All Forum Posts by: Michael Haas

Thanks @Ehsan Rishat & @Martin Vehlow!

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $552,000

1904 Craftsman on a street that dead ends into a park, right next to the future light rail station. Will need to have the 800 sq. ft. garage converted to a DADU (detached ADU) to have great cash flow. We hired out adding a bathroom, remodeling an existing bathroom, and exterior paint, then rewired the entire house, did a new kitchen, appliances, entryway (rotted out), tile, trim-work, laundry room, opened the floorplan, and painted ourselves.

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $552,000

1904 Craftsman on a street that dead ends into a park, right next to the future light rail station. At 1200 sq. ft. and mostly original, this home has that old-school craftsman charm, but will need to have the 800 sq. ft. garage converted to a DADU (detached ADU) to have great cash flow. We hired out adding a bathroom, remodeling an existing bathroom, and exterior paint, then rewired the entire house, did a new kitchen, appliances, entryway (rotted out), tile, trim-work, laundry room, opened the floorplan, and painted ourselves.

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Seattle.

Purchase price: $330,000
Cash invested: $9,000

400 sq. ft. 1941 shipbuilder cabin on the West Seattle Waterfront. We hired out the new electrical service, wiring, drain drop,and stove pipe replacement, and did the new kitchenette, floor sanding, new deck, and paint ourselves.

The Tiny Tipsy Cabin is currently rented on Airbnb with hundreds of reviews and a 4.8 star rating, and net income is about $3,000 a month before accounting for debt service.

This one was a fun negotiation to close- it was a MLS deal, with us in second buyer position. When the first deal backed out we offered quickly, cash, and much lower than they were just under contract for. After negotiations we met towards the middle at a price point that worked for our investment goals. The seller knew that many buyers would get scared off by the building's unique lot conditions and structural issues, so he took the discount and sold to us rather than risk going pending and back on the market a second time.

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Seattle.

Purchase price: $330,000
Cash invested: $9,000

400 sq. ft. 1941 shipbuilder cabin on the West Seattle Waterfront. We hired out the new electrical service, wiring, drain drop,and stove pipe replacement, and did the new kitchenette, floor sanding, new deck, and paint ourselves.

The Tiny Tipsy Cabin is currently rented on Airbnb with hundreds of reviews and a 4.8 star rating, and net income is about $3,000 a month before accounting for debt service.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

I'm an Eagle Scout, and the Henry David Thoreau in me just wants to live in the forest and chop wood all day. Plus we wanted to get into STR's (Airbnb, VRBO, etc).

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

MLS, second buyer position. When the first deal backed out we offered quickly, cash, and much lower than they were initially under contract for. After negotiations we met towards the middle at a price point that worked for our investment goals. The seller knew that many buyers would get scared off by the building's unique lot conditions and structural issues, so he took the discount and sold to us rather than risk going pending and back on the market a second time.

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Seattle.

Purchase price: $330,000
Cash invested: $9,000

Cash purchase - 400 sq. ft. 1941 shipbuilder cabin on the West Seattle Waterfront. New electrical service and wiring, new kitchenette, floors sanded, wood burning stove-pipe replaced, and new deck installed. It also has some structural issues that we're leaving be for now.

This renovation was an easy one by our standards, but still would have cost more than $9k in Seattle had we not done a lot of the work ourselves. The Tiny Tipsy Cabin is currently rented on Airbnb with hundreds of reviews and a 4.8 star rating, and net income is about $3,000 a month before accounting for debt service.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

I'm an Eagle Scout, and the Henry David Thoreau in me just wants to live in the forest and chop wood all day. Plus we wanted to get into STR's (Airbnb, VRBO, etc)

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

Purchase price: $532,000
Cash invested: $41,000

This was a heavy cosmetic renovation + side sewer line replacement in North Beacon Hill. All new Ikea kitchens and appliances, upgraded electrical, added a bedroom, floors sanded or replaced, bathrooms gutted for minor rot, popcorn ceiling scraped, floor plan opened, some drywall, and paint.

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Always run your sewer scope!

Welcome to BP @Craig Early!

We house hacked our way to 3 properties in Seattle and have 5 now - it really works! Do you work in the city, and do you have a short list yet of neighborhoods that you think would be a good investment? 

@Alex Shapiro You'll want to structure this carefully as FHA has a lot of rules and reporting requirements regarding where the downpayment funding comes from.

Let us know how it goes! Assuming you can fit this within FHA regulations it sounds like a worthwhile strategy.

PS: if you're just going in with 3.5% down do you really need to bring in financial partner, even in an expensive market?

Welcome to BP @Katherine Marquez! 

You're off to a great start as a new investor by focusing in on House Hacking- we house hacked our way to 3 properties in Seattle and have 5 now, and I can't think of a better way to learn the ropes and really boost your net worth and cash flow. 

I've had success with cashflow rentals in Seattle by getting off the beaten path- there are established investors bidding up the price (and therefore compressing the cap rate) on many small multi-families, but those same investors are not going after large 6-9 bedrooms SFHs that you can rent by the room to young professionals and college students. They aren't always looking at split levels and unfinished basements that work so well for house hacks. Most are also are not establishing STRs, especially now that Seattle regulations limit most families to just 1 Airbnb/STR outside their primary residence.

I'm biased towards South-Central Seattle as we've had such personal success here, but Bremerton, Tacoma, and Shoreline are also great suggestions. Good luck and feel free to ping me with any extra questions you have!