All Forum Posts by: Alex Chin

@Ariel Salenga - welcome to BP and welcome to the world of real estate investing. Troy has already pinged you, but I would strongly encourage you to attend a few meet-ups and start making those in-person connections.

In the meantime, downloading and listening to the podcasts are a great resource and way to kill time in a productive manner on your drive to work.

Brandon, welcome to the BP community! Good to add more members from Washington. Is it your feeling that Port Orchard/Bremerton have a strong rental market? I know it's that way here in Seattle, but I had thought that the other side was a lot slower as far as rentals go.

@Un Chu R. - welcome to the BP community, and good luck on your investing journey. I would definitely stick around, read all the stuff that you can under the "Learn" tab at the top and start figuring out what questions you need answered to really get started.

@Troy Fisher and a few of his compatriots run a BP meet-up in the Lakewoods area, that would be a good chance to meet local investors and build connections in an informal setting.

Hi Joseph and wlcome to Bigger Pockets! I would recommend looking up "house hacking" if you haven't already explored the subject. Could be perfect for you being an active duty diver; help sharply reduce your living costs and start giving you practical experience with landlording.

@Brandon Turner is a big advocate of this and could be a good contact for you to buy lunch and pick his brains, I believe he lives over on the Olympic Peninsula as well.

@Casey DeCaire $7.7m for 35 units? $220,000/unit for Belltown is a real solid starting point. I think that it would need to get negotiated down a bit, but what with continued appreciation, you could potentially see really good returns on exit.

I know you're only talking about possibly buying-holding for yourself, but this is the kind of opportunity that high-end syndicates start perking their ears up at.

@Ruth Bayang - If you are an active flipper in Tacoma, I would definitely like to try talking to you about some of the higher-end flips you've done. Colleague request sent!

Welcome to BP @Darren Moeller. A lot of folks have chimed in already, so I will just add a few things that I have found helpful as I look to get off the ground myself.

One is the podcasts. It's already been said, and you noted, but they are great for helping to motivate you and fire you up about getting into this area of investing the right way.

Two is checking home prices. I have made it a nearly daily habit to take a quick browse through Redfin, Zillow, and the MLS of the geographic areas that I am interested in to find out what the public at large is valuing for various home sizes and amenities.

@Ruth Bayang, @Brandon Johnston - I am interested in investing in South King and Pierce County. Just sent you a PM, would love to have a chance to connect and pick your brains about where you are seeing the opportunities in the region.

@Hoda Jafarzadeh - Welcome to the Pacific Northwest! Welcome to Seattle! If you're looking for connections, you're in luck, there is an informal BP Meetup hosted by @Troy Fisher on Friday over in Kirkland, so relatively easy to get to from Seattle; see link below.

http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/521/topics/216146-pacificnw-real-estate-meetup---eastside-edition---august-6th?highlight_post=1451120&page=2#p1451120

@Andrew Kniffin, @Adrian Chu and others who chime in: would you mind sharing your Seattle-Tacoma contractor references? I'm looking for someone who can help me start to figure out an estimate for a full gut, electrical, plumbing, roof, siding, and landscaping for 3,700 sqft. in Tacoma, and a 1,900 sqft. in Beacon Hill.

I don't have any experience with fix-flip, would desperately like to talk to a contractor as part of my education to help me determine if I've even found an opportunity.

@Pavel Sakurets - do you mind if I ask what sort of system you have that is eating up 1000kWh/month? That's got to be for a small-multi family building or very small commercial building right?