Newbie from Seattle, Washington!

Involved In Real Estate · Bothell, WA · Member since 2015 · 15 posts · 2 votes

Hello All!

Detailed profile to come shortly, just wanted to register quickly to get started on this crazy cool site! My name is Darren and I'm a novice real estate investor, I recently became an agent to expand my network and knowledge base.

Between 1998 and 2009, I've done (3) flips, (1) new residential multi family construction, several small remodels and full water damage restorations. I also rented out my previous primary resident for 2 years before eventually selling.

My goal is to expand on my past experience to do 4-5 flip deals and aquire 1-2 rentals per year for the next 5 years. My long term goal is to become a hard money lender, continue to grow my brand while giving back to the community.

Look forward to the journey...

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Account Closed

Property Manager · Renton, WA · Member since 2014 · 81 posts · 20 votes

11y

Welcome to biggerpockets! Always good to hear from a fellow Washington resident. I'd love to hear the details on the new construction multi-family you did.

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Tim Holmes
Canton Ms. Tacoma Wa. · Member since 2014 · 117 posts · 39 votes
11y
Welcome Darren.
I'm just south of you in Tacoma and I agree, it is a crazy cool site.
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Darren Mills
OP
Involved In Real Estate · Bothell, WA · Member since 2015 · 15 posts · 2 votes
11y
@Tim, Hello and thanks to my south of I-5 neighbor! I would love to discuss potential opportunities in your area and of you're willing to come north to the city I'm eager to reciprocate.
D!
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George Calbert
FPO, AP · Member since 2015 · 120 posts · 19 votes
11y
Welcome to the site Darren. I have a rental in Poulsbo, but currently overseas with the Navy. Hope to talk some more. I agree this is a good site. Keep in touch
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Brian Tracy
Lakewood, WA · Member since 2014 · 14 posts · 4 votes
11y
Hey Darren--I'm from the local area as well. Total novice, but I'd love to buy you lunch and pick your brain if you ever find yourself down in the Tacoma area. I'm particularly interested in becoming an agent for the reasons you mentioned.
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Account Closed
Property Manager · Renton, WA · Member since 2014 · 81 posts · 20 votes
11y
Welcome to biggerpockets! Always good to hear from a fellow Washington resident. I'd love to hear the details on the new construction multi-family you did.
1 Reply
Michael B.
Investor · Seattle, WA · Member since 2014 · 33 posts · 4 votes
11y
Hi Darren,
Welcome to BP from another Washingtonian.
BP is a great resource with many generous individuals willing to share their expertise. Perhaps I'll see you out and about at various local REI events, too.
Cheers,
--Michael
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Dave VisayaPro Member
Moderator
Audio Engineer and Investor · Cebu City, Cebu · Member since 2013 · 7k+ posts · 881 votes
11y
Hey @Darren Mills welcome to the site! it's great to have you!
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Antonio Coleman
Specialist · Sibley, LA · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 190 votes
11y
Welcome @Darren Mills
Great to see another awesome investor come aboard the ship of success.
How is the weather up there in Washington?
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Aaron Ramm
Investor · Marysville, WA · Member since 2014 · 146 posts · 62 votes
11y
Hi @Darren Mills ! Welcome to Bigger Pockets from up north in Marysville!
Yes, this site is amazing! Don't forget to check out the podcast if you haven't already.
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Scott Price
Rental Property Investor · Coupeville, WA · Member since 2011 · 135 posts · 52 votes
11y
Hi @Darren Mills , great to have you onboard. It sounds like you aren't a total novice by any means, so be sure to build upon that good background. Onwards and upwards!
Best Regards,
Scott Price
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Michele FischerPro Member
Rental Property Investor · Seattle, WA · Member since 2013 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
11y
Hi, Darren, welcome from a few hours south. My daughter was recently accepted into UW Bothell as her second choice school, waiting to hear form first choice UW Seattle. When we toured UW Bothell with her, I was surprised at how nice it was.
Looks like you and others are struggling with tagging people. Type @ and the first letters of the userID. Watch the lower left hand corner for the name to pop up and click it.
MY best advice to get the most out of this crazy cool site is to post regularly. To help with that, set up key word alerts for topics and geographies that interest you. Cheers!
Podcast Guest on Show #79
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Philip E.
Investor · Washington, DC · Member since 2014 · 67 posts · 12 votes
11y
Welcome to BP @Darren Mills! ..... a "Novice real estate investor" seems to be an understatement of your experience!
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Darren Mills
OP
Involved In Real Estate · Bothell, WA · Member since 2015 · 15 posts · 2 votes
11y
Originally posted by @George Calbert:

Welcome to the site Darren. I have a rental in Poulsbo, but currently overseas with the Navy. Hope to talk some more. I agree this is a good site. Keep in touch
@George Calbert, thank you and look forward to hearing from you upon your return!
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Darren Mills
OP
Involved In Real Estate · Bothell, WA · Member since 2015 · 15 posts · 2 votes
11y
Originally posted by @George Calbert:
Welcome to the site Darren. I have a rental in Poulsbo, but currently overseas with the Navy. Hope to talk some more. I agree this is a good site. Keep in touch
@George Calbert, thank you and look forward to hearing from you upon your return!
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Darren Mills
OP
Involved In Real Estate · Bothell, WA · Member since 2015 · 15 posts · 2 votes
11y
Originally posted by @Brian Tracy:

