All Forum Posts by: Ben Meisel

Hi Lisa - I'm in the process of buying from Elite as well and recently used Rick Sabatino of Sabatino Consulting Inc. for the inspection.  He did a great job, and I'll use him again.  I got his name from @DavidF75

I'll message you Rick's contact information.

Ben

I don't mean this in a bad way, but why such a long timeline?  Unless you have credit or liquidity issues, much of this doesn't take very long.  You might find some good properties to make offers on much sooner, so you might want to prioritize the activities that get you ready to throw out some quick low offers and see if anyone will bite.  Or, if something good comes along, you're ready to pounce!  That said, great job writing down attainable goals, and I wish you great success!

Sure thing.  If this is for your personal residence, then it depends what kind of place you are looking for.  You can buy a very nice condo in Bellevue for $1M, but that's obviously not what everyone wants.  Are you looking for views, waterfront, land, etc.?   What you value in a home/property will determine what kind of place for you can get with that price point.

I was born & raised in Bellevue - so I've seen it go through a ton of transition.  Much of it is due to Microsoft and the companies/industry that spun off it.  Other tech firms have offices here, or are moving in (Facebook, Google (Kirkland), eBay, Samsung, to name a few).  

It really depends what you're hoping to do (hold/flip/commercial?).  Both cities can be very expensive, but there is a wide range of prices.  You can get condos as low as $200k-ish, and waterfront estates upwards of $10M (and well over).   Waterfront in both cities is obviously expensive, Bill Gates lives in Bellevue, along with many other notables.

I like the future of the Eastside for sure.  However, prices are very high right now.  It's hard to buy some properties and not compete with all cash, contingency offers.  Making a retail purchase cash flow could be very difficult.

Priced well below market, needs lots of TLC.  Could be a good investment property for fix/flip or fix/hold.  Septic approved for 3 bedrooms, but current configuration of home has at least 4 beds.    Just north of Seattle - great location! 

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/21501-16th-Pl-W-Lynnwood-WA-98036/38486163_zpid/

Thanks for continuing with the thread @Michael L.!  I started working with Elite as well and am a couple weeks from closing on the my 2-flat with them.  Just finished up with the inspection.  Appreciate your willingness to go open-kimono on this stuff!

You shouldn't have a problem hanging your license somewhere, probably for a small monthly fee.   There are lots of places that don't require you to do transactions.   Ask around locally and you should have no problem. 

I'd like to get on the buyer lists for some local wholesalers.  Does anyone have any quality (experienced) wholesalers they would recommend in this area?

I'm focusing primarily on the Eastside and north (Bellevue, Redmond, Issaquah, Snoqualmie, Sammamish, North Bend, Duvall, Carnation, Bothell, Woodinville, Kirkland, Snohomish)

Appreciate it,

Ben

Thanks for the feedback, much appreciated.  Assuming there is no great way to add further value to the property (via rehab or rent increases), the high list price combined with a low cash flow appears to be the primary issue.  Otherwise, it would have to be a speculation/appreciation play, which likely appeals to fewer investors for this property type.

A broker friend of mine has a multi-family listing that has not moved yet and he's trying to see what can be done to make it more attractive as an investment.  I gave him some thoughts, but I'd love to hear what the real experts in the BP nation have to say.   

It's a remodeled triplex, in Auburn, WA*, listed for $390k.  Rents are currently $3150/month for all three units combined.  Annual costs are listed as $4380 (tax), $2200 (insurance), $2488 (w/g/s).  Cap rate at list price would be ~7.4%.  

Assuming 25% down, no fix up costs, reserves of 16%, and a property management estimate of 10%, an investor would only cash flow about $95/month.  Given the ~$100k cash investment, the cash on cash return seems pretty poor.  

How else can this deal be analyzed, or what could be done to make this more attractive to an investor?  I appreciate any thoughts or feedback!

*Auburn is South of Seattle, Bellevue & Renton, and just East of Tacoma.