All Forum Posts by: Meron Kidane

Hoping to make it after my appointment today and meet you all! Hope to see you again Sherief!

Hey Marwan, welcome to the community and congrats on making the move into real estate!! I'm in a similar situation (I'm from Seattle) and have been interested in out of state investing. Detroit (and it's neighborhoods: Hazel Park, East English Village, Madison Heights, etc.) has been an area that has also interested me as a potential place to invest. I'm also interested in the BRRRR model, so I've been spending the last month or so studying up on the BRRRR strategy as well as researching some of the Detroit areas identified above. I'm under the impression that BRRRR can work anywhere, but I'm just intrigued with out of state investing currently (I have two 4-plexes in Seattle).

Even though I inherited my 4-plexes, I still consider myself new to “investing”. I’m not familiar how far you’re into your journey, but some things I keep hearing from this community, and I’d recommend for starting out, is continue to educate about the strategy, market you’re interested in, and connect with the different resources of people on these forums. Real Estate is a long term game and there is no need to rush into getting started. Learn how to evaluate deals.

One good resource I’m learning an investor should have is a good property management team from the city you’re looking into. These companies would be the most familiar with the city and have a TON of contacts at their fingertips. Also, they’d be the best way to manage your property (when you eventually get some) if you’re going to be an out of state investor. They can even help you in finding properties that they are aware of that can potentially be your next investment opportunity. I’ve been researching and following a few property management companies that specialize in the Detroit area on here and their websites, and my next step is to reach out to connect with them and ask some questions. Two of the property management companies are: Logical Property Management and KJ Manage (@Keith Jourdan). I also started following some of the Detroit area Forum discussions just so I’m aware of the happenings in the area more from people that are on the ground and investing in that market.

Sorry it’s kind of long winded, but hope this helps and good luck!

Hello all, I was hoping to get any recommended landscapers in the Seattle area that can help me design/build a retaining wall. Just trying to get some ideas and a quote from somebody. Any recommendations of someone or company you have had great experiences with, would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

@Jacob Whitbeck new to the BP community/REI and from Seattle. Would love to be added to the list as well to network with everyone! Thank you in advance.

@Michael Haas thank you for your insight and welcome to BP! Yea, I know some people that have not got permits for their additions. In fact, I know of one incident where one individual was fined by the city for their non-permitted ADU. So definitely just want to make sure I do things the right way and gain the experience needed for future projects/investments.

For my "project", I think a simple wet bar, as you explained, is what I was thinking about doing. Since the space I want to have it done at isn't that big, I just wanted to have a hot plate, sink, and fridge. I also found the "subject to field inspection" option yesterday on the city of Seattle's website. I'm going to continue to review that but definitely would like to pick your brain a little bit more (if I ever figure out how to send a message on BP haha).

Thank you again for reaching out and if I have more questions, I’ll definitely reach out.

@Marlen Weber thank you!! Happy to connect with you as well!

@Derrick Dill thank you for the input, I appreciate it.

Hello BiggerPockets community! My name is Meron and I’m a new member to the community. I’m based out of Seattle, WA and I’m really excited to begin my journey as a real estate investor. I don’t have much experience with real estate investing, but after reading “The Book on Rental Property Investing” I have been more motivated to learn as much as possible and begin on this investing adventure! After attending a webinar with Brandon, I kept hearing and reading the chat talk about how great a resource the BiggerPockets forums can be in helping you throughout the whole process. So I’m going to start interacting as much as I can for any information or resources!

That being said, one of the first things I want to accomplish is turning my finished basement into an ADU for additional rental income (still trying to determine whether for a long term renter or short term renters, ie AirBnB). I already have a full bathroom down there and a "bonus" room, and I'm looking to add a small kitchenette. Would any of you happen to know how, or if, I need to get that permitted? If so, can a contractor get that permit if they are hired to install the kitchenette? I've gone to the city of Seattle's website to see what kind of permit (if any) I would need but was so confused on where to go to actually find something that told me simply "YES or NO".

So if there are any folks here that are familiar with Seattle, any help would be greatly appreciated! Like I said at the beginning, I really look forward to interacting with the community and learn from you all! Thank you in advance!

P.s. If there are any good recommendations on contractors or person that can put in a small kitchenette, that would be nice as well. :)