New Guy in Snohomish County/North of Seattle

[Donavan O'Donnell]

Hi, I’m new to BiggerPockets. I’ve been listening to the podcast and I’m really interested in investing in Multi-family properties. I haven’t done any REI before, but I’m about to sell my home this summer (purchased in 2012) and should have a large chunk of cash to invest with. It’s hard to find a good Four-plex for less than $1 mil. I feel like it should be cheaper to buy a small piece of property and do new construction. Does anybody know of trustworthy contractor in the Snohomish County area? Or possibly Island County? My family and I are considering moving to Whidbey Island. The commute wouldn’t be so bad from my work(Boeing). Anything helps. Thanks.

[John Barrett]

Hi Donavan,

The only disadvantages to the 4plex currently is availability and pricing.  There are less of them on the market at the moment and as such the prices are up.  In general, more units is better.  Staying under 4 units allows you the best access to long term financing at attractive rates.  This is especially true if this is a house hacking situation.

The challenges generally fall into two main categories: financing & managing tenants.  From your post above it seems like you will have funds available from the sale of a property so down payment and financing shouldn't be an issue.  As for managing tenants, that will really depend on your personality, willingness to learn new things and comfort level holding people to the terms of the lease.

At the end of the day, this is all very doable.  If you are going to live in the property, I would just suggest that you follow the terms of your leases exactly and rather than tell tenants you are the owner, just introduce yourself as the property manager.    Both things will make managing your property simpler.