All Forum Posts by: Jesse Valle

OMG - I’m so sorry for the double-space haha.. I didn’t know it was going to come up like that

Hi @Kristel Knittel,

Yes, I take the ferry to Seattle everyday and it’s way better than dealing with traffic!

My initial plan was to buy a single home or condo in Bainbridge Island or Poulsbo, however, my plans are changing now towards investment opportunities instead.

I’ve been reading and watching the news to identify new businesses (restaurants, convenience stores, health centers etc.) heading to North Kitsap County as a growth indicators, but I haven’t seen too much activity lately (other than Bremerton), therefore, I started questioning Kitsap growth rate.

Thank you for your time.

Jesse

Seattle has been growing like crazy mostly because of Amazon, however, I don’t see the same growth for counties nearby King county such as Kitsap County.

Is Poulsbo, Kingston or Silverdale expected to grow anytime soon?

Hello,

I’d like to become a real estate investor and I have approximately 70k to play with. However, I’m debating between 3 main options:

A) Buy a primary residence with a higher down payment and lower my monthly mortgage payment. Then save with the low monthly mortgage payments and buy another property soon.

B) Use an FHA loan with 5% down payment, which will make my monthly mortgage payments significantly bigger, but then use the remaining of the money towards an investment property with a conventional loan (20% down payment)

C) Rent a condo as my primary residence and use the remaining of the money towards investment properties with conventional loans (20% down payment)

What would you guys recommend for someone who wants to retire early but doesn’t want to have a frugal life?

Thank you all for your time and support!

I purchased the condo back in 2012/2013 as my primary residence with a 20% down payment to avoid the Mortgage Insurance fee. The condo appreciated significantly over the last few years (Approx 46%), and now it seems to be heading down (Approx 34% appreciation).  

Needless to say, the monthly HOA fee that pays for the tenant's utilities and the 8% Property Management fee is eating my monthly cash flow... and now that I have an idea of how much taxes I will be paying if I don't sell it within the next 2 years (thanks @Natalie Kolodij and @Mike Chern), I'm definitely looking forward to selling my property this summer. (Thanks for the advise on the property depreciation opportunity @Greg Bishop... I had no idea I could do that, but I will educate myself ASAP through @BiggerPockets .com)

I really appreciate the advise from everybody, and I would like this opportunity to have a follow-up question if possible (I may create another post for this).

I have been reading about BRRRR, and I love the house-hacking idea to reduce costs, the problem is that I live in Seattle but I'd like to move to Bainbridge Island or Poulsbo... however, there are no duplex or multifamily apartments out there! (in my experience)

So, I've been talking to a lot of people from those areas, and apparently "building" is something people do over Bainbridge and Poulsbo (please remember that I come from LA, where "building" is never an option for "normal" people), consequently, I though about building a duplex and taking advantage of house-hacking opportunities. Is this completely unrealistic? do you guys have any recommendations?

Thank you in advance for your support.

Sincerely,

Jesse Valle

Thank you for all your support! This was my first post ever at BiggerPockets, and I’m beyond happy with the responses from you guys. 

I do have a personal inclination towards the property because it’s my first property ever, however, the more homework I do on taxes and appreciation the stronger I feel about selling. 

I fail to mention that I have a property management company handling my rental for 8% of the income in addition to an HOA monthly fee. Consequently, i believe my cash flow would quickly increase by replacing my condo with a single family home or just by handling the property myself.

Again, thank you so much for your support and recommendations!

Sincerely,

Jesse Valle 

Recently moved from LA to Seattle (1 year ago) therefore, I can sell my condo without paying sales taxes (if I do it within the first years), however, I have a wonderful tenant that has been paying my mortgage punctually and the condo is expected to appreciate due to a metrolink rail extension (currently happening) and to the opening of a downtown area along with new Disney studios. Should I sell and invest in the Seattle greater area or keep it and miss out on Seattle’s expanding house market?