All Forum Posts by: John Barrett

@Jeremiah Hipp I would start by looking on Facebook and Meetup to see if there are any real estate groups or in person meetups close to your location.  I think you would likely need to go to Tacoma or Gig Harbor to find the most options.  I think you will have the best time connecting with people in person.

In the meantime you can start by looking at all the properties that are on the market in your area to get a sense of what's available and what prices they are closing at vs what they are listed at. 

John

@Ian Stuart Thank you for the breakdown, this is helpful information to have.  The thing that I don't see getting talked about much is the on going reporting requirements for property financials and borrower financials.  For Fannie Mae in my experience, you need to understand and plan for the quarterly and yearly reporting requirements along with the loan servicing inspection requirements.  None of these are deal breakers but do take time and effort to ensure compliance.

In your experience, is there any difference between Fannie and Freddie loans with regards to the ongoing reporting requirements for the borrower?  As compared with local lenders credit unions the reporting requirements are vastly more for agency loans.

John

@Abhinav Tandon I would start by looking up the WAREI Facebook group as it an active forum for things going on in the Seattle area.  Additionally, I would look on Meetup.com as there are a number for meetups in the Seattle area.  Just review the topics and you can find ones that will match up with areas of investing you are interested in.  Many are either low or no cost to attend.  Other than that, just keep networking here with other investors as that will help you grow your knowledge and narrow down areas of interest for investing.

John

@Sabrina Shaulis Welcome back.  There are a lot of people here who are willing to assist you on your journey. Network and ask questions and you will be making progress on your real estate journey in no time. :)

John

@Roger Garner there are many factors that go into the decision of whether or not to keep your property as a rental.  For example: your current interest rate, rental rate, expectation for appreciation, tax benefits, leverage and inflation protection.  While all of those are necessary to think about, none of these matter more than figuring out what goal you are trying to achieve.

From your post, it appears that this is your former primary residence.  There are tax advantages for selling your primary where you can claim capital gains tax free.  That alone could be worth between $250-$500K.

I personally like holding properties, but you may not want the hassle.  Decide on what you are trying to achieve and then determine if holding the house makes sense.  There are solutions to the challenge of managing your property.  You just have to figure out if that's what your goal really is.

John

@Julie Smith you might look at Washington Landlord Association.  They are a smaller organization but also offer landlord services.  I used them when we were first starting out and liked working with them.

@Randy Vincent I am an investor in Snohomish County.  Feel free to reach out and I am happy to answer your questions. :)

John

@Jonathan M. I would reach out to Rob Trickler in Everett @ Trickler Law Offices. That’s who we have used in the past. He is also runs the Washington Landlord Association.

Best of luck as you resolve this situation!

John

@Jonathan M. I would suggest you start getting some legal representation and then talk to the previous owner.  This will allow you to go over the next steps of the process now that the property has been officially foreclosed.  Be aware that owners usually have period of time in which to reclaim ownership of the property.  This may not be something you are concerned about but it is important to know the laws / rules.

With regards to going through the eviction process, this can take some time.  It depends on both how backed up the court is and how aggressive the defense is for the previous owner. Housing Justice Project has been pretty aggressive with their tactics to delay lawful evictions in a lot of cases.  If possible, I would suggest looking into negotiating a cash for keys option.  This is likely going to be your fastest and least expensive option.

John

@Sage Weiss I would agree with the others suggesting HYSA.  You can use sites like Bankrate and NerdWallet to quickly compare banks and see who is offering the best return on your money.  You mentioned that you are early in your career and your earnings are not very high yet.  As such, I would suggest being very conservative with your cash as loosing principle will be quite impactful.

I understand your desire to earn the highest return possible, but keep in mind that you often need to take on higher risk to get a greater return.  This combined with determining you time horizon for when you will need the money will guide how aggressive your investing should be.  Early on, I think people should be more conservative and establish a base (HYSA) and then regular (weekly or monthly) automated investments in low cost index funds.  You have security from the base and can grow your investments overtime.  These investments will then grow to become the capital you can invest in real estate if you so choose.  Just some thoughts.

John