All Forum Posts by: Mike R.

i use either 3% or 5% in my cash flow/cap rate calcs...any prop with consistently higher than 5% vac is not something i am interested in.... 

i use either 3% or 5% in my cash flow/cap rate calcs...any prop with consistently higher than 5% vacancy rate is not something i am interested in.... 

it could be a county by county thing I just don't know.  However as our RE agent said, how could it be monitored and enforced????  The other thing I noticed was that the link to a brief write up outlining the issue was written by a contractor.  Who would benefit the most from such a rule/law???  A contractor........

we owed a lot (other side of street from ocean) in ocean shores for a few years and ever built.  i would stay away from the area.  Why?  1) the city is not very attractive (disjointed development, only one grocery store, cheap retail offerings, etc) 2) they continue to allow driving on the beaches and the rednecks/kids drive crazy so you really have to watch out especially with small kids, 3) during the summer season they allow horse riding on the beach and you will see several "companies' with trailers of horses for rent.  however, they don't require these companies to clean up the "messes" that horses naturally create so the beaches can have a fair amount of horse crap…not nice.  4) the ocean is always cold in WA and the ripe tides are constant which leads to a few deaths every year.  all these issues  leads us to avoid the area because we do not think it makes for attractive investment for renters or retirees.

i hate debt and pay off loans ASAP but it is a personal thing.  we found some great multi family props to buy in '07 & '08 because the previous owners paid too much and were over levered, so when times got tough they had no where to go.  lack of debt = freedom…especially when economic times get difficult.

to be clear we are not insurance sales people, don't have family in the business and don't have friends in the business so truly unbiased opinion…we use State Farm (Patric Kelly in Gig harbor) for our home, personal, and all rental props and will not use another firm..ever.  Why? we had a significant flood at our home (+$75K in damages), flood at one rental, last minute problems with closing on a 6 unit, etc.  State Farm never flinched, didn't raise our premiums and couldn't have been better to us.  

hi…new to this board but i have to say i don't buy it.  we have owned properties for years and i do nearly all the work my self and have never had a problem.