All Forum Posts by: Michael Haas

Thanks for the shoutout @Chace Fraser! @Fernando Puga there's a lot of factors that go into calculating cashflow, but in general Auburn's price-to-rent ratios are slightly better than Covington's. There's definitely great investments to be found in both cities though.

I can shoot you a rental report with a more detailed breakdown, sending you a DM now :).

Thanks for the kind words and reccomendation @Chace Fraser!

What's your experience level with investing in real estate and renovating properties @Drew Smith ? HouseHacking is an extremely effective strategy in the Seattle market, and the ROI #'s can go toe-to-toe with most out of state investments.

One major difference is that Househacking is a great beginner strategy, but BRRRRing is not. Think of a BRRRR like a trying to do backflip on ski's - not something you want to attempt before you 1. learn how to ski and 2. learn how to do a backflip. The BRRRR is the process of putting real estate investing together with rehabbing properties, and in your case combining that with Long Distance Real Estate Investing as well. I would not recommend trying this strategy until you have some long distance real estate investments and some rehabs under your belt individually.

I'll be hosting again - looking forward to seeing all y'all!

PS: I'm thinking about getting a membership to The Shop Club down the street. They have a great conference room that we can host these in as well if folks want a change of scenery. I'll keep everyone in the loop if we end up going that route, and in the next month or two the Compass Offices in Seattle (westlake), Tacoma, and Bellevue will all be opening up again and we have some great spaces available there as well!

I always have time to talk about Real Estate Investing @Ross Asher! Just sent you a PM with my info to coordinate, cheers!

@Jack Perkins we haven't seen 2-3% response rates since 2012-2015, before the market got really hot. Now we're seeing about 1%, maybe 2% when using handwritten letters, brightly colored envelopes, pictures of you or your family (bonus points if you have a dog), etc to grab attention. Besides revising down your expectations a bit the strategy is sound if you can execute it consistently for 6-18 months!

I don't recommend using a Hard Money Lender on your first deal if you can avoid it - one of the common mistakes I see beginner investors make (and that I've made many times!) is lengthy holding times, and the HML rates can destroy your profit real quick if you're not in-and-out of the deal quickly.

Just curious, why flips vs rentals or other strategies? Do you have any particular goals that strategy is moving you closer to?

Cheers!

@Phil Greely I'll second targeting stale (20+ DOM) listings. Cash, patience, and a lack of contingencies can be very valuable to those sellers!

Don't get to caught up in executing a perfect BRRRR - the point is to pull capital out and reinvest it, and I wouldn't sweat leaving a bit in your deals here and there if it helps you identify and move on a property. Lots of folks complaining about price points have been caught on the sidelines while the investors who have been creative, flexible, and a figured out a way to make this market work have realized significant gains and leveraged that equity into more deals.

@Aileen Yu Realist and County Land Use records are your friends here. In addition to the code requirements that Sherief mentioned (ceiling height, egress, as well as heat sources and electrical panel locations) you'll want to see if land use and zoning match up with the properties current use. 

This can be really confusing the first time you look it up, but becomes second nature quickly. If you'd like to message me the property address or listing link I can show you how to pull those up in Everett as well.

Cheers!

@Jeffrey Auckland from what you've told us about your parents a FSBO is definitely a bad idea. Especially if they're living in the property they should expect 5-15 or more phone calls a day from buyers agents between scheduling and questions that come up. Their house will also likely sell for less as a FSBO than as a Listing, so the 3% "savings" isn't even a real savings. As Adrian mentioned, a good listing agent can net your parents tens, or even hundreds of thousands over asking and save them from having to do a job that it doesn't seem like they will enjoy much.

There's a reason that the average days on market for a FSBO is way higher than average days on market for a listing, and that's because having a listing agent add significant value to a sale, even just for the exposure, marketing, and efficiency of running the sale through the channels that everyone is accustomed to.

Cheers and best of luck! I'd sell sooner rather than later if I was them, inventory is low and buyers are absolutely desperate.

I don't personally own an units in Cap Hill but have heard rents are down - it definitely makes sense that dense areas like downtown, first hill, and cap hill will be slower given that so much of the draw of those neighborhoods are the bars, restaurants, and amenities that have been shuttered by COVID.