New to Washington state, need to build a team

New to Washington state, need to build a team

General Contractor · Maple Falls, WA · Member since 2014 · 27 posts · 6 votes

My wife and I just moved from Maryland about 3 weeks ago. Finally settled in enough to start thinking of what we are going to do here. We have a plan, but it is simple in its most elaborate form. I have been a member of BP for close to a year now and I know it is a valuable resource. I need to buckle down and put together a team. I myself, have worked in the construction trade for the past 42 years, the last 22 years of that, supervising the construction of multimillion dollar homes in the Washington DC area. In the past year I left that job to go on my own until our home sold, which that was starting to take off pretty good, then the house sold and here we are.

Reading on the forums here at BP, I found that in WA, a contractors license is need to flip homes or collaborate with a builder to get past that, or rent for a year. All which are options  that could work. We moved to the Deming area, looking to deal in the Bellingham area, and areas north and south of Bellingham.

The team member I feel I need are the builder to partner with or a variation of. I have one realtor to work with and her resources for title work. I also have another in mind that I just met again from a prior visit to WA, who tells me that he used to flip houses too. I hope he will be my mentor. I also know hope will only go so far. Funding is also taken care of, besides I have another newbie, my cousin, willing to invest in what I have in mind.

Thanks in advance for any advice you guys can impart. I am willing to go meet with anybody who would be willing to meet with me. I come to you. I will go from Blaine to Everette.

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Real Estate Investor · Burien, WA · Member since 2014 · 286 posts · 98 votes
11y

Hi John, welcome to the Pacific Northwest. Wow, you sure have come a long way.. What made you decide on Washington?

I think you have airway background in construction and should be able to put that to great use.. ( your unfair advantage, as they say:). As far as the contractor license . It's easy to get here. All you need to do is get bonded and insured and go down and pay for the lisence. It's one of the easiest licenses to get in this state, which I find surprising.

As far as a team, you may want to introduce yourself to Patrick Britton. he is a RE Loan specialist and wholesaler up in Blaine. He may be able to help you a lot . 

I'm down in Burien which is 15 south of Seattle by the airport, if you are ever in the area let me know.

See you around the site

Happy Holidays 

Kevin Carbon

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  • Specialist · Rockland, MA · Member since 2010 · 7k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    11y

    @John Crandell 

    Welcome. Fill in the foundation below.

    Check out the Start Here page http://www.biggerpockets.com/starthere

    Locate and attend 3 different local REIA club meetings great place to meet people gather resources and info. Here you will meet wholesalers who provide deals and rehabbers.

    Two Great reads, I bought both J. Scott The Book on Flipping Houses, The Book on Estimating ReHab Costs http://www.biggerpockets.com/flippingbook

    You might consider Niche or Specialized Housing like student housing. Rents can be 2-4 times more. Remember you don't have to own a property to control it.

    To find out about an area go to IREM.org search for ARM certified property managers. Call 5 ask them what parts of the city they like/dislike and why. Ask them what they see expenses running per category per unit. What do they see them selling for per unit, what is the market occupancy rate. What are the market rents? Ask them if they know anything coming up for sale. Great way to pick up some good info and possibly a deal.

    Download BP’s newest book here some good due diligence in Chapter 10. Real Estate Rewind Starting over

    http://www.biggerpockets.com/files/user/brandonatbp/file/real-estate-rewind-a-biggerpockets-community-book

    Good Luck

    Paul

  • General Contractor · Maple Falls, WA · Member since 2014 · 27 posts · 6 votes
    11y

    Thanks a bunch for the info, a lot of good stuff there. I already have a bit of it under my belt.

    The foundational stuff on the webpage you linked, I have some of the basics done, a plus membership, although it seems I need to upgrade it to a pro. I have read the Ultimate Beginners Guide, did that while in MD. Time was tight there and I was struggling to keep the bills paid. I bought the 2 books you mentioned, and now that I am in a make or break situation, I need to find them (they are still among the other books that are packed up somewhere) and read them. I have read a vast amount of other articles on the subject of flipping, starting a business, anything I can find online on the subject that falls inline with BP's and my standards.

    My wife and I brought funding with us and want to start small, first time home buyers, is what we have in mind. The student housing you mentioned sounds like it could be a nice fit for rentals? After we get some experience under us, we wish to get into the buy and hold for rentals, but only after we get a decent income stream started, Lord willing. For now we have taken up residence in a rental near our target area of Bellingham to get a real time feel for the area.

    I did not follow what you mean about the rents being 2-4 times more, nor the not needing to own a property to control it?

    I can only find one REIA in the Bellingham area, I am sure there are others but when I tried to call the only other one I could find, the number was a non working number. There are loads in the Seattle area, a two hour, one way drive from our home. Bellevue is about an hour and a half, I might need to go there...

    The IREM.org search sounds like it will be an valuable tool to determining where the best places to buy are at, crucial info at the least. Thanks for that!

    I downloaded the last book you linked to and put it on my OneDrive So I can read it on any of my devices, THIS looks like a great one to read.

  • Real Estate Investor · Burien, WA · Member since 2014 · 286 posts · 98 votes
    11y

    Hi John, welcome to the Pacific Northwest. Wow, you sure have come a long way.. What made you decide on Washington?

    I think you have airway background in construction and should be able to put that to great use.. ( your unfair advantage, as they say:). As far as the contractor license . It's easy to get here. All you need to do is get bonded and insured and go down and pay for the lisence. It's one of the easiest licenses to get in this state, which I find surprising.

    As far as a team, you may want to introduce yourself to Patrick Britton. he is a RE Loan specialist and wholesaler up in Blaine. He may be able to help you a lot . 

