All Forum Posts by: Christopher Cole

I'll also add the other school of thought. Just keep it in your name, and make sure you buy umbrella coverage (relatively cheap!).

I have both residential 1-4 units and commercial 5+ units in my portfolio. I have found it best that when I buy on my personal name (residential 1-4), just leave it that way with adequate umbrella coverage. When I buy in the name of a LLC (5+ units), that is when I use the LLC.

1) Don't worry about your pre-approval timeframe. You can always get a new preapproval pretty easily. Don't buy the wrong investment just because of a timeline.

2) You'll find many schools of thought on what to do with your "temporary" money. I'm a fan of just putting it in S&P 500 index fund, or a robo investor such as Wealthfront. That said, your money is at risk - but in my opinion, the risk is low enough for it to be worth it. Another option is to find a savings account that will at least give a little interest back. I like Nerdwallet articles to tell me which banks have the highest paying savings accounts.

I'd always take conventional loans over FHA loans, but as others have said, you should feel comfortable accepting FHA. They'll generally only ask for things to get fixed that you need to fix anyway. If it was a conventional loan, they'd probably ask for the concession, so it's not saving you anything in the long run.

There's risk associated with just accepting a picture of the check. Let the bank take on that risk - not you. I would just give your tenant a different option (such as depositing directly into a bank) when you are out of town, and let them know texting a photo is not an option. Even better - use an online service where they can pay with ACH.

The most obvious option is to refinance! You'll be able to pull out equity tax free, and then extra tax write offs with the interest paid on the properties.

A more conservative approach that I have favored in the past as well is to get a HELOC on the property. It can be more difficult finding a bank that'll do it for non owner occupied, but make enough calls (try credit unions in the area), and you'll get one. I like this approach because I have the cash sitting there, ready to be spent, but you aren't paying interest till you use it. The downside is the interest rate will be a bit higher and variable.

@Brock Freeman thanks for the recommendation, I'll give them a try.

@Michael Haas the property was in Northgate, so part of the extension going north to Everett.

My property was acquired by Sound Transit (public transport doing an extension of their light rail). I'm looking for a CPA who knows about Sound Transit and real estate investment. I figure that means the CPA should be local.

For 1-4 units, finding recently sold data is easy - it's available on MLS. How do I find this data for apartment complexes?

I suspect the answer is either some sort of public records (what public records? go through every tax records one by one? Can someone give an example of finding that data for the county of your choice?) or buying it from a third party (listsource? reonomy?).  I'd love to hear suggestions.

I'm glad to see this post has helped so many people over the years.  I guess I'll just follow up real quick - I did indeed just setup another mailbox, labeled them "A" and "B", and for the last 4 years I've never head any problems.

Don't ever fall in love with a deal so much that you can't back out.  There will always be another deal.  Also, one key phrase in economics is "sunk costs are irrelevant."  Don't use the $3000 inspection to make your decision.

The question for you is, is it still a deal if it costs $10,500 more than you thought? If not, walk away.  If it is, pull the trigger.

That said, the problems you listed don't seem like a big deal to me.  You'll find that kind of thing on every home inspection.