All Forum Posts by: Jen Geisler

WoW thank you all for the amazing insight!! Love all the suggestions! Definitely want to do what helps me sleep at night. More work to be done though to see what that is. I appreciate the responses, the water is much less murky!

I'm looking at putting an offer on an amazing property on the beach in Washington state. There is a main house which I would intent to STR and use for myself, and a huge garage with two small finished apartments, a 1-bed 1-bath and 2-bed 1-bath, separate entrances to each. Problem is this garage/apartments unit was Not permitted. I've walked through it and it seems solid, have not done an inspection on it yet but would if I put in an offer. I'm wondering though is this a dud in terms of rental prospect? I can't landlord this thing myself, I have to have a property manager as I am out of state and I simply don't want that responsibility. My agent says there are unpermitted properties all over and regulations are very lax, she does not see anything to worry about renting, but I worry! The house is also very expensive for me, so I am dependent on these units being rented either STR or LTR, in order for me to afford the monthly payment on the property. If I can't get a property manager to rent them, I'm going to be in way over my head! What do we think, will a property manager often decline to manage an unpermitted ADU? What about insuring an unpermitted ADU for rental? What other problems could I run into?

When I'm starting to talk with real estate agents and they ask for more information about me, what should I be providing them?   I've been pre-approved and assume I should provide that info, but what else would be helpful that I can send right away during the "interview" process to prove I am seriously looking?  Should I be laying out all my financials right then and there?  Or do I need to wait until I've decided on one realtor to provide the deeper financial info?   Do I only reveal that I have $40k, when in reality, I have a total of $55k but that's for downpayment, closing, renovations, immediate fixes, emergency fund, etc?  What should I leave out, and what should I share?  

Beginner investor here. I'm looking at buying a condo for STR (yes this is allowed at the building). The building is near the beach and is about 40 years old. I'm wondering, when a house is purchased there would be an inspection but what is the equivalent for a condo? Is there an inspection of some sort or do I need to ask the condo association for maintenance records? How would I know the sewer or foundation isn't rotting out below the building, or that there's going to be a huge assessment to replace siding in the next few years? Is that information the selling agent would provide to me? How would I validate that the info provided is legit?