All Forum Posts by: Matthew Knorr

Thanks Andrew, I hadn't thought of that. I'll look into it

@Tyler Resnick I like the idea of removing the hard ceiling and exposing the floor joists. Is there a good method of sound insulation between floor joists? Maybe I could insert some sort of foam board insulation and drywall between the floor joists to create a sound barrier? Matthew Paul, we should be able to get $1500 using the low end of the comps. @Thomas S., that was the direction I was leaning between the two but I heard that lifting the house was to much for a diy project. I assumed the dig out would be a lot more straight forward but also a lot more labor intensive. What are the main concerns when lifting a house?

Hello,

My wife and I just purchased an older 1927 house in Seattle, WA with the intention to use the BRRR strategy. We are living in it during the remodeling process . The goal is to take the 2 bed 1.75 bath house and split it into two units. the main floor and attic will become a 3 bed 2 bath unit and the basement will become a 2 bed 1 bath unit. Two problems, the attic peak is only 7' and the basement height is about 6'8" on average. In Seattle, the height requirements for livable space is 7' minimum across 50% of the space not including areas that are less than 5' high. My main questions for this post are regarding the basement remodel:

1. Digging down or jacking up the entire house, what would you do to get to the 7' height requirement?
2. Would you keep a stairway between the two units to allow renting the house as one unit in the future? I have seen this in a couple units I have rented in Seattle.
3. Does anyone know a good structural engineer/architect in Seattle who can design an affordable attic and basement remodel for an older home?

Thanks for the advice!

@Ryan Substad I'm currently looking on the edges of Seattle and a little outside of it. Keeping my eye on the Tacoma area as well but I don't get down to that area often. As far a finding deals I am driving for dollars and getting ready to send my first batch of letters this weekend. I am also on the MLS via Redfin quite a lot looking for a home for my wife and I and one of our criteria is to buy a property that would allow for and ADU or DADU that we could either Airbnb or rent out.

Thanks for the welcome @Lane Kawaoka and @Adrian Chu!

So, finally filling out an introduction after being addicted to the Bigger Pockets Podcast for the last 6 months! My wife and I currently live in Seattle where we've lived for the last 6 years. I currently have a day job working as an Automation and Controls Engineer.

Our experience in real estate is minimal. We purchased a house in 2013 but then made plans to move back to California were we are both from. In 2014 we sold the house after making only minor renovations (painting and new laminate flooring). Due to the appreciation in the Seattle market we were able to sell for a nice profit. But our plans changed and we decided to remain in Seattle which we love! 

Now after a couple years we have started to actively looking into real estate investing. Our plan is to own rental property but to get there we are starting with finding deals and doing a couple flips and possibly wholesaling to gain capital. We are looking forward to meeting more investors in the puget sound area and talking real estate! Hope to see some of you at the local meetups soon! Cheers!