    I'm down in Burien which is 15 south of Seattle by the airport, if you are ever in the area let me know.

    See you around the site

    Happy Holidays 

    Kevin Carbon

  • Jonna WeberPro Member
    Moderator
    Investor · Boise, ID · Member since 2011 · 1k+ posts · 736 votes
    11y

    @John Crandell  - welcome to the great Northwest! I am sure you your team will grow quickly through reaching out through BP and your local meet ups.  

  • Ann Arbor, MI · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 997 votes
    11y

    @Kevin C. 

    hey thanks for the mention :) and yes, we have connected and intend to meet very soon.

  • General Contractor · Maple Falls, WA · Member since 2014 · 27 posts · 6 votes
    11y

    @ Kevin, thanks for the heads up about Patrick. As you see, he already responded to your mention. Looking forward to catching up with you too Patrick.

    Washington? My wife has family here, a great family, and they include me as part of it, which humbles me...the other reason, to get set up for retirement, I felt the chance had to be taken to step out in faith and do something that I always felt led to get into, real estate. My talents as a builder, I felt, was a good way to get a head start in the fixing up homes that needed TLC and selling the house as an improvement to the community. What I was working at in MD was "just the grind", getting nowhere for retirement. A supervisor of 22 years, with no retirement benefits.

    @ Joanna, thanks for the confidence boost, I can sure use it in these times...

    @ Patrick, love the quote by Yoda, even for a fictional character, it holds much truth.

  • Michele FischerPro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Seattle, WA · Member since 2013 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    11y

    John, welcome to BiggerPockets from another Washingtonian!  Heading north for Christmas, we've vacation rented a house near Warm Beach for a few days to be closer to family festivities.  But still not as north as you.  Looks like Deming is kind of rural, I'm investing in a smaller town.

    Looks like you are having trouble tagging people in your posts, so they may not be seeing that you are trying to keep the conversation going.  The functionality is a bit twitchy, but try this: Type @ and a few letters of the name you want to tag, no spaces.  Look at the bottom left of the screen.  When a name pops up, click on it.

    Enjoy this fantastic site!

  • Bellingham, WA · Member since 2013 · 2 posts · 0 votes
    11y

    John, Sean Tamman here. I too am a local REI looking to network with like minded individuals. Let's connect. I have the start of an amazing team getting put together, and the fact that I will be moving to Everson next month, which is really close to you, might be easy to get together and network. It just so happens the other member to this team I am trying to put together lives in Deming as well. We have everything we need to get going...except for funding. So the 3rd person to the team that were looking to add would hopefully add some funding to the mix, and then were good to go forward. Get ahold of me. Anyone in REI in Washington state, I am Always willing to work together, network, and do deal's together

  • Seattle, WA · Member since 2015 · 500 posts · 243 votes
    11y

    @John Crandell - Hi John and welcome to the Pacific Northwest! I hope you and your family enjoy it here, I know I certainly love my state. I would recommend getting in touch with @Timothy Daniels. He operates out of that general area and was a former GC and builder himself, he may be able to help out with your needs, although I believe he is primarily interested in commercial real estate at the moment.

    I also believe that @Doug N. is an Everett-based investor, I believe he's a little more analysis and data oriented though.

  • Mike SumskyPro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Bremerton, WA · Member since 2012 · 116 posts · 61 votes
    11y

    @John Crandell, good news regarding the contractor registration.  That law was just amended last week.  You can flip homes in WA without being a licensed GC as long as you use a licensed GC to do the work and don't superintend.

    http://app.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?year=2...

    "A person, firm, corporation, or other entity is not a contractor under this subsection (1)(c) if the person, firm, corporation, or other entity contracts with a registered general contractor and does not superintend the work."

  • General Contractor · Maple Falls, WA · Member since 2014 · 27 posts · 6 votes
    11y

    @Michele Fischer, Thanks for the tip, it works !!! Sorry I did not see the post sooner.

    @Sean Tamman, Sent a connect request, still need to build a bigger team, I have realtors looking out for me, I have the ok from 2 hard money lenders to get a contract together since I sent them my particulars. Funds have gotten tighter since I last posted to this forum, deposit money is tight for a construction/rehab loan. Still have so much to learn about the financing end of the business.

    @Alex Chin, Thanks for the welcome and the contacts

    @Mike Sumsky, I am cool with the contractor license,  I have been in the trade since 1972 and a supervisor for about half of those years, it will help I believe to keep it up. I use it already for income working on  individuals homes, until the right place comes along. Seen a lot go by, missed a few, funding, or the lack of it does not help. So far I can get a loan to purchase, no prob, the loan amount will not include the rehab cost, that's the problem to date. Construction loans get past that, but the deposit is 25%, another problem...

  • Flipper/Rehabber · WASHINGTON State · Member since 2015 · 179 posts · 67 votes
    11y

    @John Crandell Welcome to the Pacific Northwest!

    We are NORTHWEST Structural Renovations 

    We are rated in the top 5% of 128.670 contractors in Washington State.

    We service Washington and parts of Oregon for fix and flip properties.

    Let me know if there is anything we can do for you.

    NORTHWEST Structural Renovations

    Matt Gragg

  • General Contractor · Maple Falls, WA · Member since 2014 · 27 posts · 6 votes
    11y

    @Matt Gragg, thanks for the offer to help, I could possibly use your company's services, since I am a one man show for now. For now I am grounded like so many others because of finances. I can get the loan, but the deposit for the construction loan is out of my league, so to speak. So I have been looking for a private money lender, but the pace is slow. I been meaning to put word out on BP that I am looking to partner up with an individual, so I guess this is first notice. I will place a separate post for it as well.

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