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All Forum Posts by: Julien Jeannot

Julien Jeannot has started 6 posts and replied 750 times.

Post: Is it rude to have your agent walk each property for you before you put in an offer?

Julien Jeannot#4 House Hacking ContributorPosted
  • CPA, Real Estate Broker & Investor
  • Seattle & Woodinville, WA
  • Posts 757
  • Votes 1,043

@Mary Ainsworth

Sounds reasonable to me and I do the same for my clients.

At the end of the day the agent chooses to work the client just the same as the client chooses to work with the agent. As long as long you both agree on what the expectation are ahead of time, good to go.

Post: Questions that came up when I am trying to start investing in real estate

Julien Jeannot#4 House Hacking ContributorPosted
  • CPA, Real Estate Broker & Investor
  • Seattle & Woodinville, WA
  • Posts 757
  • Votes 1,043
Quote from @Dan H.:
Quote from @Julien Jeannot:

@Keng Fong

1. I agree with @Rachel Kokosenski. When rates come down, especially in historically low inventory markets such as the Seattle marketing, demand will push price up. For every point the rates come down, the buyer pull increases by 7%. The best time to buy is now, especially if yo have a long term strategy and buy the property correctly.

2. House hacking is popular and effective in the Seattle area. That's how I got started and how many others do. Duplexes, rent a room, create an ADU out of a split level, DADU, or even rent out extra parking or storage.


 I see agents, lenders, and other professionals who rely on RE sales say this regularly.  I view their comments as biased. 

Rates have more than double from less than 2 years ago while most markets have not seen a significant fall in RE prices (my market is up 11% YOY). Together the two have created the most expensive RE in over 50 years for high LTV financed properties.

If rates fall, I suspect there will be more buyers and sellers. There is no reason to believe that the affordability will decrease for high LTV purchases. I state this because the government intentionally decreased affordability but it did not result in price declines in most RE markets. This is because supply dried up and is near all time lows in terms of percent of market available for purchase. If rates lower, there is not a single reason that I can think of that supply will not increase (can you think of one?).

Then there is the entire cost of purchase with high LTV compared to rent is also at all time high. This implies for residential RE, there has never been worse cash flow nationally.

This is not to imply that one cannot make money in RE.  It always has been possible but it is more challenging now than perhaps any other time.   I still made 7 digits on RE last year, but my last purchases were Dec 2021 (but I am getting the itch to buy something), I did not make that profit on purchases made in this market. 

A lot of smart RE investors are sitting on the sidelines. They are waiting for prices to fall to correspond with the rate increases or they are waiting for rates to decrease. What many smart RE investors are not doing is purchasing cash flow negative properties (virtually all on market LTV properties are cash flow negative at this time) without value adds hoping that rates go down (they may not go down any time soon).

Know one knows the future, but I do know that high LTV purchases cost more today than in the last 50 years. I think it is more likely high LTV purchases become more affordable than less affordable implying either prices come down or rates come down or possibly both.


good luck


 I can appreciate the skepticism on the counsel from any sales professional. Trust, but verify and ensure the product matches your crystal ball and strategy.

The investor side of me is following my own advice. I'm about to sell a portion of my portfolio to scale in the same market in Q1 of 2024. 

But hey, I could be dead wrong and lose it all. Having been through a few cycles, I'm comfortable making a bet in a market I know well with a strategy that can mitigate the majority of downsides on the timeline I'm aiming for. If the rates come down, that's the cherry on top for my game plan, it is not required for success.

Post: HOA not allowing Timeshares, but is AirBnb etc Timesharing

Julien Jeannot#4 House Hacking ContributorPosted
  • CPA, Real Estate Broker & Investor
  • Seattle & Woodinville, WA
  • Posts 757
  • Votes 1,043
Quote from @Mark S.:

@Julien Jeannot It's not that easy. A letter from an attorney isn't likely to do much. In many, if not most, states there is no regulatory agency overseeing HOAs. Your only option is to go to court and from my experience that can be a multi year process, along with being very expensive, with no guarantee of prevailing. And HOA boards understand this. I am not pro or anti HOAs, just stating what my experience been.

I agree, the letter is a best case scenario and the probability of success isn't great.

Post: Nobody Talks About The Dark Side of Turnkey Investing in Ohio

Julien Jeannot#4 House Hacking ContributorPosted
  • CPA, Real Estate Broker & Investor
  • Seattle & Woodinville, WA
  • Posts 757
  • Votes 1,043
Quote from @James Wise:
Quote from @Julien Jeannot:

@James Wise

Thanks for sharing. Feel like the same experience I've had in Memphis TN. Its a completely different world coming from the Seattle WA market and take a different mindset and strategy to be successful.


 Did it work out for you in Memphis?

