All Forum Posts by: Steve Clifford

Hey Greg,

I hear where you're coming from. My experience is only in Seattle and we have sort of a tech micro-economy here which tends to (not always but most times) insulate our housing market quite a bit from what's going on in the rest of the country. I do not anticipate our prices going much lower here, but that may not be the case in your area. If you can nab up some discounted homes in the near future, you should absolutely go for it and I hope it happens for you!

This is one I haven't heard of before. Is it one large triple wide, for example, that was divided into four individual units? If that's the case, I think it would be very difficult to recover any appreciation from the structure and your value would be in the land. 

A manufactured home is essentially looked at (the structure only), as a depreciating asset, as the structure is "chattel" or personal property that sits on the lot, rather than "real property" such as a stick-built home. If the manufactured structure was divided into individual units, I would assume that this was not permitted and I would seriously research this with your county to make sure that it was prior to your purchase. Not having permits for an alteration such as this could potentially open you up to a lot of liability should a fire break out in one of the units for example. 

Based on what I've read thus far, I would look for a different property, but if I've misunderstood anything here, please let me know so I can try to provide more info for you. 

Congratulations on your search and I'm glad you reached out for some guidance on this opportunity. 

The way I see it, you've got a couple of options:

1.) Get your HELOC. That's different than a cash out refi though, as it's a line of credit, rather than pulling out cash from your home. This is usually provided to you at a lower cost than a cash out refi through a local credit union, for example. It's a great option if you have cash on hand to pay that line of credit down as you're making renovations.

2.) Get a cash out refi through a lender. This will usually have a higher rate than a HELOC, but you will actually be given cash to do your renovations which allows you to have a budget to which you can adhere and move forward that way.

3.) Selling to your life partner is also an option, but if you're both going to keep the house, I don't really know if that's the most viable option for either of you. If you're looking to add them to or change title in any way, you can accomplish this for about $200-$300 through a title company. Might be easier than changing everything.

I hope this helps and I look forward to hearing an update from you on what you decided! GO GROW YOUR REAL ESTATE EMPIRE!  :) 

Your lease should stipulate that guests can stay no longer than X amount of time. After that, they should be considered permanent tenants and should be background checked and on the lease. If they're not on the lease, they have no skin in the game as far as adhering to rules or taking care of the property. That's a bad situation, but there's a way around it for sure.

I'd have a conversation with your tenant on the lease and let her know that she has two choices:

1.) The daughter and boyfriend move out

2.) They get added to the lease.

This prevents any gray areas and keeps you in control of the conversation.

Hey Greg,

Hope you're having a great week so far! I'm a Realtor in the Seattle, WA area. We've noticed a slow down in purchases due to an increase in interest rates and subsequently, a plateau in pricing. In my opinion, that's a fantastic thing for buyers. 

As little as a few months ago, we saw homes go for SIGNIFICANTLY over ask. Now, most go at or just below list, buyers don't have to waive much to ensure that their terms are better than their competition (largely because there aren't many multiple-offer situations anymore), and you might even see some seller concessions toward closing costs. I'm not licensed in TX and therefore don't have any experience in the Dallas market, but I'd assume you're starting to see some of the same market indicators there.

If you ask me, it's a great time to buy. Eliminating, or drastically decreasing, the probability of participating in a multiple offer scenario enables you as a buyer to have more leverage when it comes to negotiating price, terms, etc. Yes, you will more than likely pay more in interest right now, but when rates come back down (It's been predicted by a couple of sources that rates may be back down as low as mid 4% or so by next year), you can refinance at a lower rate, thus increasing your monthly profits on your investment property.

I have recommended to many of my clients that they take advantage of this highly unique opportunity in the market right now to secure a home and then refi later. 

I have heard a lot of people concerned that we'll have a crash similar to '08. There's a difference between a credit bubble and a housing bubble. In '08, ARMs (adjustable rate mortgages) got people into a LOT of hot water triggering an unprecedented amount of foreclosures. A massive amount of checks, balances, laws, and regulations have been put in place on the lending world to prevent this from happening again. 

What we're seeing these days relates directly to the Fed lowering interest rates to prop up the real estate industry through COVID which triggered a refi and purchase frenzy. Now that the frenzy has slowed due to the increase in rates (rates are still very reasonable nowadays, but certainly are nowhere the 2.5-3% that we saw during the pandemic), we've begun to hear more about a potential "crash". I honestly don't see it, but that is just my opinion. I'd be curious to see what others have to say.

Phew...I know that was a lot, but you hit on a great subject! Nice post, Greg!

 Hey Grant. They unfortunately are not. 

 No problem! Just a thought, but I think that would work out very well. I actually have a great lender licensed in TX who may be able to help you with a 10% down investment program. Let me know if that would help and I'd be happy to get you in touch.

Hello everyone! I'm relatively new to the platform, but I wanted to make a quick post about the rental market in the Greater Seattle area. It is INCREDIBLY hot right now. Some friends of mine were recently looking for a single-family rental. It was nothing particularly special. The landlord began bidding at $3,500/mo. and allowed 8 potential renters to put in their highest monthly bids for the property. It ended up going for just under $5,000/mo.  My point is that opportunities like this are all over our area because rentals are so few and far between. 

There are some great investment loan programs out there that require as little as 10%  down which is great. Pricing has also plateaued in our area, allowing investors the opportunity to avoid multiple offer situations as well. What do you think? Should more people be buying rentals now that competition is lower?

If you're looking to purchase in the Greater Seattle area, I'd be happy to help you make the best decision for your rental and certainly connect you with some of my colleagues with these 10% down investment loans.  

Wow. You're really going through it! I'm sorry to hear that this has become such a frustration. Difficult neighbors are EVERYWHERE and especially when they have preconceived notions of you and your business. 

I would say the next time you're in the area, stop by their home and give them a friendly in-person chat and opportunity to speak with you up front. It's really interesting how nice people get when the barrier of the internet isn't between you and them. If they get frustrated, just stay calm and let them know that you're there to try and resolve any neighborly issues.  I would make sure that your house rules are squeaky clean to make sure your guests know exactly what they can and can't do to avoid being chastised by the Karens next door.

Don't sell property if you can keep from it. I'd look into a HELOC (Home Equity Line of Credit) on your WA home, as I believe that should have more equity than the OK home, depending on certain factors. That allows you to have a line of credit against your home at (usually) a far lower rate than a cash out refinance. It's a line of credit, so you'd still need to make monthly payments on it, BUT if you're able to use that HELOC for a downpayment on another property, you should use your rental income to pay the mortgage and your payments on the HELOC. This option may prevent you from being cash flow positive for a couple of years, but you should be able to gain equity in your rental property over time.

I know a couple of GREAT lenders who offer 10%  down investment loans also.  If you're looking to purchase in WA, let me know and I can get you in touch. I'd also be happy to represent you on the real estate side for your purchase. I hope this helps!