All Forum Posts by: John Barrett

@Andrew Hecker I would suggest starting by looking on both meetup.com and local Facebook groups.  On both of these platforms you will find a number of people are getting together.  

I like the Cascadia Investor Alliance meetup in Marysville (not currently meeting) but there are also a number of virtual meetups that are scheduled during the week like the Seattle Investor Club.

John

@Andrew Hecker in person investor meetups are just starting to happen again.  I would suggest attending as many of these as your schedule allows.  This way you will be able to meet and learn from local investors who are investing in whichever niche is most appealing to you.  In this way you will be able to hear the challenges and struggles that folks are currently dealing with and that will be your opportunity to add value.

Best of luck,

John

@Ryan Beinner I would suggest that you start looking at the agents who are listing properties (for sale or rent) that most closely match the properties you would be interested in purchasing.  From this list you can then reach out with an email detailing the type of property you are looking for and the questions you would need answered to feel comfortable moving forward.

From this you can narrow down which agents are a good match to work with you.

Best of luck,

John

@Jack B. I think you might find it difficult to find a traditional bank that will look at just your rental income.  In my experience both small banks and credit unions can be very conservative in their lending.  A commercial loan is certainly an option but another option could be to look at an asset based lender like Certain Lending.  I know there are others out there doing the same type of loans but Certain Lending is the one I am most familiar with.  This way you can compare the rates / terms for each type of loan. 

I would suggest you reach out to @Nghi Le to find out if they are able to assist you.

Best of luck,

John

@Ethan Reiniger you have a received a lot of good advice here in the previous responses.  Besides the fact that appreciation is speculative, I would caution you to really look at the numbers on any house that you are thinking about.  Currently there is a sever shortage of single family homes in Seattle and the surrounding areas.  This has caused most houses to sell at prices above asking.  This means finding a property will be hard and the costs to get into the property will likely be high.  Both of these factors make it less likely that the property will be able to rent for enough to cover all the expenses (let alone positive cash flow).

Additionally, you will need to think about the transaction costs when buying and selling.  These taxes and fees can eat up a big chunk of your gains.

Best of luck,

John

@C. Buzzetta From the responses you have received so far, I hope you realize that you have clearly shown you are not a stupid person.  Very few things in life come to anyone completely naturally.  All things worth doing take time and effort.  Sounds like you have started on your journey of learning.  All you have to do is focus on getting slightly better / making small progress every day and you can achieve your goals.

I would suggest looking up local meetups in your area as this will allow you to network with other investors.  Building these relationships will allow you to see how others are doing things and learn.  There are a lot of resources available that will help you overcome any of the areas investing (math, lending, inspections. etc.) that are troubling for you.

Best of luck in all your investing.

John

@Jacob Rand Unfortunately your options are currently not great.  The eviction moratorium really limits what you can do until the end of June.  At that point you can provide notice to the tenants but you will still have to provide whatever number of days is required (I think it was increase to 90 days notice).

As @Sherief Elbassuoni mentioned, I think cash for keys and any assistance you can provide with helping the tenants find a new place will be your best bet going forward.

John

@Sven T. I would recommend looking up organizations like Washington Landlord Association (WLA) or Residential Housing Association of Washington (RHAWA).  Both groups offer members access to standardized leases / rental paperwork that are updated and compliant with all the latest laws.

While this will cost you a bit of money for the membership, it's a very easy way to ensure all the paperwork that you give to your new / prospective tenants will be compliant with the latest regulations.

John

@Sherief Elbassuoni This is a great idea and I will look up this up on meetup.  It will be great to get to meet other investors in the north end here.

This is a typical poorly thought out law by a group of political leaders who have consistently shown they do not understand how the rental market functions.  These rules will make managing rentals harder but not impossible.  I am in the camp that believes landlords will figure a way to manage the impacts of this and all the rest of the bad legislation being passed.  We are experiencing large shortages of housing in part due to bad public policy.

Unfortunately, it's the most vulnerable in our society who bear the brunt of this bad legislation from our political leaders.  
Ultimately the citizens have to hold elected leaders accountable for the mess they have created.  There are a number of great groups advocating for landlords in WA State  (WLA & RHAWA). My suggestion is get involved and support those who are pushing back on the latest group of misguided legislation. We joined RHAWA specifically because they are actively working to stop legislation like this.

In my experience things are fixed by those who take action.

John