Hey Darren--I'm from the local area as well. Total novice, but I'd love to buy you lunch and pick your brain if you ever find yourself down in the Tacoma area. I'm particularly interested in becoming an agent for the reasons you mentioned.
@Brian Tracy - I'm rarely in the Tacoma area, but if you find your self in Seattle or the Eastside feel free to give me a heads and we'll try to get together. I would be more than happy to answer any questions you may have about becoming an real estate agent in the state of Washington.
D!
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Darren Mills
OP
Involved In Real Estate · Bothell, WA · Member since 2015 · 15 posts · 2 votes
11y
Originally posted by @Account Closed:

Welcome to biggerpockets! Always good to hear from a fellow Washington resident. I'd love to hear the details on the new construction multi-family you did.
@Kevin S - thank you, I did the new construction SFR back in 2009 and lost money due to NOT having the right team and all of the required information/knowledge. However I'm taking that experience and using it to make another run at it with a new team for a project I'm doing in Alki beach area in West Seattle.
If you're interested in what NOT to do, feel free to reach out and I will re-live the night mare just for you..its good therapy for me - lol!
D!
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Darren Mills
OP
Involved In Real Estate · Bothell, WA · Member since 2015 · 15 posts · 2 votes
11y
Originally posted by @Michael B.:

Hi Darren,
Welcome to BP from another Washingtonian.
BP is a great resource with many generous individuals willing to share their expertise. Perhaps I'll see you out and about at various local REI events, too.
Cheers,
--Michael
@Micahel - thank you for the colleague request! Do you have any suggestions for good local REIA clubs?
D!
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Darren Mills
OP
Involved In Real Estate · Bothell, WA · Member since 2015 · 15 posts · 2 votes
11y
Originally posted by @Dave Visaya:

Hey @Darren Mills welcome to the site! it's great to have you!
@Dave - Thanks a lot! It's great to be here!
D!
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Chanté Owens
Insurance Agent · AZ · Member since 2013 · 306 posts · 161 votes
11y
@Darren Mills Welcome to the site! To say it's a wealth of information would be a gross understatement. You will learn plenty on this site, and I'm sure with your experience, you'll be able to provide all of us with insight too.
I belong to REIA of Washington. There is also REAPS as well; those are two of the bigger players, but there are some smaller RE investment types of groups throughout Washington State, just depending on your area.
By the way, I'd love to hear about your project in Alki Beach area. Is it going to be a Commercial Property?
Happy reading and podcast listening!
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Darren Mills
OP
Involved In Real Estate · Bothell, WA · Member since 2015 · 15 posts · 2 votes
11y
@Antonio Coleman, Thank you for welcoming me aboard! The weather here in Seattle has been nothing short of awesome for this time of year :) Just got back from snowboarding with my kids yesterday and nothing but Sun!
D!
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Darren Mills
OP
Involved In Real Estate · Bothell, WA · Member since 2015 · 15 posts · 2 votes
11y
@Scott Price - Yes, upward and onward!
D!
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Darren Mills
OP
Involved In Real Estate · Bothell, WA · Member since 2015 · 15 posts · 2 votes
11y
@Scott Price - Yes, upward and onward!
D!
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Darren Mills
OP
Involved In Real Estate · Bothell, WA · Member since 2015 · 15 posts · 2 votes
11y
@Michele Fischer Hi and thank you for the tips on how to respond to posts. What a small world, my son is currently a junior at the beautiful UW Bothell campus. If you didn't know they are taking over the rest of the campus from Cascadia CC within the next year or so. My daughter will be attending the main UW Seattle campus next year on a Track & Field scholarship.
Stay tuned as I will be posting more of my activities in the near future...at the chagrin of the grammar and typo police - lol!
D!
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Darren Mills
OP
Involved In Real Estate · Bothell, WA · Member since 2015 · 15 posts · 2 votes
11y
@Philip E. Hey Philip thank you! For many reasons (that I don't have time to explain here) I still consider myself a novice. That is one of the main reasons why I became a member of this great site!
D!
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Darren Mills
OP
Involved In Real Estate · Bothell, WA · Member since 2015 · 15 posts · 2 votes
11y
Originally posted by @Chanté Owens:

@Darren Mills Welcome to the site! To say it's a wealth of information would be a gross understatement. You will learn plenty on this site, and I'm sure with your experience, you'll be able to provide all of us with insight too.
I belong to REIA of Washington. There is also REAPS as well; those are two of the bigger players, but there are some smaller RE investment types of groups throughout Washington State, just depending on your area.
By the way, I'd love to hear about your project in Alki Beach area. Is it going to be a Commercial Property?
Happy reading and podcast listening!
@Chante' Owens Thank you and I will be posting more in the near future for sure! I will look up more information on these clubs and make a decision to join one asap - thank you for the leads!
My current project is (my wife and I dream home) a little over a year in the working. I purchased the lot (about a year ago) in West Seattle. Because the property is on a steep slope in an area the City of Seattle considers an ECA junction, it has taken about 6 months to get the approval to move forward. That process alone was enough to right a small book - coordinating between geo-technicians, city and structural engineers, architects, arborist, land surveyors and finally my GC!
I'm learning a lot and more importantly, I'm on a first name basis with all of the key players down at the City Planning department. We are now in the design process to submit for building permits...more to come.
D!
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