I exited the market and broke even. The decision was based on the strategy we wanted to focus on: equity play w/long term cash flow rather then cash flow & no equity build.

Post: HOA not allowing Timeshares, but is AirBnb etc Timesharing

Julien Jeannot#4 House Hacking ContributorPosted
  • CPA, Real Estate Broker & Investor
  • Seattle & Woodinville, WA
  • Posts 757
  • Votes 1,043
Quote from @Julie Smith:
Quote from @Julien Jeannot:
Quote from @Julie Smith:
Quote from @Julien Jeannot:

@Julie Smith

I agree with @Justin Brin. Ask the HOA and their property management firm with an answer in writing.

I also share your concern, I've run into plenty of HOA and PMs that have interesting interpretation of their own legal documents.


 Thanks for responding.

I currently live in an HOA where the officers think they can interrupt the CCRs as they see fit. Don't follow the rules themselves, but do what they want with other members. I don't know why HOA boards think they are a dictatorship. The laws desperately need to be changed.


 Unfortunately an all too common situation. In that case, one the options is to hire a attorney to let them see the errors of their ways.

Best case, a simple letter from the attorney to the board can help. Fairly cheap $250 to $500.

Worst case, it becomes a protracted and costly legal battle and the ROI doesn't play out. Sometimes the best play is to cut your loses and sell.


 I tried that with an attorney, they just ignored the letter.  Tried suing them, they couldn't get served and didn't respond again to anything in the mail.  Judge said he wouldn't hear the case unless they get served properly.  They are horrible people.  It's a whole thing. 


 That's horrible, really sorry you are dealing with that.

Post: House hacking excel sheet

Julien Jeannot#4 House Hacking ContributorPosted
  • CPA, Real Estate Broker & Investor
  • Seattle & Woodinville, WA
  • Posts 757
  • Votes 1,043

@Justin Brown

The only thing I would add, is the house hack strategy's underlying timelines is long term.

Do play out the next 5 years with cost, rent, and appreciation increase.

Don't forget the tax advantages as the cherry on top.

Post: Nobody Talks About The Dark Side of Turnkey Investing in Ohio

Julien Jeannot#4 House Hacking ContributorPosted
  • CPA, Real Estate Broker & Investor
  • Seattle & Woodinville, WA
  • Posts 757
  • Votes 1,043

@James Wise

Thanks for sharing. Feel like the same experience I've had in Memphis TN. Its a completely different world coming from the Seattle WA market and take a different mindset and strategy to be successful.

Post: Buying Occupied MF Units

Julien Jeannot#4 House Hacking ContributorPosted
  • CPA, Real Estate Broker & Investor
  • Seattle & Woodinville, WA
  • Posts 757
  • Votes 1,043

@Mischa Turner

Inheriting tenant in MF is common. You will be honoring the current lease. Upon renewal run them through the full application process and sign a new lease.

The general is replacing the tenants after an acquisition lends to better results:

- New owner, new rules and some residents are stuck in their ways

- New lease usually means a huge rent increase to make the numbers work

- Opportunity to rehab and rent at a higher price

Post: Mentor that isn’t trying to sell me their course or program

Julien Jeannot#4 House Hacking ContributorPosted
  • CPA, Real Estate Broker & Investor
  • Seattle & Woodinville, WA
  • Posts 757
  • Votes 1,043

@Maxwell MacVeety

I think you are on the right track. Network in the local REI meeting and figure out what you can do to give back.

Here are some ideas I've seen work:

- Coffee/lunches

- Help them run numbers of the deals they are looking to acquire

- Help them cold call or assist in their marketing

- Help them with social media

Mentoring is quite a rewarding experience, even if it is not an official mentorship relationship, always report back on the actions you have taken based an their advice.

Post: HOA not allowing Timeshares, but is AirBnb etc Timesharing

Julien Jeannot#4 House Hacking ContributorPosted
  • CPA, Real Estate Broker & Investor
  • Seattle & Woodinville, WA
  • Posts 757
  • Votes 1,043
Quote from @Julie Smith:
Quote from @Julien Jeannot:

@Julie Smith

I agree with @Justin Brin. Ask the HOA and their property management firm with an answer in writing.

I also share your concern, I've run into plenty of HOA and PMs that have interesting interpretation of their own legal documents.


 Thanks for responding.

I currently live in an HOA where the officers think they can interrupt the CCRs as they see fit. Don't follow the rules themselves, but do what they want with other members. I don't know why HOA boards think they are a dictatorship. The laws desperately need to be changed.


 Unfortunately an all too common situation. In that case, one the options is to hire a attorney to let them see the errors of their ways.

Best case, a simple letter from the attorney to the board can help. Fairly cheap $250 to $500.

Worst case, it becomes a protracted and costly legal battle and the ROI doesn't play out. Sometimes the best play is to cut your loses and sell.