All Forum Posts by: Brandon Vukelich

Hi @Brit Bear, I work the Tacoma area and own property in WA as well as a PM firm.  Answers to your questions below:

Questions. 

Are there any investors in Washington State in this community I can talk with? - Yes, I'm happy to chat or connect you with other investors in my sphere.

Does anyone have strong real-estate agent with an investment background and experience with VA loans? - Yes, I'm a broker/agent and investor.  I've served VA clients and have great lenders to refer, if needed.

Ace property managers? - Yes, my firm offers PM or I can refer you to others to consider too.

Any landmines to avoid with the Washington State? - ABSOLUTELY! Covid has significantly affected our local LT laws.  Best to follow (or become a member of) the Rental Housing Association of WA.  Fantastic organization.

Best wishes on your real estate journey!

Hey @Bill Schrimpf - hopefully someone at BP will see your post and possible comment or reach out to address your issues.  I've been in the program for about 3 years, before they charged for leads.  I'd say the quality of leads vs other online sources has been and still is pretty good.  The initial bundle fee that was in place for about two years was reasonable.  This summer they increased the fee 50% which was disappointing.  I'm sticking with the program for the time being.  My brother is an agent in Hawaii and signed up a few months ago.  He hasn't been impressed with lead flow & quality.  

IMO, BP is definitely experiencing some growing pains.  There has been a lot of turnover in the featured agent program and I agree, the lack of responsiveness to us (the paying customers) and inability to reach an account rep directly, could use some serious improvement. 

Hi Sagar, I'd suggest you find properties that have sold (zillow, etc) that meet your investing goals and reach out to the agents involved.  For example, if you're interested in duplexes, research recent duplex (or triplex, fourplex) sales in that area of preference.  Contact the listing agent and the buyer's agent, either one could be a good fit.  Ask other investors within networking circles for referrrals for agents to connect with...or if you share with me the city/locations you're interested in, I may already know an agent to refer to you.  Here are some general questions to ask prospective agent-partners:

1. Are you an investor yourself?  If so, what do you own or have owned and where?

2. How long have you been licensed and working the area I'm interested in?

3. How familiar are you with local Landlord-Tenant laws?

You should always feel free to ask plenty more but those are rather important questions you should start with when vetting agents.  Hope that helps.  Best wishes in your journey!

Hi Steven, my 2 cents...we actually don't use GRM much for 2-4 unit properties and I'm fairly certain the listing agent didn't factor GRM. SF and 2-4 MF are considered residential and typically based on comps, they will be appraised that way as well. Ideally, you should find similar comps of quads with 2/1, about the same sq footage, sold in the last 90 days (if possible). Maybe triplexes if you don't have enough quad inventory but not single families. The market in our area (any maybe yours) has shifted so much since May that comps prior to that can skew the data. You should also see comps in a price range of per unit, such as $135k-158k per unit. All that aside, take your actual gross rent less expenses and proposed mortgage payment based on $520k purchase (if you're not paying all cash) and figure out your NOI. If it cash flows minimum or better based on your criteria, make an offer. Otherwise submit an offer lower than asking and share your financial analysis with the seller so they can see your numbers firsthand and won't think you're just a lowballer looking for a deal. At $520k, if you believe the rents can get to $1400, just based on that and not knowing anything else, it sounds worth pursuing.

When looking at <4 unit properties, try not to overthink it using GRM, CAP, etc. Depending on the market, they should be rather straightforward. Gross Rents - (Expenses & Mortgage Pmt) = NOI. Whether or not the NOI is good enough is up to the individual investor. Best wishes on your process!

Hey @Steve Tucker, have you found sites like this that offer templates?  We use one on this site for multifamily.

https://calicomarketing.com/te...

Looks like they offer one for land.  Good luck!

@Andrew Cruickshank I have not had good experiences with Navy Fed, both when buyers make offers on my listings and when my buyers have come to me already committed to using them.  After you connect with a local real estate agent, I would ask them for local lending referrals or you could search out other local credit unions/banks.  When I have listed properties, I prefer to see offers from buyers using local, familiar lenders.  Nothing against our service members but Navy Fed and USAA as lenders on deals usually don't go smoothly.  Others may have had different experiences.  Best wishes on your search!

You should contact my brother, @Bryan Vukelich.  He's an investor and is licensed on Oahu.  I'm sure he can help or point you in the right direction.  Best wishes on your search for a property!  He loves it over there.

Curious if any investors (outside WA) are watching or interested in acquiring MF props in the greater Seattle-Bellevue-Tacoma markets.  Are we even on your radar?  There are more than the following points but here are some quick pros/cons that I believe may be factors driving demand or preventing investment.

PROS

- Strong jobs, specifically in tech, Boeing, logistics.

- Strong rent growth/demand.

- Double digit appreciation in prices (when things are good).

- In addition to jobs, we attract many new residents due to access to a wide variety of recreational activities.

CONS

- Increasing number of new laws that favor tenants (top two most anti-landlord cities, IMO, are Seattle and Federal Way).

- When recessions hit or bubbles burst, double digit drops in value (depreciated prices).

- Prices are still a premium, CoC returns initially remain lower than what many average investors hope to achieve.

- Heavy competition.

I'd love to get a sense on investor sentiment on investing in multifamily in Washington State. 

I'm dedicating more time to provide knowledge and information to my sphere and the general public.  Ramping up my videos on real estate investing, owning property in WA state, etc.  I'm also half way done writing a book for new real estate agents.  Not the typical, how to make six figures and lead gen, but how to be professional and competent among a sea of downright awful "licensed professionals."  I'm hoping to help improve our industry one agent and a time.  We'll see. :)

Already a lot of good feedback here.  Red flags for me that stand out on the financials are water, sewer, trash and maintenance.  W/S/T $3800/year?  Are the tenants being billed back a portion or on separate meters?  I would believe that Maintenance & Repairs would run at least double the $12k/year figure.  I see you intend to self-manage.  Not sure about your experience but 38 units is not for the novice landlord.  I'd find it hard to believe it is currently performing at a 14 cap but maybe you found a unicorn.  Best wishes on the decision!