All Forum Posts by: John Barrett

We recently had to do an eviction at one of our units north of Seattle.  Following the process, it took 10 months to finally get her and her unauthorized guests out of the unit.  They were doing drugs and harassing the other tenants in our property but we had no ability to do anything other than post notices. 

During the junk out of the unit, the company removing all the junk found 1 loaded gun and numerous knives (not kitchen) as well as baseball bats.  I admittedly was surprised as we have only done a couple evictions in the nearly 20 years of owning rentals.  The fact is the world is more dangerous than it was previously.  We have to adjust accordingly.

John

@Enrique Anadilla I am sorry that you are having to deal with this situation.  Unfortunately, at this point you need to involve an attorney and start the eviction process.  Many attorneys are extremely busy with evictions so I would begin your search right away.  There are resources like the RHAWA & WLA both associations that can provide guidance.  The eviction process is deliberately slow at this time and it only seems to be getting longer.  That said, the earlier you start (with proper representation) the sooner you will be done.

From personal experience going through an eviction recently, I know there is very little the police can do currently.  While very frustrating, it is not the police officers who have chosen to not allow them to enforce the laws.  Be kind and respectful to all parties and let the attorneys move this forward.  

John

@Terima Nagatani reach out to @Adrian Chu. He’s done a number of loans for us and great to work with.

John

@ZZ Song I would not start your investing journey by focusing on the legal structure / entity or by getting an attorney / CPA. Instead, I would get really clear on the specific investment type you are interested in perusing.  Once you know what you are looking for, you can start to narrow down geographic areas.

Only after you have gotten a property (or more likely a few properties) would I start looking at the other elements (asset protection & tax management).  You will be able to decide the best strategy based on what you actually own vs some theoretical portfolio of investments.  Prior to having assets to manage or protect, you are simply spending money without any clear benefit to you.

John

@Joe Nepomuceno My understanding is that Washington DC is considered a tenant friendly state.  I would look up the local rental housing association for WA DC and join.  This is the easiest way to ensure you are up to date on all the latest regulations.  Often these associations have classes, networking and even leases available.

Best of luck,

John

@Adrian Clapp Rent control always fails wherever it’s tried because it’s goal is to separate the profit motive from housing. This ignores that when you incentivize people to provide housing you get more of it and the quality of the housing is better.

This press release, like the many bills being floated in legislatures around the country are almost all for show. They are a way to virtue signal without having to do the real work of fixing the thorny underlying problems (environmental restrictions / zoning issues). The other legislators who actually think this is a good idea are the real problem. They are immune to the facts that what they are doing hurt the people they claim to be trying to help.

Quote from @Bradley Dosch:

Hey Kobe, I live and house hack in the city of Snohomish. Work everywhere in the greater seattle area. We're having a meetup on Thursday. Happy to connect!

 @Bradley Dosch Where do you normally have your meetups? Are they in Snohomish area?

John

@Kobe McDaniel I am a multifamily investor in Snohomish County.  Feel free to reach out with questions.

John 

@Brian Hughes I have provided responses to both bills and will attend today's meeting virtually.  I have long provided straight forward logical analysis of the consequence for these terribly thought out pieces of legislation.  For this bill, beyond the normal comment, I provided the following.

HB 1388

Thank you for finally addressing the shortage of housing in WA by creating an even worse morass of overly complex legislation that will further harm the average resident. Your complete ignorance of and disregard for the basic rules of economics, supply and demand are certain to lead to the utopian vision of overly abundant housing our state so desperately needs. While many might scoff at the idea that someone can arbitrarily dictate that all rental prices will follow the CPI-U, you have boldly chosen to assert yourself and demand that the world conform to your ideas. Congratulations, the dismal science of economics holds no sway over you! History is filled with an abundant number of examples where governments have chosen to ignore economic reality in order to deliver unparalleled prosperity to their citizenry. If you can’t find any, then it’s clear that none of those “other” leaders were as brilliant, charismatic, social media conscious, oblivious to reality or frankly anywhere near as good looking as you.

To those who might point out the obvious logical fallacy in your proposed legislation, it is clear they simply do not understand the power of this legislature to demand laws of economics be suspended whenever or in whatever fashion are necessary when they conflict with your vision of the world. Thankfully after the successful passage of this legislation and the other House and Senate bills of equivalent quality, the residents of WA will no longer have to worry about prices of anything rising faster than CPI-U (between 3%-7%). Finally, the world will be put on notice that only our legislators will decide what prices are allowed to increase in our State.

By crafting a bill this incredibly vague with little to no explanation as to how or who will decide what costs are “necessary to maintain the dwelling unit” or “substantially likely to force a tenant household to move or involuntarily relocate”, you have guaranteed ample employment opportunities for attorneys to argue both for and against this. Just like that this dreg of a piece of legislation has now made you a job creator!

Like the missing member of a group project who contributes nothing to the finished assignment but demands to present the material to the class; you are giving our court system the opportunity to shine by spending years and huge sums of money litigating this legislation. Undoubtedly, they will take this opportunity to evolve your atrocious piece of legislative tripe into something far worse.

Clearly claiming the power to reshape the rules that govern reality (economic & otherwise) is highly dangerous and can only be entrusted in your “highly capable” hands. Going forward it is clear that legislature will need to address the fact that many people have chosen to relocate to WA for employment opportunities. I have full confidence that you will address this issue of increased “demand” for housing no less eloquently than you have address price controls in this legislation. As such, when can the residents of WA expect your new legislation to require all people relocating to our beautiful state to bring their housing with them? Additionally, any insight into where you will create / manifest the new land these incoming dwelling units to occupy would be greatly appreciated. I assume all of this will be handled via legislative decree but wanted to clarify, asking for a friend.

It has been said that “Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men and weak men create hard times.” While many people worry about the future of our State, it is clear based on your leadership that we will soon have the opportunity create many more strong men and women. Until they can come along to lead us back to good times, keep up the great work!

@Henry T. I completely understand your reaction to this.  There are actually a number of different bills HB 1388 and HB 1389, along with a few other senate bills of equivalent "quality" that the legislature is trying to pass this session.

Given the level of absurdity to the rules they are trying to pass one could honestly think it was a joke but unfortunately it's not. If this was actually a good idea or something that would work in real life, everywhere with rent control would have zero issues with housing. Also, why wouldn't they be mandating that gas stations and grocery stores do the same?