Are tenants paying their rent in Seattle in 2021?

Question

Hi All!

Hope everyone is staying safe out there! I wanted to
 reach out to you investors in the area because I'm planning on 
investing in Seattle and surrounding areas (i.e. Shoreline, Everett, 
Bothell, Kirkland, Bellevue, Redmond, Renton, Kent, Tukwila, etc.). I'm 
back and forth from SoCal to Seattle every month. But I wanted to check 
the pulse on the market. I wanted to know if there are a lot tenants out
 there taking advantage (maybe abusing the ability to not pay rent right
 now during this pandemic). Are tenants paying their rent in Seattle and
 surrounding areas in 2021? I appreciate the input!

Best,

Gulliver

Sherief Elbassuoni · Answer

@Gulliver R., yep, for me, all my tenants are paying. Even for the couple that went through furlough, I connected them with a rent assistance program and now they are current.

Gulliver R. · Answer

@Griffin Coxen I agree that in Seattle and neighboring cities that in the tech industry and other essential businesses/industries that tenants with these kind of jobs should be fine paying the rent every month these days. Granted, I don’t have any properties in Seattle and/or surrounding cities (yet), but I would think these are good factors for having good tenants that pay the rent during this pandemic.

I would like to hear from other investors in the area if they are having tenants pay or not during this pandemic. So far I’ve mostly heard of investors commenting that their tenants have been paying. Which is a great sign!

Griffin Coxen · Answer

@Dave Skow Have you seen any metrics supporting this? With an abundance of work-from-home for the few tech giants in King county, it seems to be less of a problem for many, but I would be interested to know if there were any pockets in King county and surrounding where rents aren't being paid.

Dave Skow · Answer

@Griffin Coxen- it does seem to

Griffin Coxen · Answer

@Dave Skow Does it seem to coincide with the grade of the home?

Dave Skow · Answer

@Griffin no metrics just  hearing this  from  clients I  work  with that  have rentals  properties

Chelsea Shapiro · Answer

I'm hearing lots of stories from my clients about tenants taking advantage of the pandemic and not paying rent, not just in Seattle, but even in Snohomish and Pierce County.  Since one of the exceptions to the eviction ban is selling the property I think we're going to see more properties come to market as part of the landlords recouping their losses.

Gulliver R. · Answer

@Phil Greely

That’s good to hear. Do you think that since we are at the tail end of the pandemic (I hope) that the jobs being lost due to the Corona virus was a thing of the past (early and mid pandemic) are behind us? If investors offer homes for rent in the markets with high demand and low (ish) supply then the qualified tenants with good stable jobs have weathered the storm right? What do you think?

Phil Greely · Answer

My personal experience and that of my investor clients in and close to the city...is that this is not a problem right now. Areas supported by tech industry doing just fine. Outlying areas may be different. Eastside is exploding right now with growth.

Dave Skow · Answer

many tenants  are  not paying  any or  all or their   rent in KING county

Are tenants paying their rent in Seattle in 2021?

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