Newbie from Seattle, WA

[Willie Booker]

Hi Everyone, 

I finally have the courage to post on BiggerPockets after listening to just about every episode on Stitcher. I've always thought about diving into REI but have always been hesitant to jump in since I have a very limited understanding of the moving parts. After the market settles, I am assuming there will be a number of opportunities, so I figured this would be a good time as any to jump in.

I have been living in the Greater Seattle area (Redmond, WA) for over a year now and with the light rail expansions coming soon, I imagine this would be a great opportunity for me. I am currently in the research phase on the exact location/neighborhood but I am considering house hacking a SFH or condo/townhome (3BR/2BA) in locations that are near public transit. I will be financing this with the VA home loan. The beauty of this is that there is no down payment and the entitlement goes up to $741k in King County after the first VA home loan.

I am not in any rush to purchase since I am not really sure what to make of the COVID-19 pandemic and how it will affect the housing market, but I hope to purchase something by the end of 2020 or early 2021. In the meantime, I will soak up all the knowledge I can from this awesome community.

Thanks for having me!

[Michael Haas]

Welcome @Willie Booker! We built our rental portfolio HouseHacking and think it's hands-down the most powerful strategy in REI... and combined with your VA loan entitlement there's no better way to get started and scale quickly.

Going for a SFH is often the way to go in Seattle and the Eastside- Multifamily property (duplex, triplex, quad) tends to get pretty expensive, with pretty low returns, in our region. I would encourage you to consider something with an ADU, Mother In Law, or just more bedrooms - 3-2's tend to have the worst cashflow and highest purchase prices as house hacks as they're the most common "family house", so you're competing against just about every owner or investor out there. Almost all of our properties are 5+ bedrooms, and I have trouble seeing much cash flow on anything with a lower bed-count unless you get a screaming deal on the purchase.

Cheers and thank you for your service! Message me anytime if you'd like to grab a coffee and talk house-hacking after quarantine is over. I have a few custom deal calculators for house hacks that could be useful as well.