All Forum Posts by: Michael Gonzalez

I am wondering if anyone has experience with something like this. The property is not a short sale. I got under contract and title reported the owner owes the state $556,000 in income and transient tax (the property is a bed and breakfast). She also has a mortgage of $309,000 and maybe (still trying to figure out if she has used it or not) a HELOC of $150,000. So she owes a little over a million dollars and I was going to purchase it for $900,000.

Would the extra $100,000 she owes still be attached to the property even after sale? I asked the title company but they are not very responsive. I plan on consulting with a RE lawyer but it is out of state (Hawaii) and it might not be easy for me to get that line of communication going. I would think the mortgage would still apply, but would state income tax be lien-able against the property after a sale? I would appreciate any information anyone on here has, thanks in advance!

I have a detached garage which is more than three feet from the main structure, however the roofs of the two structures are touching. Does the wall in the garage need to be fire rated? I don't know of the three foot requirement is supposed to count only wall to wall or nearest part to nearest part. Thanks for any help in advance!

I recently moved from Burien to Chicago. I sold my primary residence and started renting so I had enough cash for the purchase and flip. I made 15k on this deal, but it easily could have been 25k if I negotiated better at the beginning (and my inspector wasn't terrible) and I also listed it too low. This one I actually bought off MLS; in Tacoma there are still deals to be found on MLS. I tried working with Vestus on foreclosed properties, but they were a complete nightmare, and after talking with some other people I am glad I didn't go down that road. I was looking into sending out mailers before my wife took a job in Chicago.

I am not flipping in Chicago since I always liked the idea of BRRRing. I am now looking primarily at multifamily properties, but I have looked at SFHs as well. My criteria for a single family is it needs to be profitable both as a flip, or as a cash flow rental. Since this is a market I am familiarizing myself with and there is bound to be a correction in the next few years, I don't want to get caught up in a project that stalls and get stuck with it. Not with these property taxes!

It seems to me that every investor and their mother in WA is now focused on Pierce County, Tacoma in particular. If I were still there, I might look elsewhere to see if there is less traffic in the cheaper parts of King County, such as Auburn, Des Moines, Federal Way, Seatac, Kent. 

@Ferdi Eruysal

How did this situation end up getting resolved?

Investment Info:

Single-family residence fix & flip investment in Tacoma.

Purchase price: $183,000
Cash invested: $35,000
Sale price: $255,000

My first flip in Washington state yielded about $15,000. I was very excited, then saw everyone else seemingly making $50k+ on every transaction and decided I can do even better!