Time to sell my fourplex in Leavenworth?

[Anna Decker]

Hello, I’m trying to decide whether this is the time to sell our fourplex in the cute tourist town of Leavenworth, Washington state.  

We own it free and clear.  It’s a block from downtown, a prime, high-demand, walkable location for renters who work in town.   It’s always been easy to find good tenants. The units are small but comfortable (1bd, 1ba, 480sf) and have all had interior renovations in the past 4 years.  It is only permitted as a long-term rental.  Short-term is not allowed, unless *maybe* the owner lived in one of the units.

We’re considering selling for a couple of reasons.  We’d like to use some cash for some other projects.  Also, the fourplex is an older building (about 85 years old).  We have fixed the larger maintenance/repair issues, and have also added many upgrades, but at this point in life, we want investment properties that are very low maintenance and predictable.

It would be a great investment for someone who wanted to buy into the desirable Leavenworth market and immediately earn steady income, or who wanted to live in one unit and rent out the other three, and was comfortable with the maintenance on an older building.

The units currently rent for $950, $850, $1,400, and $1,600.  The first two are below market as one tenant is a friend and the other has been there several years and is a good renter.  I’m not sure what the market value of the property is.  Multi-unit properties are rare here, so it’s not easy to get comps.  I’m guessing it’s worth between $800-$900k.

My questions are:

Is this a good time to sell a property like this?  We could wait until spring.

How would you reinvest the cash? After funding our other projects, there will be a lot of cash left over. I'd be interested in buying a newer duplex or triplex in a nearby larger town perhaps. My husband and I are risk-averse and like having positive cash flow and a low DTI. We're not too keen on more debt at today's interest rates. But looking for more input/ideas.

Thanks!

[Robert Kurka]

Hi, I am a local Broker and investor in the greater Seattle area. The value of owning real estate in greater Seattle is in the appreciation and depression. You get close to 7-10 % appreciation a year in western Washington, You also get 3.63% depreciation a year saving on your W2 income. The longer you hold it the more you make.   

I think a 4 plex has a tremendous amount of value when you look at a STR or MTR models. Turning all the units into STR rentals or MTR rentals will maximize cash flow.

So you have to ask yourself, What is my interest rate? What is my cash flow? What's my appreciation over 5 years and what's my Depreciation over 5 years? When you run a 5-rear performance plan am I making money? Do you like being a landlord? 

If you making money but hate managing it then it might be time to look at a property management company. If you are losing money over 5 your performance plan then it might be time to look at other creative ways to increase cash flow or get out. 

If you're looking to sell to expand your portfolio and use your equity for an 8-15 unit apartment building then it is definitely worth looking at selling, a 1031 exchange is the method for that.

Let me know if you have any questions and would love to connect