All Forum Posts by: Jonathan McKay

I'm curious which property you were looking at, reminds me of 405 S Maple. If you are confident in your rehab numbers and can keep things on-budget that calculation could probably pencil well. 

Spokane Multifamily Market (below is referring to 5+ units, 1-4 followus SFH more closely)

*Traditionally a substantial cap rate spread with cities like Seattle / Tacoma, but that's narrowing.

*Substantial increase in rents over the last few years. Affordability is becoming a serious issue.

*Washington State is driven by Seattle politics, which is becoming much less landlord friendly.

*Very hot market -- people are selling either their least favorite assets (like me), or need to sell because of retirement / death in the family. Problem is there are way more people that want to buy than the natural supply creates, a lot of deals are happening off market.

From what I've heard, Guenther is the best from an owner perspective, but they haven't taken on new clients since COVID. There are some upstarts like LT that could be promising. A lot of the old school property managers in the city don't seem to be worth using, as I'm sure you've found out. 

looks like a good deal. What neighborhood? 

Lenders I work with: 

Spokane Teacher's Credit Union

First Interstate

Riverbank

Boise definitely has a lot less multifamily than Spokane, both in terms of 2-4 units as well as 5+. As such you see much tighter cap rates. That being said the population is increasing more there and there's a more robust job market, so I'm trying to buy in either.... if I can find a good deal which is getting harder. 

Once again I find myself agreeing with Phil Wells. Some of my properties have seen 20% YoY appreciation. I'm selling off the MF in parts of the city that don't fit my model well (Hillyard, West Central) which I wouldn't recommend as a first time option for people looking to get into Spokane. I think there's some more appreciation left, but it can't go on forever.  

Agree with Phil Wells - right now everybody looks like a winner in Spokane.

John is also right that Perry district is particularly hot, more so than the rest of Spokane.

Cliff cannon is getting expensive, but where most of my portfolio is and I'm looking to buy more in the area. 

To answer the original question: 

I have a portfolio of about 90 units in Spokane, I find rentometer a useful tool, but dangerous if used alone. West Central + Kendal yards is a great example where the distance based averaging won't work. Or Peaceful Valley vs. Browne's Edition vs. Cliff-Cannon. 

To find a property that will meet the 2% rule, you will be looking at serious renovation in Spokane. There's been a lot of appreciation, so Spokane is different than the midwest (where I also own one SFR). Finding income properties in good neighborhoods that meet the 1% rule means you're probably finding decent candidates.

We use AppFolio for 72 units across 9 buildings that we own. It has been helpful in professionalizing our property management, although has not replaced quickbooks for accounting. As others have mentioned in this thread, it helps tremendously with scaling, and I imagine we will continue to use it at least through 1000+ units.  The $250 a month is definitely worth it for me.