Newbie Investor In Seattle Area!

[Mark Watkins]

Hello BP Community,

My name is Mark and I am a recent graduate from Washington State University. I currently work a full-time job that pays well and often allows me days off during the week where I have had time to learn more about Real Estate (often Tues, Thurs, Fri and always weekends). With this time I want to begin investing my time and money into building a real estate portfolio for my future.

I am excited about getting started and will be reading and listening to podcasts as much as possible in the mean time.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Mark Watkins (Greater Seattle Area)

[Michael Haas]

@Mark Watkins Townhomes and SFH's look pretty similar - there's just less long-term upside on a townhome as you have less land, and doing a lot split or addition typically isn't an option. With SFH's and all the up-zoning happening in Seattle you may be able to build additional units on your lot as prices continue to rise and the ROI for those kind of activities increases.

Condo's, as lower priced assets, tend to be more volatile - they'll get hit harder during recessions and often rise higher during booms. I'd steer clear though, I run the numbers on Condo's for clients all the time and am almost never pleased with their performance as rentals. 

As an owner-occupant, a single family house hack / basement ADU would get you a better CAP rate than a Multifamily in our market so that's another option.

You mentioned not knowing if you have enough Cash for a down payment - have you looked into different loan products? For an owner occupied multifamily going 3.5% down with an FHA loan is a no brainer. You're looking at $400-$850 k for that multifamily in the south end, or $700-$1,200k for one in the north end, so you can do that math by multiplying that by 3.5% plus some extra for closing costs.

PM me if you have more questions! We invest in the south end (5 properties) because it just makes more financial sense, but there are definitely ways to make it happen in the north end as well if work and friends have you anchored up there. Cheers!