  Can't say it's appreciated a whole lot.  Was up really high, but dropped down.  Only in the past year and a half has it drifted back up again.  Thing about HOAs is that they don't necessarily have the funds to fix everything.  Ours has been going through a lot of trouble.

Anyway, a lot depends on what you plan on doing in the area.  I've seen parts of northeast Bothell that weren't too badly overpriced.  However, Everett, Burien, and Auburn *seem* like better choices right now.  Probably not what you want to hear since for yourself you're eyeing wanting to be in a nicer area.

That being said, here's one that's been on the market a while.  I really ought to try to analyze it and see what it works out to, but condos make me nervous.  Assessments can be terrible, for one.

I'm just getting started with investing, myself.  But I bet with something like that which has been on a market a while there must be a good reason.  Might be workable.  Might not be. Could even have a hidden lien on it from a past assessment or back payments.

I'm new and super busy at work, myself.  But I'm determined to find some time and drag my kid (27) into this with me.

One suggestion I saw was to reorganize your lunch hour - break the habit of going out with coworkers / going out to get overpriced coffee, merge your breaks together, and go do your real estate calls & research.  Or better yet, get some of your coworkers interested, too.  Leaders inspire others.

It was a coworker that suggested this site to me in the first place, but only after I started talking about it.  I had no idea anyone else at work did this sort of thing until I started mentioning it in our intranet spam room.  All too many of the other programmers I know spend most everything they make / live in debt.

Break out of that rut, @Eric Gluck!

Nice job, @Frank Matanane!

Looks like we're neighbors across that big pond.

Guess the guy went broke trying to maintain his boat. :D

Was the interior nice?  I've read about auctions but never gone.  How much info did you have about the property beforehand?

Curious to see what you do with it!

Hello!

I might be a bot.  I'll have to check.

Seriously, though, I'm really new, too, but I have a library of books I'm churning through on my commute.  I think there's a guide up on the website somewhere, too, on references.

Anyway, some of them are pretty forgettable or have one tiny nugget of info.  My current list of favorites:

Happy Couples Guide to Real Estate Investing (interesting strategy / motivating / easy to get started)

Land lording on Autopilot (even if you aren't going to)

The Weekend Millionaire's Secrets to Investing In Real Estate (meatier)

Be A Real Estate Millionaire (because it is teaching me to analyze trends and areas)

Note that several of these came straight from the library!  Free is the best price.

I read an interesting idea out of the Landlording on Autopilot book.

You want to tell the tenant that you are the 'property manager' and leave out the fact that you also own it.  That way there's this mysterious third party (such as your cat) that you invent and have to call to approve things.  Also, you have a great excuse to sound like you're a business - which you are - rather than some chummy friend with lots of time on your hand.

The caveat is that you have to be honest on legal documents that require your position.

I don't have much of an answer for what paperwork to make, being really new to this myself.  However, I'm a computer programmer, so I have more nerdy advice:

Try out a cloud service such as Dropbox.  That will create a folder on your computer (literally on a Mac you would get a Dropbox icon) to hold all your files.  As a hint, put them in subfolders before you get disorganized.  You don't pay for the first 

Then, you can access it from any device or in a pinch at work.

Individual files can be right-clicked directly from their website interface and you can give people a short URL link to download just that file.  For instance, if you wanted to email someone a PDF link for a value write-up in a pinch.

Also, if you are on a Mac, invest in a portable hard drive.  They're cheap and will let you run Time Machine for free.  Example of a good deal: Western Digital My Passport 2TB USB 3.0 Portable Hard Drive

I would suggest thumb drives, but they fail more randomly and people lose/forget about them.  Keep your portable drive in a drawer or some safe spot on your desk.

I helped a friend move out that had an apartment that looked like that.  Boy was that a nightmare.  Total emergency as nobody but a sick older lady-friend showed up.

Wish I had gotten paid 40k to help him bag his 'worldly possessions'.  At the end the two of us were just shoving things in garbage bags and not caring what was ending up in his storage unit.  Just to get done in time.

People really do live like that.  Eye opener.

I just replaced my leaky toilets with a new kind called the Korky QuietFull.  Nice thing is that it's easily adjustable.  Although I bet most of them have moved away from those old valves.  Cheap fix.

If your tenant was willing to do a little investigating for you, they could use drops of food coloring to tell you which was leaking.

If it's that much water, did you make sure there isn't a leaky pipe in the walls / in the lawn (coming from the water main or some external valve)? I've had that happen before and then stop. Fortunately my HOA is responsible for all in-wall plumbing and damages.

Search for 'low flow shower head'.  Pick one that compliments your bathroom.

Make sure you use the white plumber's tape on any pipe work.  Unless you like mysterious leaks.

Finally, check with your local utilities.  Ours in WA literally gives out low flow shower heads from time to time that are very nice.  All you have to do is fill out a web form.  They also offer 'efficiency packs' that have LED bulbs + shower heads.  I ended up with so many bulbs and shower heads I was just giving them out in bags to friends so they could save money.

There was a story about a deal like this in one of the books I read.  I think the "Weekend Millionaire's Guide".  She was bitter and wanted to see her husband suffer, essentially.

The shopping spree is an interesting reversal. 

Not being able to -find- the ex would be a huge problem, though.  You might be able to approach it through genealogy.  Surely her husband will know her name, names of parents, etc.  If he's serious about selling the property, he could pay for a detective or you could talk him into a way better deal if you do all the legal work.  Risk there is it all falls apart if you can't deliver.

Welcome!  Sounds like we're almost neighbors.  Bellevue is really nice in parts.  I'm particularly fond of Crossroads as a place to decompress after a long work week.

I'm just a newbie up in Kirkland learning the ropes. :D

So far everything in the area seems pretty expensive, but I know I just haven't looked hard enough yet.