Looking to out of state inv from the Seattle Area

Buying & Selling Real Estate
6yFollow

Looking to out of state inv from the Seattle Area

Account Closed
WA · Member since 2020 · 7 posts · 4 votes

Evening and happy snow day Seattle,

I've completely caught the bug with real estate investing. I've been plowing through the bigger pockets books, listening to every podcast and I spend my nights going through every new house on the market that I can find.

I'm interested in purchasing a multi family in Detroit and I've picked one out that i'm interested in, but I'm not really sure where to go from here. 

I have:
13k in savings
10K in credit lines
12K in a family member "line of credit"
660-700 credit score depending on where I'm at with my credit card

This might be a silly question but do people just post a link to potential deal on here hoping to get some advice? 

Thanks!

1Reply
20 views

Most Popular Reply

Michael HaasBusiness Member
Real Estate Agent · Redmond, 🌧️ Seattle Investor-Agent | 🤑 Helped 400+ Clients Invest in Real Estate | 🏘️ Owns 23 WA Rentals & Airbnbs | 🏗️ Built 5 DADU's | 📈 You Can Do It Too · Member since 2016 · 724 posts · 3k+ votes
6y

Do you own your primary residence @Account Closed? $45k goes a heck-of-a-lot farther with a 3 - 5% down owner occupant loan than it does with a 20-25% down investment loan. If you don’t own your primary residence have you considered house hacking locally?

[email protected]408-439-7873
HouseHack Seattle | Michael Haas & Team572 Reviews
WebsiteView Page
7Reply
See this reply in the discussion

17 Replies

Jump to latestLatest
  • Travis Biziorek
    Investor · Arroyo Grande, CA · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    6y

    Send it to me, and I’ll go e you my thoughts. But with the cash you have, and have access to, it’s probably not enough for a MF here. 

    1Reply
  • Paul S.
    Member since 2019 · 248 posts · 248 votes
    6y

    So in total you have about 45k to work with... In Detroit you will lose that as fast as your post is old while I'm reading it - 44 min

    0Reply
  • Emilio Basa
    Wholesaler · Sterling Heights, MI · Member since 2014 · 335 posts · 105 votes
    6y

    @Christopher Garnett send it to me too. I’ll take a look. Gotta make sure you have a good boots on the ground here to take pics and video. Also reliable contractors. I use to wholesale in WA. Did some deals in Chehalis and Bellingham :)

    1Reply
  • Account Closed
    OP
    WA · Member since 2020 · 7 posts · 4 votes
    6y

    Sent

    0Reply
  • Michael HaasBusiness Member
    Real Estate Agent · Redmond, 🌧️ Seattle Investor-Agent | 🤑 Helped 400+ Clients Invest in Real Estate | 🏘️ Owns 23 WA Rentals & Airbnbs | 🏗️ Built 5 DADU's | 📈 You Can Do It Too · Member since 2016 · 724 posts · 3k+ votes
    6y

    Do you own your primary residence @Account Closed? $45k goes a heck-of-a-lot farther with a 3 - 5% down owner occupant loan than it does with a 20-25% down investment loan. If you don’t own your primary residence have you considered house hacking locally?

    [email protected]408-439-7873
    HouseHack Seattle | Michael Haas & Team572 Reviews
    WebsiteView Page
    7Reply
  • Account Closed
    OP
    WA · Member since 2020 · 7 posts · 4 votes
    6y

    @Michael Haas

    I sold my home as soon as the market got hot with the intention of purchasing a bigger house but we've found ourselves renting for the last year and a half now.

    I have a big family (7) and so I hadn't really given house hacking any thought.

    0Reply
  • Michael HaasBusiness Member
    Real Estate Agent · Redmond, 🌧️ Seattle Investor-Agent | 🤑 Helped 400+ Clients Invest in Real Estate | 🏘️ Owns 23 WA Rentals & Airbnbs | 🏗️ Built 5 DADU's | 📈 You Can Do It Too · Member since 2016 · 724 posts · 3k+ votes
    6y

    It’d be worth running the numbers on a large house with a walk-out basement that could be finished out for long or short term rental. I’d anticipate that if you look at the whole financial picture, and include rent savings, owner occupant interest rate savings, smaller downpayment, tax benefits of home ownership, and rental income from the basement then a Seattle house hack will likely perform nearly as well as a high-cashflow out of state property, with a lot less risk. 

    We got started via house hacking and have 6 rental properties in Seattle / King County now. Happy to grab a coffee with you and chat about that strategy a bit more- if your interested just PM me!

    [email protected]408-439-7873
    HouseHack Seattle | Michael Haas & Team572 Reviews
    WebsiteView Page
    4Reply
  • Avery CarlBusiness Member
    Real Estate Agent · USA · Member since 2016 · 909 posts · 1k+ votes
    6y

    Was this just a random deal you found online? When you're investing in real estate out of state, especially in an area like Detroit, you really need to have someone in that area who is familiar with all the areas and neighborhoods on a granular level helping you analyze. They will know about upcoming developments that might make one area a better place to invest than another, etc.

