Located in Bellingham, WA. Working on building passive cashflow.

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Located in Bellingham, WA. Working on building passive cashflow.

Paul Doty
Bellingham, WA · Member since 2018 · 80 posts · 26 votes

Hello good people of Bigger Pockets!

My name is Paul. I've been interested in real estate investing for while now. I've been learning as much as possible in the last year while I work on a first deal.

I have a general investing style and strategy chosen, now it's time to execute. I'm interested in investments which provide reasonably high cashflow and have an ability to scale. BRRRR(R?) investing in single-family and small multifamily to start, with an open mind for whatever else may come along. Most markets I watch are long-distance from where I live. Housing pricing to rent ratios aren't so favorable where I live for this kind of investing.

A little about me aside from investing; I'm an analyst for a consumer packaged goods company (spreadsheets, statistical analysis, market studies and economic trends are my daily routine.) I enjoy motorcycles, mountain bikes, camping, fishing, good food and travel. I live in the PNW with my wonderful girlfriend and our two pet rabbits: Miss Rabby and Bear.

It's good to be here (and finally posting). I look forward to meeting and discussing real estate!

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Emmett Bond
Investor · Bellingham, WA · Member since 2019 · 16 posts · 3 votes
6y

Hey Paul, what type of deal sizes are you typically looking for? I don’t have any deals myself but as a fellow investor and interested in connecting with other multifamily investors in B ham and Whatcom County in general. 

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  • Emmett Bond
    Investor · Bellingham, WA · Member since 2019 · 16 posts · 3 votes
    6y

    Hi @Paul Doty,

    No problem. Attending a virtual meeting with locals would be nice. 

    Yes! The 4plex went through! I own it and it has been going well. Some inital upgrades were needed (2 new water heaters, fixing a few small holes in the metal roof and replacing all CO2 detectors), but nothing out of the ordinary. 

    Was able to get Owner financing, amortized  over 30 years at 3.25% interest! Needless to say... Property has been cash-flow positive  since Day 1, despite one of the tenants losing his job during the sale/transition. 

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  • Paul Doty
    OP
    Bellingham, WA · Member since 2018 · 80 posts · 26 votes
    6y

    @Emmett Bond Wow, that's sounds like a great deal! Congratulations! I forgot if I asked already, but where is this located?

    Those repairs don't sound too intensive either. Did you do them yourself or hire things out?

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  • Emmett Bond
    Investor · Bellingham, WA · Member since 2019 · 16 posts · 3 votes
    6y

    It was down the 5 freeway a ways - just South of Skagit County, in the Northern end of Snohomish County. 

    I replaced out the C02 detectors by myself, but hired a local handyman to patch the holes in the roof, replace some of the rusty Roof screws that had lost their insulation washers and to swap out the water heaters. I went to Home Depot and picked up the eater heaters and a few of the parts, then the handyman did the rest. Charged $250 per water heater, which is less than half of what a plumber would have charged. 

    And as a result of these upgrades, I was already able to raise rents for all 4 units by $100/mo. Rents had not been raised in over 2 years and were well below the market average there, so it is still a great deal for the tenants to stay, all of whom want to stay. The one who lost his job (before Coronavirus shutdowns) got his yearly tax return and Immediately paid for 4 months rent upfront and is actively working on finding a new job. So far the tenants have all been very easy to deal with. 

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  • Paul Doty
    OP
    Bellingham, WA · Member since 2018 · 80 posts · 26 votes
    6y

    @Emmett Bond That's really impressive to find a property that cashflows in this part of the world. Good work! I honestly stopped looking around here quite a while ago. With how things are changing, I'll probably start looking around here again in the future. For now, I'm still aiming my efforts at markets far away. 

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  • Emmett Bond
    Investor · Bellingham, WA · Member since 2019 · 16 posts · 3 votes
    6y

    Don’t get me wrong - by cash flow positive, that assumes the same generous financing terms I was able to get with motivated owner financing and assumes me not hiring a property management company or having to pay them a portion of rents. 

    Because it is such a small property and close by, I don’t mind managing it or dealing with the occasional call from a tenant complaining of loud electric humming throughout the building, only to find out it was a side effect of new blood pressure meds! (True story from this week) 

    I also had to go into a bit more rural small town area than most investors are comfortable with. 

    So it may not quite be as attractive as many of the out of state markets YET. But still worth keeping an eye out. Hoping some mom and pop folks reaching retirement age will want to offload some properties before real estate goes through a correction- may find some more motivated sellers that way. 


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  • Paul Doty
    OP
    Bellingham, WA · Member since 2018 · 80 posts · 26 votes
    6y
    Originally posted by @Emmett Bond:

    Don’t get me wrong - by cash flow positive, that assumes the same generous financing terms I was able to get with motivated owner financing and assumes me not hiring a property management company or having to pay them a portion of rents. 

    Because it is such a small property and close by, I don’t mind managing it or dealing with the occasional call from a tenant complaining of loud electric humming throughout the building, only to find out it was a side effect of new blood pressure meds! (True story from this week) 

    I also had to go into a bit more rural small town area than most investors are comfortable with. 

    So it may not quite be as attractive as many of the out of state markets YET. But still worth keeping an eye out. Hoping some mom and pop folks reaching retirement age will want to offload some properties before real estate goes through a correction- may find some more motivated sellers that way. 



    Still sounds like an excellent deal (and an interesting tenant!)  Good for you to take the plunge and make it happen.

    I have some questions about the seller financing arrangement and those sorts of details. It feels a tad rude to ask a stranger such personal questions on a public forum though. I'll save those for later.

    Are you hunting the next deal yet, or still letting the dust settle?

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  • Emmett Bond
    Investor · Bellingham, WA · Member since 2019 · 16 posts · 3 votes
    6y

    Hey man, you can ask me anything, but agreed that it would be better not to do on a public forum like this. 

    I am hunting my next deal still but will be interesting closing on it because traveling or even visiting properties locally are going to be severely hindered over the next 2 months or so. 

    If one comes along in an area I know well and has good fundamentals in place, I would buy it, even without personally seeing the property. Right now, while there is the most uncertainty and worry about this slipping into a full-on recession or depression is when most of the competitors for deals will be sitting on the sidelines. So if any motivated seller raises his hand, I will be interested in a jiffy! 

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  • Paul Doty
    OP
    Bellingham, WA · Member since 2018 · 80 posts · 26 votes
    6y

    Hi @Emmett Bond,
    It's been a little while since I've checked in. How's that fresh new rental doing? How are you holding up with these stay at home orders? Have you found any new deals in the area?

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  • Emmett Bond
    Investor · Bellingham, WA · Member since 2019 · 16 posts · 3 votes
    6y

    Hi @Paul Doty, been going well. All rents have been paid on time so far except by 1 tenant. Just went and checked on the property over the weekend and spoke with each of the tenants. All is well, so far. 

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