All Forum Posts by: Marcela Hoag

Hi Rey,

I live in WA, and it's a mixed bag. I think it could be a con if you're in a nice neighborhood and people are expecting more perks from their rental. Like others have mentioned, also depends on the size of the building. What areas and size of multi-family deals are you targeting? 

Hi Will!

Welcome aboard! Are you sticking to strictly Seattle or neighboring cities as well? 

Welcome aboard Ethan!

Hi Jennifer!

My husband and I do both STR and MTR with fully furnished units, and sometimes within the same unit. From our experience, it's not very difficult to switch from one to the other. E.g. Use STR to fill in vacancies between MTR, or during the summer when rates are highest.

I've listed some of the pros and cons below.

STR
Pros
- Higher rates, higher upside if fully occupied
- More flexibility to adjust rates depending on time of year

Cons
- More time consuming (both from filling vacancies and preparing for and onboarding new tenants)
- Potentially, more volatility in cashflow

MTR
Pros
- Less volatility, steadier cashflow
- Less time spent finding new tenants
- Attract different types of tenants like traveling nurses, who are high quality

Cons
- Can't command as high of rates as STR, but still higher than LTR
- Harder to take advantage of seasonal increases in rates during Seattle summers

Let me know if you have any other questions! 

After you join that FB WAREI group, I suggest subscribing to a bunch of wholesaler mailing lists. You will find plenty of leads that way. :) Best of luck!

 Ha, my husband used to live in Bangkok. Plenty of blackouts seem likely if we go in that direction. 

Option A has my vote! 

Awesome! 

What states have you been focusing on? I know CA can be quite expensive, ha. We have a similar situation here in WA. 

Whether or not to invest depends on your short term / long term goals. Do you need the cashflow? Or are you looking for a quality property that will appreciate long term?

I noticed the vacancy rate was set to 0%, not sure how realistic that is given the area and your strategy. 

My husband and I have had a lot of success in this market regarding buy-and-holds by focusing on off-market deals. You can be more aggressive in your offers because of the work that needs to be put into the property. We've also been able to cashflow consistently by being opportunistic with our rental strategy. Our units are set up so we can target short-term and medium term rentals. The medium term rentals can turn into long-term rentals through lease renewals of 30 - 90 days, which of course offers you higher rates. You just have to make sure your property management is top notch so you can motivate people to renew.