Good areas invest in Greater Seattle area

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Good areas invest in Greater Seattle area

Jay Dhanak
Member since 2024 · 9 posts · 15 votes

Hi all,

I am relatively new to Seattle and would like to expand my Real Estate investment portfolio here. Could you please recommend areas for potential investment opportunity in today's market? Primarily, I am interested in BRRRR strategy so would be interested for value add/forced appreciation opportunity.

Thanks in advance!

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Matthew Kwan
Lender · Seattle, WA · Member since 2022 · 482 posts · 768 votes
2y

HI Jay, 

I am an investor and lender in the Seattle area as well. It depends what you are trying to achieve in your real estate investing strategy right? If you are looking for cashflow opportunities + add more value, houses in the South are the area you should focus. If you want more residential and stepping away from the tenant law of King County, perhaps you can focus Snohomish county like Edmond/Lynwood/Everett etc. As for high appreciation, that would be on the east side of Seattle. Neighborhoods like Bellevue/Kirkland/Medina/Redmond.

@Carlos Valencia @Albert Bui

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  • Preston DeanBusiness Member
    Realtor · Fort Worth, TX · Member since 2021 · 779 posts · 368 votes
    2y

    @Jay Dhanak

    I would recommend using this website to find out areas you are interested. 

    https://www.areavibes.com/Here is my rating & classification for each livability score.

    80 and above A+
    78/79 A
    76/77 A-
    74/75 B+
    72/73 B
    70/71 B-
    68/69 C+
    66/67 C
    64/65 C-
    60/63 D
    59 and below F


    Secondly, 

    I would recommend connecting with an investor friendly real estate agent. One thing to remember when you are getting into RE investing is to have your team of people or as Brandon Turner from the Bigger Pockets Podcast calls it your CORE 4

    1. Your contractor

    2. Your deal finder (agent/wholesaler)

    3. Your property manager

    4. Your Lender

    My suggestion to find #2 & #4 would be to go to the top of this page and click on FIND AN AGENT & FIND A LENDER. There you will be asked your criteria and then after answering a few questions you will be matched with 3-5 agents or loan officers in your area. My suggestion would be to select someone with the most forum posts or most reviews. That way you know they are active in the BP community!

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    2Reply
  • Brie Groves
    Realtor · Seattle, WA · Member since 2020 · 36 posts · 19 votes
    2y
    Hi Jay,

    Welcome to Seattle! This is a pretty broad question and really depends on knowing your budget/price point before being able to recommend the best areas to focus on!

    ~Brie Groves

    Quote from @Jay Dhanak:

    Hi all,

    I am relatively new to Seattle and would like to expand my Real Estate investment portfolio here. Could you please recommend areas for potential investment opportunity in today's market? Primarily, I am interested in BRRRR strategy so would be interested for value add/forced appreciation opportunity.

    Thanks in advance!

    2Reply
  • Jay Dhanak
    OP
    Member since 2024 · 9 posts · 15 votes
    2y
    Quote from @Preston Dean:

    @Jay Dhanak

    I would recommend using this website to find out areas you are interested. 

    https://www.areavibes.com/Here is my rating & classification for each livability score.

    80 and above A+
    78/79 A
    76/77 A-
    74/75 B+
    72/73 B
    70/71 B-
    68/69 C+
    66/67 C
    64/65 C-
    60/63 D
    59 and below F


    Secondly, 

    I would recommend connecting with an investor friendly real estate agent. One thing to remember when you are getting into RE investing is to have your team of people or as Brandon Turner from the Bigger Pockets Podcast calls it your CORE 4

    1. Your contractor

    2. Your deal finder (agent/wholesaler)

    3. Your property manager

    4. Your Lender

    My suggestion to find #2 & #4 would be to go to the top of this page and click on FIND AN AGENT & FIND A LENDER. There you will be asked your criteria and then after answering a few questions you will be matched with 3-5 agents or loan officers in your area. My suggestion would be to select someone with the most forum posts or most reviews. That way you know they are active in the BP community!


     Thanks Dean for the suggestion! I will surely look into it.

    0Reply
  • Jay Dhanak
    OP
    Member since 2024 · 9 posts · 15 votes
    2y

    Thanks Brie for the response. Yes, you are right. Below is my high level numbers -

    Property cost: 500k - 600k, Rehab cost - 100k - 150k, so total project cost: 600k - 750k.

    Please let me know your thoughts. Thanks.

    0Reply
  • Liam Maher
    Miami, FL · Member since 2022 · 60 posts · 39 votes
    2y

    Hi Jay, here's a heatmap for Seattle that looks at every neighborhood and ranks it from A to D using around 30 data points, like Median income, population growth, employment stats, appreciation etc.

    2Reply
  • Matthew Kwan
    Lender · Seattle, WA · Member since 2022 · 482 posts · 768 votes
    2y

    HI Jay, 

    I am an investor and lender in the Seattle area as well. It depends what you are trying to achieve in your real estate investing strategy right? If you are looking for cashflow opportunities + add more value, houses in the South are the area you should focus. If you want more residential and stepping away from the tenant law of King County, perhaps you can focus Snohomish county like Edmond/Lynwood/Everett etc. As for high appreciation, that would be on the east side of Seattle. Neighborhoods like Bellevue/Kirkland/Medina/Redmond.

    @Carlos Valencia @Albert Bui

    2Reply
  • Henry T.
    Member since 2022 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    2y

    Hi Jay, if your going to do a BRRRR stragegy, you'll need to remove "rent" from that equation. A bad renter in Seattle and you'll go down the toilet. Here's some recent Bellevue news for you. Seattle, forget about it.

    https://komonews.com/news/local/bellevue-eviction-case-king-...

