All Forum Posts by: Trevor Ramos

I need to find a house hack friendly CPA to help me make sure I’m budgeting my rehab properly so I can make the right tax deductions for 2020.

Any suggestions? Preferably in the South Seattle region.

@Jason Chung

Let me preface everything by saying I am definitely not an expert on commercial real estate or the impacts that has on residential property values, and am completely speculating everything I say based on context clues and general public information.

Re: Amazon moving employees. It’s been well known for 2-3 years that they are planning on taking over the Bellevue Expedia building so if they are looking to move employees to avoid head tax imposed by the City of Seattle, there’s their loophole. However that building can only really fit 4500 employees.

REI planned on opening their new campus in Bellevue Spring District in 2020, but COVID took a huge toll on REI's business and they are now forced to give up some of their campus, which Facebook is supposed to buy or lease (I believe)

Microsoft has been planning a new $5+ billion campus but recently announced that they are going to allow all of their employees continue flexible work from home options indefinitely, so they probably will have unused office buildings up for grabs as well as their existing campus... who knows what will happen there.

Expansion will continue on the east side for big businesses that want to take advantage of the tech talent both north and south of I-90 (especially now that people are moving out to the suburbs). But overall I highly doubt this will cause any stagnation in the Seattle side. It will be easier for the big businesses to buy their way around the political system every 4 years than to up and move company headquarters to avoid some tax

I’m in Des Moines and also very interested in joining a South Seattle meetup. Whatever venue and date gets determined I will be sure to fit it in.

@Salman Paracha

My wife and I went through the same thing all summer. We landed on mother-in-law suites being the best option for us given we have a family and don’t want strangers living with us.

We ended up getting a SFH that is a 3/1.75 upstairs and 2/1 downstairs that has space to add a kitchen area downstairs and are currently going through the remodel planning so we can rent and stabilize.

If you're going to go that route make sure you are looking at properties that have plumbing, electrical and drainage all close to where you need to add your extra sink/stove and obviously check the ADU or AADU laws in your city and find properties that can match that.

Here's some helpful terms for searches that we used to find properties with potential properties on MLS:

MIL, mother-in-law, in-law, suite, 2nd kitchen, 2 kitchens, separate entrance, separate living, multi-generational, multi generational

@Natan Gutt find a property where the owner has it already paid off free and clear then ask about a seller-financed deal then you can negotiate whatever down payment you can get away with.

@Dashiel C Neimark

Your logic is solid. I work in the IT consulting/staffing industry so I can see IT projects across various industries so I can attest that yes, wfh is becoming the new norm for companies in Seattle and there’s trends to show it will be around for the long haul post-COVID.

I second what the others have mentioned. The light rail expansion is supposed to be done in the next 4 years and will make better commutes for people who live in the South King County region.

If you are looking to focus on SFH in general that are less than 20 years old, good luck finding that. Let alone one that is a cash flowing deal. In my recent searches I've found tons of 3-4 br properties that are along that I-5 corridor/Light Rail expansion plan that were built in the 50s-70s for less than 500k that need some light rehabbing/updating.

I found a great property that has old galvanized plumbing throughout the entire house which I am definitely prioritizing to replace immediately after closing. How much should I expect to replace it with PEX piping or something similar? And is it something that can be done in a weekend?

Obviously looking to have a professional plumber do it for me. House is 3000 sq ft. 3 bathrooms, all rooms with plumbing are in close range of each other.

@Brian Hughes

Thanks for the advice! So do you recommend I reach out to an architect with ADU experience now before I find a property and clear my plan with them? Or do I need to wait until I close to do that?

Also thanks for the advice on the 2nd water heater, that’s a good thing to consider. As far as utilities go we’re just going to include it in the rent. It will be a 1-2 br below us so it probably won’t be ridiculously high, so we will have a flat fee included with rent and I’ll eat the cost if it goes over (at least for the first tenant).

Des Moines is actually the area we live in now and we love it! I checked out that duplex a few weeks ago with the same thought in mind, but it was so disgusting I couldn’t even imagine how people live there now. It’s definitely a great location so a great property for someone to flip but not what we’re looking for at this time. Maybe later on once I actually know what I’m doing and have the capital to take on a project of that magnitude.

I’m finally ready to tell the leap and buy a house, but because I live in an expensive Greater Seattle Area market, a mortgage on a quality home will consume a large chunk of my income. I’m looking for a creative house-hack to kickstart our real-estate journey.

My wife and I have a child in elementary school so we don't want to share our living quarters with strangers, and most multi-family properties here are either way over our budget or less quality of living than we'd prefer. With that being said, our compromise is to find a house with an ADU or mother-in-law apartment in the basement that can be rented to offset a large chunk of the mortgage.

We’re currently pre-approved and have been looking at properties that are matching our criteria. On some of the good properties they are already built in, these are less common but still out there. However, others are good houses that need to add the 2nd kitchen downstairs and a 2nd washer/dryer hookup somewhere else in the house so we can execute our strategy. When dealing with the latter we are looking for houses with basements with conforming room(s) and a separate entrance, with plumbing easily accessible to add the kitchen sink and extra spots on the electrical panel for more appliances.

My questions are related to the ‘adding the amenities to an existing basement’ houses.

1. I’m anticipating ~10-12k for the costs to add kitchen/laundry... Does that sound about right?

2. What permits do I need to have? ADU? Plumbing and electrical? Does the contractor I choose help me with that or do I do it on my own and bring it to them?

3. What kind of preliminary work can I do before I close on a property? I would like to get it built shortly after closing and move in/rent ASAP.

4. Anything else I’m not thinking of?

I would love to connect with people who have worked through the ADU process in the Seattle or King County area. Any information helps!

Very new to the idea of real estate investing. Feel free to connect with me! Trying to build a network of professionals in the Greater Seattle/King County area. Any local meetup groups you suggest? Down to talk strategies in the area? Drop me a line.