All Forum Posts by: Marie Haydock

Hi Justin.  Take a look at who the target market is for that home, and make it look like their ideal as much as possible.  That's your best option, but it also means each one would be a little unique, and I understand that for investors, that might not make the most financial sense.

I represent a lot of buyers purchasing homes from starter-homes to luxury estates and there are some consistencies I've found with buyers who are house hunting.

There are some general guidelines that are helpful in most markets when getting a home ready for sale. 

1.  You want to keep features consistent as much as possible.  Unless it's a luxury home, go ahead and use wall colors, flooring, etc.  in few options and make your resale home look more like what you'd expect from cookie-cutter new construction.  That's going to appeal to buyers, even if it sounds boring to you.  So, rooms same color, flooring (no more than 2 materials), ceilings same color, cabinets in kitchen and bath the same (if reasonable), etc.

2.  Gray is the new Beige!  The hottest color trends, that are still traditional and appeal to the mainstream market, are to paint in light grays.  White trim and doors still good.  And for kitchen cabinets, that holds true as well.  White cabinets are hottest right now, so if you have the option, go with white, to help your home look upmarket.

3.  Once it's all painted, add some light touches of color and life with some silk plants and nice window coverings.  Then it's ready to be listed for sale or for rent, without the necessity of extensive staging.

Hi Jay.  I got my license initially to just work on my own deals.  But, life takes other turns and I'm now a full time Real Estate Broker with my own business (I found I just really liked the people aspect of real estate and focus on that nowadays).  I also have investment properties myself, though.  

Definitely the biggest advantage of having your license is access to the MLS. Big time saver there. The money savings, well that can go a few different ways ... see below.

The biggest disadvantage if you're a real estate agent just working on your own deals is that you are inexperienced in the art and legal requirements of real estate transactions.  If you just work on a few of your own deals, it may look like it pencils out because you can save on commissions. But, you run the potential risk of much bigger expenses if something is done incorrectly.  It's the same issue you run into doing your own plumbing on a rehab house, say, after you've read a few books from home depot.  You may get lucky and everything is fine, or you may open up a can of "whoop a$$" on yourself inadvertently.  The reason being, the license training is just a drop in the bucket compared to what you need to know to be a good agent.  All of that additional learning comes from initiative and experience.  The license just opens the door for you to start the real learning.  If you're the owner AND agent in a sale, you have a whole lot more legal responsibilities.  Be careful.

If you want to represent yourself as the licensed agent, my recommendation is to really walk the walk and be a full time real estate agent for a while, so you get the experience you need to represent yourself the way you deserve.  I suspect you'll find that all that time spent would be better served financially, being a full time investor rather than an agent.  It's not worth the 3% more you'd save on a deal as an agent to spend more than 3% of your time learning that aspect of the business.  As people smarter and wiser than me say, work ON your business, not IN your business.  That's my $0.02.

Hi Will.  Condos as a category can be a perfectly viable flip opportunity.  Like all potential investments, do the best you can crunching the numbers to see if it makes sense.  From the prospective of a Real Estate Broker and an Investor, there are a few cautionary points I want to bring up.

Condo Flips - things to consider:

1. The HOA is critical to the success of a flip. You'll need to check with the Home Owners Association and see if there are issues and/or expenses with short-term ownership. Some HOA's will have move-in/move-out fees that can run into the hundreds (at least) and possibly thousands of dollars. That needs to be factored into your calculations.

2. Once you come up with the home improvement/repair list for the unit, check with the HOA to determine: a) which ones need their approval. b) which ones need neighbor's approval. c) what the timeline is for applying for approvals.

3. Get the Resale Certificate, and check HOA meeting minutes, where they compared to plan for their Reserve Study, and any possible projects in the short term. Read, reread, and ask questions about possible assessments for the complex. Even if there's no assessment TODAY, look through the recent minutes and ask people about projects coming down the line. Property managers may only be required to disclose documented assessments today, and not disclose what everyone at the complex knows will be coming in a couple months. If there is one, it's not necessarily a deal breaker, but needs to be factored in to your decision-making.

4. Does the HOA require owner occupancy? That may be a deal breaker for you, unless you can be creative. Or, sometimes an HOA may require owner occupancy for a fixed period of time (like 1 year) before it can be sold or rented. There are all kinds of weirdness that can be found in HOA rules, so you need to be aware and through when you check them out.

Hope this helps.  Good luck!

Hi Keith.  Did you get your questions answered?  You can pay for an appraisal for the property.  Appraisals around here run about $450-$550.   But honestly, if you've got a good real estate broker in your pocket, they'll do that for you as a courtesy on any home you're considering.  I work with many investors and also invest in real estate in the area myself and do this all the time.  Build a good relationship with a real estate broker, and they can be part of your mastermind team.  In return, any homes you list for sale on the mls, you list with them.  If you've got one, great!  If you want to chat, you can PM me.

Good afternoon everyone.  I have investment properties in the Seattle area and I'm also a Real Estate Broker here as well.  Currently I own sfh, townhomes, and condos, so a pretty decent selection which gives me a good and personal feel for the market.  I also work with many investors in the area too.

For the greater Seattle region, you really have to consider the 2% rule as more of a guideline rather than a rule.  If you don't, nothing would pencil out around here.  And yet real estate investors are definitely making bank in this market.  I agree that you have to have a little bit different perspective on what a "good deal" looks like, but when you do, you can make some money here.

A recent example: Earlier this month I helped newly minted retirees buy their first investment property. It's a beautiful townhome (no rehab needed) turnkey property. Two things they are looking for from this property: 1) Some cash flow to cover basic household expenses, and 2) Strong equity building potential over the medium term (about 5 years). The townhome sold for $320K, mortgage payment is about $1470/month and will rent for about $2200/month. Gives them about $700/month cash and it's in an area that has very strong market potential. We did our homework and the HOA looks solid, therefore they don't anticipate any large expenses in the next 5 years. So, given their personal goals for an investment property and their low risk tolerance, this one makes a lot of sense. They have income that covers all their bills, minimal maintenance work and expense, is a great looking unit for reselling in the future, and should build them some nice equity in the next few years. This type of deal isn't for everyone, but it really works for many people.

A lot to consider when thinking about investing in real estate in the Seattle area, but don't let the non-traditional approach deter you.  Rental market is smokin' hot right now, and property values have been on the upswing for more than a year.  It's a good time to be in the market.

In my experience the premier agent position isn't worth it unless you 1) have more than 50% of the time slots, and 2) have more 5 star reviews than anyone else that will be listed as an agent in the area.  The public really looks at and stack ranks agents based on total quantity of reviews. So, your top agents who already have 100-200+ five star reviews get leads regularly.  Everyone else just props them up, since they don't have nearly as many top reviews.

Zillow's sales pitch assumes you're the only one that a viewer will see on zillow, but its so not true.  People are clicking around all over the place.  Before they reach out to an agent, they will have seen many of them on zillow and will pick the "best" one (by total number of 5 star reviews) to contact.  The ones serious about buying/selling know they don't have to click the name next to the listing they just saw online.  The serious ones have spent hours on zillow before they finally reach out to an agent.