All Forum Posts by: Lisa Toner

I'm a member of RHA and, yes, I'm aware of the complex rules. I do have a healthy dose of caution. We want to hold one property in Seattle because we can build a second house on the lot once we've saved up enough. We'll be charging a high enough price that I think income requirements will get us a tenant who is solid financially. 

agreed. I think the price I have in mind is good. It's fair to me but still competitive with what I've seen 1 mile around me--more than really ugly rental houses of similar size, less than the larger houses, less than houses in a more prime/walkable area, and even a tad less than the new build 3 br apartments & townhouses nearby. I've seen things on my street rent quickly in the last few weeks, and noted their prices. I was just pretty surprised to see how many listings over-estimated their price and sat bleeding money. Not sure if this is normal this time of year, bad planning on the property manager's part, a correction from people being overly optimistic about return to office, fear of the new 6 month rent increase notice, etc. 

I have been following rental prices on Zillow for a few months as I prepare to list my starter home for rent. It's a beautifully remodeled 3/1 in a nice part of NE Seattle. I have a price in mind, and think it is a decent/reasonable price. But, I'm a little nervous about this trend: I've noticed that many rental listings were overly ambitious with their price at first, and they've been sitting and steadily dropping their price. For example, 3 bed/2 bath houses have started out at $4000, then sit for weeks, dropping the price regularly. Many of these are professionally managed properties, so one would think they'd know better. Is this normal for Seattle? I haven't been following this particular feature long enough to know. I think it makes the listing look bad... 

We are keeping our starter home as a rental. I know I can depreciate the house on my taxes, and that I have to account for it later if/when I sell the property. However, I know you are only supposed to depreciate the buildings, not the land, and my property taxes are a bit odd. When I got my property tax notice last year, it had been restructured. My lot is worth $580k and the "improvements" are listed as...$1000. We have a nicely remodeled house here, but I suppose land is just really valuable in Seattle.

I actually called the county ask about this back when I got the property tax update, and they said it was not an error. 

Has anyone else encountered this? 

We bought a fixer in Wedgwood. We didn't change the layout of our house or anything drastic like that, but we did remodel EVERY surface and replaced ALL the utilities (wires, pipes, roof, furnace). We did DIY when possible and hired out help when needed. I managed my own kitchen remodel and hired all the various parts we couldn't do. Everything was permitted, to code, etc., It took 4 months and I got a great result for half the price quoted by design-build firms. But it was a lot of time to manage it. I couldn't even get a contractor to come give me a bid, and this was in 2020...

Absolutely!!! I rent my 600 square foot two car garage building for vehicle storage and it's been great. A neighbor approached me and asked to rent one spot. I called storage places near me and figured out a competitive price. I listed the other spot (big enough for a sprinter van) on NextDoor and had it rented in hours. For the rental agreement, I wrote my own by combining wording from a storage agreement and a Seattle-specific residential lease. I spent a few hours on it and think it turned out well. One tenant is a landlord himself and the other is a lawyer and they both seemed to think the lease was OK :) The tenants like to pay 3 or more months at a time.  A Keypad doorknob is handy. I installed an automatic motion sensor light switch inside because we always forget to turn off the light.  We'll be renting the main house out when we move and the house tenants will NOT have access to the detached garage. 

Update: we are holding the property. Some developers we met with were willing to do some work to get the foundation poured and condo-split the lot, but the process sounded messy to us, and would involve a lot of trust and months of work before closing. Also, in the end, they couldn't offer us that much for the land--totally understandable. Most developers wanted to buy the whole property. Ultimately, we we figured out we can comfortably afford to buy our "forever" home and keep the Seattle starter home as well. We plan to rent out the Seattle home and its detached shop while we save up for a DADU build, build it, and then do the condo split. It will take us a few years to complete the process, and there will be opportunities for us to change our minds and just sell it if needed. But it sounds fun and quite worthwhile!

Comment only, I think there could be a market for this, specifically close to Crystal Mtn ski area, which offers year-round recreation. Skiers come with $$$ to spend! There are very few places to stay at and near Crystal, and it's also close to the Sunrise visitor center.

So, all three look nice, and that's good news. I worry about the stove in the corner too. Does your 3d model have the option to open the stove doors and cupboards?

Hello! Yes, Michael, I have a large lot corner that cannot be formally split but has a great DADU site. I'd like to "condo" the lot and sell to a developer. I'm familiar with comps. I think a brand new, 1000 square foot DADU could go for 600-650 in my neighborhood. I am trying to set a price that will be worth it for me but also competitive enough to sell. Developers need to make money and so do I :)