Looking for our first investment property in Seattle

[Katherine Marquez]

Hello BP members!

My husband and I are looking to invest in our first house hack in Seattle. He is active duty military and is stationed in Seattle until mid 2020. I figured it could be a good opportunity to find out first house hack, but I am not sure what areas are best for this since we don't know much about the area. One real estate agent mentioned Brementon, not sure about that for a good flow of renters. 

If anyone knows a seasoned real estate agent that can point us in the right direction that would be really appreciated. 

Thank you!

[Michael Haas]

Welcome to BP @Katherine Marquez! 

You're off to a great start as a new investor by focusing in on House Hacking- we house hacked our way to 3 properties in Seattle and have 5 now, and I can't think of a better way to learn the ropes and really boost your net worth and cash flow. 

I've had success with cashflow rentals in Seattle by getting off the beaten path- there are established investors bidding up the price (and therefore compressing the cap rate) on many small multi-families, but those same investors are not going after large 6-9 bedrooms SFHs that you can rent by the room to young professionals and college students. They aren't always looking at split levels and unfinished basements that work so well for house hacks. Most are also are not establishing STRs, especially now that Seattle regulations limit most families to just 1 Airbnb/STR outside their primary residence.

I'm biased towards South-Central Seattle as we've had such personal success here, but Bremerton, Tacoma, and Shoreline are also great suggestions. Good luck and feel free to ping me with any extra questions you have!