Owner Occupied Home in Renton

[Damian P.]

Hello Seattle BP, 

I'm considering purchasing an owner occupied home in the Renton, WA area for a first time home purchase. With a lot of growth in general in the Bellevue area - Facebook adding large offices in Bellevue, aAmazon moving HQ2 to Bellevue - I feel the area should appreciate. Will need to use FHA to get into a home sooner than later, as apartment lease is up Q1 of 2020, and I don't want to spend another full year under a lease. I would prefer a SFH over an apartment/condo, for the extra space, as well as for the yard for my dog. My target range is from $350,000 - $420,000. I will put 3-10% down and then sprint to build to 20% equity ASAP.

Does anybody have experience in the Renton area? I'm finding nice homes in the Cascade-Fairwood area; would it be reasonable to believe it would be easy to rent a 3 bedroom this far away from Bellevue/Seattle? I want to stay southeast/east of I5, as areas closer to I5 tend to seem rough. Newcastle/Factoria is nice, but then you are getting out of my price range. What are other good neighborhoods to look for?

Best case scenario, I would be able to get positive cashflow renting it after living in it for at least a year. 

With 3.5% down on $400,000 3 bedroom/1-2 bath ($14,000), that puts me at about a $2,442/month lease, including PMI at 1% total loan, with yearly taxes at $3,000, annual home insurance at $1,000. If I build to 20%, and assuming interest rates stay low 4%, once I hit 20% equity, refinance, I'm looking at around $1,815/month mortgage.

Rent prices on Rentometer range from $1,800 - $2,300 depending on what area you are in. Unfortunately, Cascade-Fairwood seems to be closer to the $1,800 range, I'm assuming because it's farther away from everything. 

If you've made it this far, thank you! Any thoughts, feedback, suggestions?