    Podcast Guest on Show How to Get More Airbnb Bookings This Spring and Summer Break
    0Reply
  • Patrick Britton
    Ann Arbor, MI · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 997 votes
    6y

    @Account Closed  while you might not have quite enough for Detroit, take it from a former resident of Washington State that there are still plenty of deals in Michigan that could offer greater return, but with less risk than Detroit.  

    Send me a PM and i'll tell you about a few cities that might be worth considering.  In fact, I know of two off-market MFRs that are very affordable given your current financial situation.  

    1Reply
  • Drew SygitBusiness Member
    Property Manager · Royal Oak, MI · Member since 2012 · 12k+ posts · 9k+ votes
    6y

    Travis is right, $35k isn't going to work. At best you may be able to buy something that's rundown, but you'll need funds to fix it. You also have to be very careful where you invest in Detroit. No one ever believes it's actually block-by-block until they visit! Detroit was built for 2 million people, less than 700k now - which means a lot of excess houses, which means a lot of bad neighborhoods. Another challenge is it's very difficult to get mortgages on Detroit properties.

    You may want to consider the Ring Cities around Detroit, which still offer great returns and allow for financing.

    [email protected]248-209-6824
    Logical Property Management4.9459 Reviews
    WebsiteView Page
    0Reply
  • Account Closed
    OP
    WA · Member since 2020 · 7 posts · 4 votes
    6y

    Such an absolute wealth of information in my inbox and on this post, thank you guys so much.

    Travis happens to have been inside of the property I was looking at and was able to advise me against. (or i'll see his name on the county records soon. Just kidding)

    I suppose the questions then is this:

    Where should I be looking at houses? I'm attempting to find the absolute least expensive bang for my buck possible. I'd like to visit Florida for extended visits (I'm a scuba diver, so Jupiter, west beach, Tallahassee) and could see myself doing the remodel myself over there, maybe that's a good option?

    1Reply
  • Travis Biziorek
    Investor · Arroyo Grande, CA · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    6y

    I didn't say $35k isn't enough. It can be.

    If you really wanted to own Detroit and only have $35k my suggestion would be to find a decent MLS listing that you can finance upfront (lots of these only take cash offers). Then expect to put $10k-$15k into it.

    So at a $40k-$50k purchase price with 25% down you're looking at $10k - $12.5k cash invested. Add another ~$2.5k for closing costs to be safe. So you're in for $12.5k-$15.k

    If you buy at the higher end of that range I think you're only putting in maybe $10k for rehab. The lower end and you're looking at $15k. So now your cash invested is $25k - $27.5k cash invested. 

    If you buy in a solid area and put that kind of cash into it, you should have no issues getting at least $900/mo on a SFH in Detroit.

    It's not the ideal way to do things IMO, because you are leaving a fair bit of cash in the deals. But it's a solid way to get start your portfolio and gain your experience. That's exactly how I did my first four.

    2Reply
  • Drew SygitBusiness Member
    Property Manager · Royal Oak, MI · Member since 2012 · 12k+ posts · 9k+ votes
    6y

    Travis, are you recommending getting a mortgage on a Detroit rental or a land contract?

    [email protected]248-209-6824
    Logical Property Management4.9459 Reviews
    WebsiteView Page
    0Reply
  • Travis Biziorek
    Investor · Arroyo Grande, CA · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    6y
    Originally posted by @Drew Sygit:

    Travis, are you recommending getting a mortgage on a Detroit rental or a land contract?

     For the record, I'm not recommending anything. But I was referring to financing via a conventional mortgage.

    Curious, what from that post would make you think I was referring to a LC?

    0Reply
  • Luke Sass
    Accountant · Battle Ground, WA · Member since 2018 · 91 posts · 48 votes
    6y

    @Christopher Garnett

    Curious why you picked Detroit? You have a network there? I invest out of state while living in WA but I do it in Minnesota. Decent cash flow much lower risk. 45k is tight but you could get your hands on a small MFR somewhere in the Midwest if your really inclined too. While you will get the cash flow out there you will miss out on Appreciation available out here on west coast. You might be surprised what house hacking a duplex in your area could do for you. Your returns might be significantly better house hacking when you account for your cost of living.

    0Reply
  • Drew SygitBusiness Member
    Property Manager · Royal Oak, MI · Member since 2012 · 12k+ posts · 9k+ votes
    6y

    Travis, can you please share with the thread what lenders will do loans on a Detroit rental property under $60k...

    [email protected]248-209-6824
    Logical Property Management4.9459 Reviews
    WebsiteView Page
    0Reply
  • Travis Biziorek
    Investor · Arroyo Grande, CA · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    6y
    Originally posted by @Drew Sygit:

    Travis, can you please share with the thread what lenders will do loans on a Detroit rental property under $60k...

    Almost all do, including Quicken Loans. Huntington Bank does for sure. I have a friend that uses them for all his. I have a specific contact at another lender that does all mine. Happy to share via DM. I think my post may get deleted if I share his contact info publicly here.

    0Reply
Join the conversationCreate a free account to reply, vote on answers and follow this thread.
Log InJoin for Free