    1Reply
  • Jay Dhanak
    OP
    Member since 2024 · 9 posts · 15 votes
    2y
    Quote from @Henry T.:

    Hi Jay, if your going to do a BRRRR stragegy, you'll need to remove "rent" from that equation. A bad renter in Seattle and you'll go down the toilet. Here's some recent Bellevue news for you. Seattle, forget about it.

    https://komonews.com/news/local/bellevue-eviction-case-king-...


     Thanks Henry for sharing it. I will surely look into it. But if no rent, what do you suggest? Just sell it?

    0Reply
  • Henry T.
    Member since 2022 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    2y
    Quote from @Jay Dhanak:
    Quote from @Henry T.:

    Hi Jay, if your going to do a BRRRR stragegy, you'll need to remove "rent" from that equation. A bad renter in Seattle and you'll go down the toilet. Here's some recent Bellevue news for you. Seattle, forget about it.

    https://komonews.com/news/local/bellevue-eviction-case-king-...


     Thanks Henry for sharing it. I will surely look into it. But if no rent, what do you suggest? Just sell it?


     YES.

    0Reply
  • Cassandra Lopez
    Real Estate Broker · 3888 NW Randall Way Ste. 100 Silverdale, WA 98383 · Member since 2022 · 16 posts · 11 votes
    2y

    Hi Jay!

    Consider Bremerton and Kitsap County areas! More affordable homes, rents are still high, and our rental market is super robust. I live and invest here, and I love it.

    Give me a call or message or email and we can chat about what you're looking for. 

    1Reply
  • Isabella Johnstun
    Member since 2023 · 4 posts · 2 votes
    2y

    Hi Jay!

    I've grown up in the Edmonds area my whole life and am now looking to invest around here. My criteria is actually similar to yours:

    Purchase Price: $450k-$600k

    Rehab cost: $100k - $200k

    My partner, Jake, and I have experience in construction and want to put in sweat equity, but need capital to execute our strategy. If you're interested in connecting, please reach out! We'd love to have a conversation about investing goals. 

    0Reply
  • Joseph Bui
    Lender · Nationwide · Member since 2023 · 362 posts · 237 votes
    2y

    Hi Jay, I also live in the Seattle area, but I choose not to invest there. The numbers just don't make sense to me. I, instead, invest in midwest markets (Memphis and Detroit), mostly doing BRRRR style purchases. Happy to connect and share what I'm seeing in other markets.

    1Reply
  • Dave Skow
    Lender · Seattle, WA · Member since 2014 · 2k+ posts · 899 votes
    2y

    @Jay Dhanak- thanks and welcone to the PNW - you will liekly need to look on the  edges of  Snoh / Pierce  counties to  find something that  works .  If you havent already -  1) get pre approved  ( assuming you need finnacing  2) forge a realtionship with a realtor that understands the need you have 

    0Reply
  • Sarah Reece
    Member since 2024 · 18 posts · 8 votes
    2y

    @Jay Dhanak - I'm in Edmonds and have been doing proformas all week on investing "locally" versus out of state at aprox. the same price points. I'm looking at north Snohomish county to make it work...but not going further north than marysville/east out to Sultan due to commute times. I'm assuming low cash flow for the first few years, but stronger appreciation in those areas. I would also recccomend looking into the passing of the ADU/DADU (Bill 1337) that is really changing what can be done on properties closer in to urban areas. I'm looking in Everett, Edmonds, Lynnwood, Mt Lake Terrace for those (Everett has already adopted new rules pertaining to the bill, the others are slow rolling a bit and most brokers don't know yet how it will impact value).

    1Reply
  • Wale LawalBusiness Member
    Real Estate Broker · Houston | Dallas | Austin, TX · Member since 2018 · 5k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    2y

    @Jay Dhanak

    Seattle's ‘BRRRR' strategy, which stands for Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat, and it's an interesting approach to investing in real estate. West Seattle mixes residential properties, whereas Columbia City boasts old houses as well as multi-unit houses for sale at renovating prices. Beacon Hill is well-known for having many types of housing units available within it, while Rainier Valley serves as one great place in terms of centrality and preferably affordability. South Lake Union has been identified with commercial development despite there being those residential houses suitable as per BRRRR model. To evaluate investment opportunities, consider factors like property condition, neighborhood trends, rental demand, and potential appreciation. Work with local real estate agents and managers for valuable insights and support.

    Good luck!

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  • Logan Moir
    Investor · Bremerton, WA · Member since 2018 · 24 posts · 17 votes
    2y

    Hi Jay, Bremerton, Burien, Delridge, Snohomish, Columbia City, Rainier Valley, Beacon Hill, and Everett all have the lower prices with good opportunity to BRRRR. Pretty much anything outside the Seattle core metro.

    I started investing across the Puget Sound in Kitsap County (Bremerton) with a BRRRR duplex. There are still plenty of older, small multifamily properties with lots of value-add opportunity there. Some can cashflow at today's 7% interest, most can easily cashflow after a 5% refinance. If you're interested in low-income housing, Kitsap County gets to charge rates similar to the Seattle market while costing half as much.

    If you're interested in more than cosmetic value add, you can do some construction/development to take advantage of EHB 1337. Here's a write up I made for it. If you're looking to build before EHB 1337 takes effect, check out this spreadsheet to identify which jurisdictions are friendly.

    2Reply
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