All Forum Posts by: Alex Chin

@Sean Mims - while you're at it, you should give Podcast #146 a listen. It's the one where they interview Enrique :)

https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2015/10/29/bp-podcast-146buying-100units-word-mouth-marketing-enrique-jevons/

@Sam Denny - in my opinion, basic real estate investing in north Seattle and into Lynnwood is no longer a cash-flow game, but a bet on appreciation or tax strategy. Perhaps in higher-end rentals, but that is more labor/time intensive than I want to invest in.

From my perspective, I believe that you've already seen a market response to proposed Light Rail stops in the north end and the time to buy and get the easy appreciation is past. I feel that as an investor, I am better served looking south to the proposed links in Kent, Auburn, and Tacoma as the whole of Puget Sound evolves into one "super-region".

4.25% for NOO (non-owner occupied) is pretty dang good. The spread is to be expected. I had 4.875% for my last purchase down in Tacoma.

I am currently shopping for a CPA, going to be interviewing David Blood and Dan Stegman for starters.

Tran Law Group helped me set up my LLC and has answered basic legal questions. Tim Tran is a real estate investor himself and works with other investors, although his investments are mostly in commercial real estate I believe.

Can't help you out too much, but that's what I have to offer at the moment.

Hello @Kenneth LaVoie, @Ed Emmons. I am generally in agreement with most folks that this deal needs to come down significantly in price before it will make sense.

However, the property is in Auburn, WA. ~$100K/unit for multifamily is a bit high for the region, but nothing out of the ordinary. The entire area has been heating up massively over the past few years as all the tech in Seattle is bringing values up in the region. Auburn is also a major manufacturing and industrial center, together with Kent, there is a ton of business going on that drives up values and rents.

I would guess that for the original poster, investing close to home has significant appeal and in that sense, there is almost zero chance of finding a multifamily property for less than $50K/unit in the area.

@Pete Perez - well first off, congratulations to your fiance for her acceptance and fully funded status. Great accomplishment there, it is a beautiful campus and my alma mater. I believe your options will, like so many plans, have to depend on your budget to a large extent.

Near the UW, and in the neighborhoods of Ballard, Fremont, Wallingford that are nearby, you're looking at housing prices that verge on Bay Area madness. Do not expect to cash-flow, I wouldn't even really expect to break even on a house hack in those areas.

Light Rail just finished a connection to the UW that I believe you should consider taking advantage of. Look up a map of Light Rail stations and begin your search in those areas. Especially in the blue-collar Rainier Valley, there are still reasonably priced options for a house-hack and they have been steadily appreciating in value. It is more than possible to commute to the university without using a car, in fact, due to pretty horrendous rush hour traffic, I would strongly advise against trying to regularly commute via car.

Do not limit yourself to searching only for 4-plexes, consider purchasing a large house with multiple bedrooms and renting those out as well.

I live on Beacon Hill which is no longer reasonably priced, but I am happy to answer any questions you have about Seattle. I am sure other locals will chime in as well.

@Steve Gunasingh - if you're looking for a turnkey property and have $30K, I would not recommend Washington/Oregon. Both states have much higher property values, you will likely have better results looking at the mid-west, or the south.

@Account Closed - and for payment, do you utilize paypal or another online portal?

@Account Closed - So what you do is reserve time, and then just put a posting out on eBay? Never had issues with filling the rental?

I'm trying to determine which platform I want to use going forward to start this side business. My goal is to find one that will allow me to automate this process as much as possible.

Hello BP,

My parents recently inherited a timeshare that carries with it some formidable annual maintenance fees. They would like to keep the timeshare as they are reaching a point where they want to take more frequent vacations and it would help cover the cost of those trips. The company has a points-based system, where members receive a certain amount annually, and they can then bank those points for up to a year and use them to reserve time at various resorts around the world.

I have been dragooned into assisting them with defraying timeshare costs by trying to figure out how to rent out the unused points so that they don't go to waste, before I dive into this myself, I wanted to find out if anyone else has experience with vacation rentals with this set-up. I expect that I'll be reserving time in various resorts and farming those weeks out to perspective vacationers, does anyone know if VRBO, or AirBnB, or some other site would be most appropriate for this approach?

Let me know if there is any more information I can provide, I have had this kinda dumped on me and am scrambling to understand what this process is and how I can help my parents out.