All Forum Posts by: Nicholas Shepherd

Hello BP,

I recently purchased a home as my primary residence, but of course, the gears are turning thinking of a way to profit off of it. After all, that’s why we are all here right?

The home is located in Tacoma WA (unincorporated pierce county.) The lot is a long rectangle in shape and measures 4 acers. The parcel is zoned as a moderate density single family home. The area permits 6 dwelling units per acer. This allows us to add one more dwelling unit, whether that be another house, ADU, or converting the existing home into a duplex.

Generally speaking, what does BP think it would be better to do?

1. Divide the lot, develop, and sell the new property? Obviously taking a hit on the value of the existing property because it will no longer have a large yard. (this option would be the most time consuming and expensive up front, but could potentially have large rewards)
2. Convert the existing property into a duplex, fairly easy to do because of the layout of the home. (Property is on septic so the city planner said we may have to contact the health department for approval to keep it on septic because it can only support so many people)
3. Add an ADU to the back yard (there is already a concrete foundation for it) and rent it out for monthly income. This option adds value to the existing home when we go to sell it.

Any advice or PRO/CONS from others in the Tacoma area, or anyone who has done any of the ideas listed would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks everyone,

Nick

Hello Tiffany, 

Be sure to check out the forms section. Users upload documents and forms they use on their own properties. I've personally used one myself. The one I use seems pretty iron clad from a legal stand point. Just change the address and terms and you're good to go.

Good luck!

Thank you @Timothy Tooker . I've made some progress today. It is unincorporated so my phone call has been forwarded around several times today from the city of Tacoma, to some biologist planner ??, to pierce county PALS, but I think I ended up in the right place. I've left a VM with the Pierce County zoning/planning contact Dan Buhl. Just waiting to hear back.

We do live in NE Tacoma. I am having a hard time sifting through the internet to find zoning regulations regarding the use of my land if we were to keep and rent it. I've been all over the pierce county website searching to no avail. Part of me just wants to just post the space up for rent and see what happens, But the more rational side of me wants to figure out the regulations and do it by the book. The book that I cannot find. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

We are located in Tacoma Washington near federal way. 

Hello,

My fiancée and I just purchased our first home. The home we purchased sits on a .4 acre lot that was legally divided into two lots by the previous owner. I’m looking to get some advice on just what to do with the extra lot. The options we have thought of are,

-Let someone park an RV/Tiny home on the concrete pad that is located on the lot

-sell the lot to a developer/contractor

-build on the lot and sell the property.

-keep the land as a yard, and enjoy it.

We are worried that selling half of the property will lower the value of the existing home. Any thoughts or suggestions on what to do with our extra space? 

Hello BP,

Names Nick, my wife and I have decided to dive head first into real estate investing, even though we barley have our toes wet. Not to mention the sound water being freezing!

My wife and I are in our mid twenties and love the outdoors and traveling. Our goal in real estate investing is to gain a substantial amount of passive income to allow us to work fewer hours at our jobs and more hours together doing the things we love.  Can you guess our favorite book? (hint: It's the 4 Hour Work Week). I am a nurse by trade and am in the US Army. My wife does marketing for a company in DT Seattle. Although we enjoy our fields, we enjoy our free time and time together far more.

We took a road trip spanning a month across the western states and into Canada. We fell in love with the  PNW, Seattle in particular. The outdoors were calling us and we picked up the phone. We decided to move here from Chicago a mere 3 months ago. We found a small one bed apt in southern Seattle, just to get us out here. The apt is 500 square feet and costs us, after utilities, over $1400 a month. Luckily for us, we only signed a 6 month lease anticipating that we would soon become tired of paying for such a small space that doesn't belong to us. We anticipated correctly. Were 3 months in, and we've had it. We've toyed with the idea of investing in real estate before back in Chicago, but never pulled the trigger. Now is the time. We cannot stand the idea of paying the equivalent of a mortgage for our tiny Apt. We are looking to purchasing a multifamily property, and occupying one of the units. House hacking if you will. We are going to kill three birds with one stone in that we will have a place to live, tenants will be paying for most of the mortgage, and we will gain some experience in investing and land lording. After gaining knowledge in the field, we plan on traveling different avenues in the way of flipping single families, and one day, commercial properties. Were not completely green behind the ears, We know the Seattle market is tough, but with being in the military, I am no stranger to adversity or a challenge. We have set our sights on our first property by the end of 2016, and are planning to own 10 by the end of '17. 

Every one starts somewhere and here we are. 

We would love to network with others in the area, to include seasoned investors and fellow newbies alike. We are also open to any and all advice or tips you guys and gals may have. We look forward to interacting with the BP community and getting to know everyone in the area.

Hello BP,

New real estate investor here, I mean brand brand new. My wife and I are in our early twenties, and we decided that we loved Seattle so much, we would move here from Chicago. Its been a little over 3 months, and we are already tired of paying rent for our tiny 1 bed apt. (aprox $1400) So, we decided that now is a better time than ever for us to own and invest. We've toyed with the idea of a fix and flip back home but never pulled the trigger. After reading around on BP and listening to the BP podcasts, we've decided that house hacking may be whats best for us. We like the idea of living in a home for next to nothing while renters pay down the mortgage. We are having trouble finding any property that meets the 1% rule, or any numbers that make sense to us for that matter. I know the market has exploded over the past few years and prices are high, but we believe its going to continue to rise so we want to hop on now. We would like to see what has worked for investors in this area over the years. We would absolutely love any tips from seasoned Seattle/ King county/ and surrounding area multifamily investors. 

Thank you BP members, we look forward to being a part of the community.