All Forum Posts by: Brandon Vukelich

I can give you some perspective (from the agent side) as this has become very relevant lately for me and my business which deals with local and out of state clients.  I've resisted building a "team" model and still don't really have interest but my active client base has been spreading me thin the last year or so.  I have a licensed assistant/transaction coordinator that does occasionally help with showings but she really doesn't want to do the day-to-day, higher level agent activities. This was especially tested (again) when I was on vacation for 10 days and had to write 3 offers for 3 different clients.  So I've recently decided to partner with another agent in the area and will be introducing him from the onset of meeting new clients.  I plan to be very transparent and let clients know that I will be "involved" (mainly for oversight) on all transactions, whether I'm taking lead or not on showing properties, attending inspections, analyzing deals, etc.  All clients will always be able to reach out to me directly but some may be having more one-on-one attention from my partner agent.  I will also reassure them that I would not partner with anyone I felt was not competent and professional.  

At the end of the day, I always try and make each client feel like they are my only client but they also need to realize busy agents are generally busy because they are good at what they do. :)  Best wishes on your investing journey!

Yes. three reasons, IMO.  1) Property owners are SLAMMED with marketing by real estate agents and wholesalers. I receive postcards, letters and text messages on my personal residence and other rental properties. 2) I have no doubt that more and more owners read/hear the news about the hot market, high prices, etc.  Why sell off-market if you can typically net more by publicly listing?  3) As Scott said, I have many conversations with sellers about their property values and they say the same thing, "Great, but then where do I go? What do I buy?"

I follow a bunch of other local wholesalers and they send me their deals.  I've noticed less and less deals in the hot Seattle-Tacoma markets and a lot more in obscure, smaller towns in our area.  Probably sellers that are less "in the know" about their options. 

Hard money works. I have used it to finance the purchase of a SF BRRRR deal at 8% for six months, then we re-fi'd into 3.75%. Also used HM at 6.875% for a 3-unit Airbnb property. That one had a 2-year pre-payment penalty so we are in the process of doing a re-fi on that now around 5.25%. Both cases we had to pay about a point in fees and they penciled and worked fine. The benefit is the easy and quick funding process. In most cases, it's definitely not a long-term solution. Just another tool to help get deals done.

I thought that space would be a little less competitive, too big for mom and pop and too small for most syndicators but I was wrong. From what I've seen and watch in WA, ID, CO and OK, the 2-4 units have massive interest from house hacking/owner-occupied investors, sticking with residential financing and dipping their toes into REI. Then you have investors like me looking for "commercial" opportunities, 10-80 units or so. Not for syndicating but personal buy and hold deals or small JVs. But that space is still super crowded with 1031 investors scaling up and/or small, new syndicators. But it seems like most experienced syndicators want 100+ units as the efficiencies of scale are much better. I have yet to find a niche market, property type that is NOT super competitive and crowded these days.

Without knowing the full story it can be hard to say for sure but it may be time to make a change.  Messages should typically be returned by the end of the day or first thing the following morning. However it does depend on the expectations set by both sides at the onset of working together.  It's unfortunate that your agent (you say "realtor" but they may not pay the dues for that designation) doesn't understand that there are 1000s of hungry agents out there ready to hustle and serve clients like you.  As Sherrill mentioned, speed is important in a crazy market like this.  I suggest finding an agent that is also an investor themselves.  Be honest with him, let him know that you have different expectations on the level of communication, follow up and service.  Up to you whether you give him a brief chance to redeem himself or not.  Best wishes on the sale of your home and future acquisitions.

Cool!  It's on my calendar. 

I own a 3-unit in Old Town with water views with of couple partners.  Two units are large 2/2.5 units and the 3rd is small studio.  We closed on it basically the week covid hit FEB 2020 but managed to stay in the black with long term leases.  There is a hefty amount of competition all over Tacoma.  We returned to full STRs by early 2021 for the two large units and remain full in the studio with traveling nurses that typically stay 2-3 months at a time.  Similar to Stacy's comments.  I'd say our mix of guests are nurses, family visiting local, international tourists and people coming to town to house hunt.  I'm not a fan of owning STRs, this will most likely be the only one I own but the returns are better than my boring, long-term properties. :)

Have a good online presence with profiles on LinkedIn, BP etc. Forget Zillow ads - pay for BP leads in your market. Produce content for social media (Facebook, Youtube, Instagram) and most importantly...OWN some rentals yourself. Investors prefer to work with agents/brokers that have a track record of owning their own properties as well. I disassociate myself from being a "realtor" and make it more known that I'm a licensed broker/REI that is a consultant or advisor for RE investors. Best wishes on your plans!

I suppose it depends on your level of experience transacting in real estate. If you don't have a clue, best to let a professional handle it. Yes, even in a hot market. Full time, experienced brokers understand local values, activity, how to negotiate, marketing, etc. If you have a lot of experience in all of this, you could FSBO your deal, no problem. Unfortunately, some people think selling real estate is not much different than selling a car or RV. I would highly recommend just speaking to a few brokers and see if they can detail their value or not. I'm sure either way it will sell quickly, hopefully in a positive outcome for you. Best wishes on the sale!

Yes, Seattle-Tacoma is nuts.  Like many other markets.  If you're interested in WA as a no income tax state, I highly suggest you consider just about any WA market outside the city limits of Seattle.  If you are not aware, Seattle is very pro-tenant and is (IMO) one of the most anti-landlord cities in the nation.  You can't beat Seattle's rent growth, jobs, strong appreciation but not worth it for me.  We have many other great sub-markets that are super strong as well and don't have all of the additional crap imposed by Seattle.

If you're planning to go FHA 3.5% down, our properties typically won't cash flow, especially as an owner-occupant of one of the units. Rents were frozen for 1.5 years due to the rent moratorium but prices continued to keep pushing higher. There are so many buyers in the greater Puget Sound market right now. I just submitted an offer for a client yesterday for a duplex in Puyallup (good market near Tacoma) and there were 21 offers in the first 72 hours. Best wishes on your journey!