All Forum Posts by: Robin Croen

@Anthony Dooley, @Antoine Martel I appreciate your feedback. The idea of continuing to rent here and investing elsewhere has definitely crossed my mind more than once. I am very interested in getting into REI, thats why I'm here on BP in the first place, but with my inexperience I'm hesitant to invest remotely. I fully recognize that this is a personal hangup and that many successful investors have built their portfolios in this way. I need to build contacts with experienced investors that can mentor me. My girlfriend, in addition to being extremely risk-averse, is pretty set in her mind on ownership. I'll definitely need to do some convincing if I am to get her to agree to using our funds in this way.

@Karl Krauskopf We are most interested in the neighborhoods just north of the cut: Ballard, Fremont, Greenlake, Phinney, Wallingford, etc. I am absolutely interested in multifamily but unfortunately it just seems like with the cash we have the barrier to entry is pretty high. I've also heard that with all the investors in Seattle right now, you pretty much have to be able to drop 20%+ to be competitive- I have no idea how true that is. That said I appreciate the response and I'll have to look into a strategy like that further.

TL;DR: 

Trying to buy in an expensive market. Should we put down a 20% deposit for our first home, or should we put down a smaller deposit and use the leftover cash to pay for an ADU that will generate supplemental income?

Long version:

My girlfriend and I are preparing to buy our first home in what is an unfortunately expensive market (Seattle). We have a decent amount of cash from savings and family gifts to put towards a deposit; we can afford to put down a 20% deposit if the home is at the lower end of what is available. However, inventory here at that "lower" price point is extremely limited and there are a lot more options if we increase our budget another 20-25%, but this means we would need to find another stream of income to make our mortgage comparable to our current budget. The rental income from even one ADU like a basement studio apartment would easily bridge that gap, BUT to afford a property with that kind of space we'll need to pay more for the property as well as (possibly) pay for the ADU conversion/construction. With that lengthy preamble, here are my questions:

- Is it better to put down 20% on a lesser property; or to find a better investment, put down a smaller % deposit, and use the leftover cash to finance the rehab/construction of an ADU?

- Are there refinancing strategies (a-la-BRRRR and forced appreciation) I could leverage to help finance the addition of an ADU, assuming we do add one?

Thanks in advance for looking. If I've been unclear, I'm happy to try to answer any questions that clarify my situation.

Cheers!

Thanks for the replies, all, and apologies for being MIA recently. I decided I needed to delay my REI dreams for the remainder of the year as opportunities to finish my graduate studies with a four-month long stint in Copenhagen came my way. However I'm looking at graduating with little to no debt in December of this year, and upon returning to the states I hope to start this process up again as soon as possible. This community continues to be a source of endless inspiration and information, so thanks to all again!

Hey there Seattle investors,

I'll be starting down the road to my first investment property soon, and I'd love some advice from experienced folks on how to approach lenders. Is there anything I should or shouldn't do to make myself attractive to lenders? What pitfalls should I be looking out for? Can you recommend any resources I should check out?

Thank you!

I think I found it! If you look under the "Rehab Period" tab on the results page, the "Holding Costs" field is dependent on how long your rehab period is. I didn't do the math, but it looks like if you add up your PITI and any other monthly expenses and multiply by the number of months of rehab, you get the holding costs.

Please report back, I'm about to graduate with my masters and about 60k in loan debt. I'll definitely be following to see how things shake out for you!

Hello all, I have a question that stems from learning more about the BRRRR Calculator and the overall process. When in the rehab phase of such a deal, I would assume that you do not have any monthly income from rent. Lets say it takes you 2 months to rehab a property and get tenants signed on to the lease. Thats 2 months that you would have to be able to cover up front either with your initial loan or your own cash.

How do you account for this when analyzing deals?

Apologies for resurrecting such an old thread, but I'm just wondering how things have progressed for all of you Sacramento investors?

I am brand new to this website and just now researching real estate investing (like, two days new!). I'm currently living in Seattle but may be moving back to Sac in the next 6 months and am interested in finding a small multi-family building, 2-4plex, as a first investment. The plan would be to live in one of the units for starters, with Midtown/East Sac being my ideal location. I have no money and no job (yet...finishing up a master's degree) and would most likely be using a FHA loan and borrowing the downpayment from the Bank of Mom & Dad. I'd like to get the ball rolling within 12 months of moving back. Do you think this is a reasonable goal at this time, or is the Sacramento market not a good place for investors (especially first time noobs like me!) right now? Any insight or pointers towards other resources would be much appreciated. Thanks!