All Forum Posts by: Gabriel Graumann

@Pushapdeep Brar If you don't find anything on the app, you may want to look into RIA meetings as they have more established groups nationwide. My experience is that BP meet-ups are stronger back east but more limited along the west coast. There are only a few in Washington so I'm attempting to start one in my own area later in the month. You may want to consider doing the same thing.

@Justin Yu Based on the current economic climate and generally low inventory, my focus the last few years has been fix & flip properties in King, Snohomish, and Skagit counties. As John mentioned, there are more risk and I haven't personally seen the value in courthouse auction properties of late, and I've been able to find properties on and off-market that fit my criteria so that's what I have used. You just need to know your numbers, experience level, neighborhoods you want to focus on, and then target specific properties and you'll uncover a deal soon enough. Despite all of the members an gurus who push "go fast, scale up" I would recommend targeting an area and keeping true to your numbers. As the money is made on the buy, finding a good value is key and not getting sucked into the "I need a deal" mentality that often pushes people past economic sense or scope of work on their reno budgets. Happy to assist as needed.

@Nate Ginsberg As the other member already commented, what the broker is allowed to do depends on the laws within your state. As a buyer though you can do most anything you want. If YOU believe there is a conflict of interest or that your broker will not be able to represent you well, you have the opportunity to self represent (assuming you can find a purchase and sale agreement and understand how to use them) or simply use a different broker to submit an offer on your behalf. As a broker myself in Washington state, I can represent multiple buyers on the same property so long as I disclose the fact to all parties involved and I do not share confidential information with opposing clients and the seller. In essence, every buyer has unique goals, interest, borrowing capacity, financials, timelines, tastes, and the list goes on and on. Each buyer is unique, so an objective broker should be able to understand the true wants and needs and submit an offer in alignment with each unique client, even if those clients are pursing the same property.

The first post should be a FACT and CRAP game:

FACT: There WILL BE A RECESSION again....numerous recessions in fact, over the coming decades. It's a natural part of most economies. This is based on the FACT that the definition of a recession, economically speaking, is simply a fall in GDP in two successive quarters. You just need to be educated on what a recession is to get over the FEAR of what you believe it to be. There have been 10 recessions since the 1950's. Nearly 50 of them since the early to mid 1800's.

Here is the CRAP: Media is based on the philosophy of "if it bleeds it leads" and FEAR talk provides a better news cycle of drawing an audience in than "hey, a downturn in the economy may be coming, get ready for deals!" This is why all of the talking heads on the news keep spitting out recession, recession, recession. They are playing to peoples fears of what they may have experienced in the last one.

Reality: The type, severity, and length of a recession is near impossible to predict or time. Not all recessions are a real estate recession like 2009/10. Not all recessions hit the same communities and metros the same. Rates may be up OR down in recession periods. Jobs do tend to be effected, but not equally across all industries, locations, or employee type.

So, all I can recommend @Gadiel Del Orbe is that you focus on what you can control. Do your research, analyze more deals, beef up your credit, save money, cut expenses, and when you find or make a great deal, act on it immediately! You can make deals happen in any market, that's the beauty of real estate investing. Hope this helps.

@Megan Cassidy It looks like you're getting plenty of assistance to your question. What I haven't seen referenced yet is pursuing deals off market. It would be a challenge for most brokers to do this for you at your price point as off-market sellers have plenty of research available with a few clicks of the mouse to determine what values are, and brokers have an obligation to inform sellers as to the market and value and present them with options. Are you in a position to pursue sellers directly? Start a marketing campaign, door knock, drive by properties and work with a title company, or any other strategy that you can do yourself may yield better results.

@Steve Miller I've seen a couple deals like this before, though closed on one myself that provided a 10+ year hold requirement, which is an awesome opportunity of the property/house itself is solid. You're basically buying an annuity that returns all of your principle plus $100K after expenses + appreciation + tax depreciation value/write-offs. Assuming you are purchasing with cash, you'd have no debt service. Perform your due diligence of course, confirm the seller has no debt lingering on the property, and more simply have an attorney review and draft a custom agreement to protect your rights and interest in the property. You'll still want to treat it like any other investment property, creating an inspection and maintenance schedule as the occupants will likely not address much following the sale, especially if health is a concern. And perhaps one of the biggest questions is what happens if they want to remain beyond 10 years? Start with the end in mind and formulate a plan, and I'm sure you'll do fine. If you have more questions lets connect.

Greetings,

Starting a new meet-up group on the north end of Seattle Metro for anyone looking to make connections, have conversations, and deal-share with those pursuing buy/hold, wholesale, fix & flip, BRRRR's, syndication, MF, commercial and any other like-minded real estate types. Bring your top 1-2 deals to share or simply connect w/others! If you're still new and haven't completed a deal? No shame, just come and connect with those already in the investment trenches. Seasoned investor? Great, come and share what you're currently working on. Bring your haves, wants, and needs.

If you're a real estate broker like myself here's a quick note. I'd love to have you part if you are also investment minded and want to add value to the conversation. However, this is NOT an opportunity to simply try and solicit listing/buyer agency agreements from attendees. I won't be wearing my KW brokerage hat, I'm here looking for investment opportunities myself, looking to help beginners, and ultimately make new connections. If that sounds like you please join us.  

@Account Closed I hear your fear and concern and emotions via the post. Real estate can "FEEL" emotional but it doesn't have to. Mindset is everything. The best advice I can give is that investing should carry a long-term perspective, while speculating carries a short-term perspective...and our feelings will follow suit. In my experience and many I've worked with, when a new buyer is looking for quick money, a quick return, they look at each deal as the best and the fear of losing it and getting it really tear them up inside. And it should, because it's impossible to control all the variables in a short term situation. Buy a stock today and it may be up OR down big tomorrow. However, if I buy a mutual fund with a good track record and hold it for 10+ years, history would suggest that I'll make money nearly every time.

While real estate doesn't have daily swings as high or low as the stock market, and your strategy may not be to hold a property for 10+ years, the same reality exists. If you do your research on the front end, pick a strategy to work with, buy a property that meets your criteria and hold on, 90%+ of the time you'll look up several years later and have made a lot of money either by cash flow, appreciation or both.

Not sure what kind of deal you are considering jumping into, so perhaps the fear and emotion you are feeling is tied more to the "type" of investment you are considering vs. other potential types. Perhaps you should be looking at a different class of property to invest in. Just a thought.

Hi Amanda,

I'd be happy to help run the rehab numbers with you. BP also has a renovation calculator that is helpful. Let's connect to discuss or give me a call.

Hi Ryan,

I'm glad to see so many people offering their assistance to your relocation search. I'm in the north Seattle market, community is Everett which is the home base of Boeing among other industries and just 20 miles north of downtown Seattle. If you're considering coming to western Washington I'd be more than happy to have a conversation with you. Let's connect.