All Forum Posts by: Mike Sumsky

@Alicia Hensley, call me at 206-947-6453.  I'm in Bremerton and would love to work with you on these deals.  

Garrett, I'm a duplex investor in Washington State.  I live in Bremerton which is a nice ferry ride from downtown Seattle.  Feel free to touch base with me  if I can help at all.  

Hi Rich, welcome to BP.  I'm a full-time investor in Bremerton.  You should come out to the next REAPS Kitsap meeting, which is always the 1st Thursday of the month at the Poulsbo Library.  (http://www.reapsweb.com)  There are a lot of like-minded local investors to network with over there.  Hope to connect soon.

Great job taking action @Dustin Little.  I've got a newborn too, so I know how challenging it can be to get time to work the business.  Staying local is a great idea, I've focused 90% of my marketing within a 20 minute drive of my house in Bremerton which I've found to help me become a 'big fish' in this pond and makes managing the properties that I buy and hold so much easier.  

I wanted to mention that your first three calls weren't necessarily duds.  Some of my favorite calls are those that come from other real estate investors.  That experienced landlord may turn out to be a future private money lender or mentor, the other investor who just purchased a foreclosure may not have the knowledge to find off-market properties and could turn out to be your best cash buyer should you decide to wholesale some of your deals.  Even the short sale could have been an opportunity for you to throw out a low cash offer.  Perhaps you've already considered all of this, I'm primarily speaking out loud for any other investor who might be reading this post and getting similar calls.  

More than anything, congrats on getting the marketing out.  I also use a personalized handwriting font on some of my campaigns and found it to be pretty effective.  Touch base with me if I can help at all or if you run into any deals that you'd like to wholesale.  I really like the Thurston County area.

Hi @Luke Bullinger, welcome to Bigger Pockets and congrats on the newborn!!  My wife and I just had a baby girl in February so we're in the same boat as you are!  I'm a full-time investor in Kitsap County, although I used to live in Lacey quite a long time ago and are very familiar with the area.  Be sure to reach out to me if I can help out at all!

I've got an off-market 1 acre parcel of raw land in Tacoma WA under contract and looking to wholesale. Can be split into 4 building lots. Level and dry, water/power at property and sewer is nearby.

The surveyor who gave the short plat proposal said it's "about the easiest property for short platting I have seen in some time."

The lot is on 91st St E near Portland Ave in Tacoma. Cash price is $99,500 which includes assignment fee.

Let me know if you're interested and I'll shoot over some more info.

Mike

keywords: washington state, tacoma, pierce county, land, development, new construction, builder, cash, cheap, subdividable, short plat, vacant lot

@Robert Cummings, I've recently switched over to Buildium to manage all of my books for my rental properties (as well as the screening/management/rent collection etc).  It's incredible and such a time and money saver for property management.  It may or may not be right for you at this stage of the game with 3 units that you're managing, but you should at least take a look.  I also use Quickbooks to handle the books for my S Corp which handles my fix/flip operation and other real estate activities.  

I will second @Steve Vaughan's recommendation to join the WLA.  They stay up to date on all the landlord-tenant law changes, and continually update their residential lease to address these, not to mention all of the other forms that you'll need to manage your properties.  It's money well spent.

@Derrick Strope, even in Washington State, any contract that does not specifically forbid assignments is assignable. Most investors include the "and/or assigns" anyway just to avoid any potential challenges.  I've just typed in a clause that says "This contract is assignable" on the last page of my agreement.

@Don Coumbs, you can find a seller who is willing to sell on terms (owner carry or lease purchase), negotiate the price and terms that will fit your buyers criteria and then assign the agreement over to him for a fee.  In this case, you won't use any of your cash.  

You should first find out how much your buyer has available to put down on a house, and what their monthly payment budget is.  The goal at that point would be to negotiate a smaller down payment to your seller, and the difference between what your buyer can put down and what the seller receives is your assignment fee.