All Forum Posts by: William Sing

Redfin actually has some great sold data if you are looking for comps. You can use their sold filter and use the draw feature to hone in on specific neighborhoods!

Hi Dolina! 

Congrats on getting this under contract! First off, I'm not sure what your goals are but make sure you set those before deciding if this is a good deal for you. 

If you are looking to optimize cash flow, I'd think that even though the recently redone was done poorly will still rent for more. I'd probably work on the unit that needs the most work since it would need a lot more work and would provide the most benefit to you in the long term. 

Not sure if you are working with a realtor, but they should let you know more about what a big deal is. In the Pacific NW, mold is an incredibly common problem. The water heaters are something you will want to deal with immediately but in my area usually costs $1200 a pop at most. The roof is a problem, but it isn't a problem right now which will give you 5 years to redo it. 

With your first investments, you usually aren't going to be getting the best deal but you are just trying to get in the game to a certain degree. 

Hope this helps!

Hey Crystal!

It depends on what you are trying to do. Here are some factors to consider:

1) How much $$ do you have?

2) Do you plan on living in the place (i.e., house hacking)?

3) Do you want to do a lot of renovations?

If you don't have a lot of money, then you can use private money (think of this as a personal loan from someone). The other option is to use a traditional bank as you mentioned. If you are going to owner-occupy usually you can do less down. You can use the 203k loan that would allow you to do renovations using this. I'd talk to a lender who is experienced with these "renovation loans". They can get pretty complex and do have more upfront fees but are great at financing your renovation costs. I'd make sure to interview markets. In more of a sellers market, this is still hard to get under contract as a heads up. 

I'd recommend building relationships with great lenders/agents in that area for your first deal. DM me if you want me to recommend anyone!

Hey Patricia! Sounds like an exciting next step! 

1) I would probably reach out to multiple property management companies. You may be looking to self-manage, but in the long run, I see most people move towards using a PM company. I would have a chat with them to see what areas they suggest avoiding or what is up and coming. 

2) There should be some sort of Real Estate Investor Associations (REIA) in the area that might have some zoom options for meetings. This might be a great place to build connections especially if you need contractors.

3) Finding a Real Estate Agent that focuses on Real Estate Investments (and is an investor themselves) would also be a great step to learn more about those areas. I interviewed a lot of agents to find the one that helped me with my first house hack. DM me if you want me to recommend anyone!

4) City Council Meetings - This is a great place to find the meeting minutes and see what large-scale developments are happening or policy changes. This will give you a better idea of the local government as well. 

5) Lookup Permits - Permits are/should be on public record. If they have a digital record system it will be a bit easier but you can see where permits are being pulled and if any of them are for subdivisions or more commercial. This will give you a real-time understanding of where developers are putting their money. A title company could also help as well. 

6) Look up high-end stores - When a store like lulu lemon or something puts in new locations in an area, that means they believe it will be a good area. They put in A LOT more market research into things than we alone ever could. 

Hope this helps!

Hey Benjamin! 

A potential option is to do private money. If you have any properties already you can collateralize them for using the down payment. 

Another option is seller financing. You don't technically need a down payment for seller financing. I would start looking up properties that are not owned by larger portfolios to see if you can find any "mom and pop" landlords that are entering retirement age. This will take a lot more work, but will most likely leave you with the most flexible options. Finding the 20+ units places would also give you a much better lay of the land. 

Just some thoughts!

Hey

First off, congrats for being in a place where you have so many options! 

Do you want to be the most profitable in the short term or the long term? 

1) Investing in rentals will produce cashflow more short-term. If you are wanting to supplement your income with rental income more immediately then I think this would be the way to go. Usually, when you invest in more cashflow markets you are not getting as much appreciation and rent doesn't go up as much over the long haul. You will also have to manage from afar, which isn't a bad thing, but it will probably be a bit harder to make sure you have the right team to make sure your investments don't become money pits. 

2) If you invest in a personal residence it will most likely appreciate more in the long-term especially in the Seattle market area. Just like Portland, that is much more of an appreciation market than a cash-flow market. You can then use the equity gained to then invest more in cash-flowing properties. This is going to be a longer-term play but the price of buying a home in Seattle will most likely never go down that significantly given the economic drivers. 

3) Why not do small multifamily and you use as a primary residence? There are usually lower down payment programs where you are able to leverage these low rates. The rents from the other units would count towards your DTI ratio and can usually increase how much you can be pre-approved with.

I hope this gives you a bit more to chew on. DM me if you want to chat any further!

Nice job Jacob! Not sure where this is at, but I'd also make sure to do an oil tank locate as well. That can be a 10k project. They are common with older homes here in the Portland Metro area. 

Congrats Stephen on this deal! What do you think are the things you wish your agent had let you know more about during the process?

A couple of other filters might be how much equity someone has so you could find some potential seller financing deals. You can also see if any of the homes are not "owner-occupied" with out-of-state owner addresses. 

Hey Azmat! I would take a look at your rental agreement and if it is a "standard" form there is usually language or procedures for dealing with these situations. Usually, it has keywords like "severely" and "jointly" are good words to search for in the lease agreement. In most cases, you would need to sign a new lease with just the party staying there and they would need to re-apply to have the rental. I would state what the rental requirements are and give them the options in writing. You can also check with your local landlord association as well if there are any particular rules/regulations your state/area have on situations like this.