All Forum Posts by: Alex Chin

@Deb T. - Welcome to the site, welcome to the community. It would help a bit if you could flesh things out for us all, good information to have would be stuff like:

What aspects of REI interest you the most? Flipping, wholesaling, buy-hold, notes, etc?

Where is you primary area of interest right now? I would say that as a new-comer, trying to understand the nuances of multiple markets is probably a bit of information overload at the moment, pick 1 or 2 and learn them really well.

What do you bring to the table? Every investor has areas they are strong/need help in. You might have a great sense for analysis, or lots of capital, or experience in the industry, access to propriatery data...etc. Let us know how you can help someone, and in turn, how we can help you.

Cheers and here's to success!

@Jacob Tomko - I would take a look across the water at Bremerton if you find Tacoma too expensive for your tastes. Still a good connection to Seattle since the equivalent travel time via ferry is similar to fighting through the morning gridlock. Also steady rental market due to the navel base and such in the area.

Hey @Max Guerrero! If you're interested in joining a local meet-up group, see the link below for the Eastside meet-up happening on Friday.

Great, informal meet-and-greet. Only thing they ask you to do is buy yourself a drink and maybe some munchies to help cover the cost of the room. @Troy Fisher is the organizer and he's a great contact to have in your back pocket.

Cheers!

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/521/topics/272873-pacificnw-real-estate-meetup---eastside-edition

I would say based on recent sales, if you're east of 29th Ave S., your ARV is probably a bit conservative and you should feel pretty good about things. If you're west of 29th and south of Jackson, might want to make sure your comps are good, I think high-end in that little corner tops out in the high-$500s. This is all very general, would need to know specifics to get into more detail.

If you feel good about your ARV analysis, just as a precautionary measure, I would add a 10% "Oh-crap" contingency fund to your expenses if you haven't already, and see if the numbers still work for you.

A more experienced flipper than I should probably chime in and let you know if there's a detail you've forgotten.

@Charles Soper - Hahaha, well...hate to break it to you, but the traffic has only gotten worse since then. Pull up your preferred traffic map around...8:00am every weekday and you'll see more red in it than Glendale when the Cards' are playing. Good to hear you'll be able to telecommute, I firmly believe that sitting in Seattle traffic is bad for your blood pressure!

I think if your budget can handle $270K, you might be surprised as to what you might find in the area. Quick Redfin search shows a 5/3 with 3,200sqft. listed at $265K (no idea what the neighborhood is like, but it's in South Tacoma so gotta be cautious), and a 4/1.75 with 3,300sqft. in Burien (with that much room, might be able to look at remodelling with the extra beds/baths that you need).

Might I suggest you talk to a local real estate agent? If you'd like a recommendation, more than happy to give props to the agent who has helped me in the past, very high energy, very good responsive to requests with a solid network of contacts to help close deals (title, escrow, utility recommendations, inspectors, etc.).

I would also recommend keeping an eye on the Networking Events under the Community tab and linking up with the local investment community.

Cheers, and here's to success and hitting the ground running!

@Josh Manfred - Ah, gotcha. I agree, HOA fees can really put an investment underwater, especially the special assessments.

Here's hoping your daughter is healthy and well at this point, sorry that you were forced to sell in order to meet medical needs.

At this point, I guess my first piece of advice for jumping back in is to talk to @Troy Fisher about the BP Meet-Up that is happening next Monday (see link below). Free to attend, they do ask that you buy yourself dinner and a drink maybe, and from there it is just a very informal networking session.

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/521/topics/26...

Beyond that, as a quick intro for myself, I am a very small-time landlord with property down in Tacoma (more affordable for a young guy without one of those six-figure jobs). I'm looking to slowly expand my portfolio and like to make connections along the way. Here's to mutual success!

Hey @Josh Manfred. Curious, you say you had a house as a rental in Seattle previously, what happened to make it un-affordable?

Hey @Charles Soper, it would help a bit if you could give a few details. What sort of price range are you looking at? And which areas are you primarily looking at for possible residence?

I urge you to keep in mind that traffic up and down I-5, I-405, and I-90 is horrendous during rush hour.

Gonna echo @Dan Chapman here, if I could find a duplex in Seattle for $200K, especially if it was in a solid area, I would waive all contingencies and pay cash.

I don't even care if it's a tear-down at that point, raw land in Seattle that you can build 2, 3, or 4 units on is easily worth $200K in a decent neighborhood.

Hey @Joselyn Cespedes. I would agree with you that home prices are sky-high throughout the Seattle area and climbing.

Remember that school district is important to a lot of folks, it is going to be very difficult finding anything low-priced in such an area that isn't a total teardown.

Have we seen the peak of the market yet? You'll probably get a different answer depending on whom you speak with. I know some agents definitely believe the continuing growth of jobs/population in the region will keep driving home values higher. I also know a few investors who believe we're only a year or two away from a correction and they are flipping as quickly as they can in order to not be caught in a buy-hold.

For me personally, Seattle is a little too hot for me to want to try any kind of small (sub-$5m purchase price) buy-hold investment. I would be looking a bit further afield, either north to Shoreline, Everett, etc., or south to Tacoma, Auburn, Kent. School district might not be what you want, but in order to find the "best" schools, you'll probably need to pay dearly for it.

Good luck and success to your investing! Be sure to ask questions so the community can offer input.