All Forum Posts by: Nicole S.

Good Morning,

I'm looking to hire a contractor to rehab a single family home in West Seattle beginning in Feb 2016. This would be one of many projects.

This is a studs in rehab.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Nicole 

@Manolo D. and @Billy Au-Yeung - this makes sense, you confirmed how critical the ARV is.

@Ryland Taniguchi - I think I'd like to find a contractor/investor on here that would be willing to work with me. I would love to apprentice with someone who has done this before.  I don't know what that would look like but I'm in the market to hire a contractor to do the work. I'm not a novice when it comes to construction however, this would count as my first rehab. The house is in West Seattle where quite a few of our rentals are located. 

Financially, I have the funds to do the rehab so I'm not sure how a hard money loan would be in my best interest. Perhaps you can shed some light there? We have about $60K in cash we can throw at it and the rest would come from a "cash out refinance" loan on another property. 

The rent is definitely below market - my parents felt that because the home isn't updated and needs cosmetic work - that was fair at the time. 

Thanks for your help, I really appreciate it! 

@Alex Chin thank you for the recommendation, I'll be sure to do that! 

Thanks @Account Closed I'll take a look at the webinar. 

Nicole 

I've been analyzing this darn property for months now and I just don't know what to do with it. My family owns it free and clear and we currently rent it for $1,200 a month, which is a steal in the Seattle market place. 

It's never been updated and needs about $20K worth of foundation/structural work. It's looking tired inside and has knob and tube wiring, asbestos lined heat ducts (gravity heat), original plumbing, it needs a new roof and windows soon and some siding work and a paint job. Not to mention all of the cosmetic work, etc. 

Built in 1919, it has about 1,200 livable SF but if it were re-habbed closer to 2,700. 

If we sold today, I predict we'd get between $350K and $450K as-is. Estimate to re-hab is $300K, estimate to tear down is $600K. 

It's possible I could get $850-$900K when done. 

Should I sell as-is, rehab and sell, rent as-is, rehab and re-rent? I look at the comps and they're all over in this neighborhood - this home also sits on an arterial. 

Thanks for any help - I'd be curious to know what others would do in the same situation. 

@David Oldenburg thank you! 

Good Morning BP Members,

I'm a Seattle based real estate investor (buy and hold) and I was recently recruited by an established real estate company to develop and market their business. I own several condominium units and served as President on the Association's Board of Directors for eight years. Now, I'm setting up Cayce Real Estate to manage community associations, a position I've held for the last five years at another firm. I'm a member of Community Association Institute and I will be studying for the PCAM next year. At one point I held a real estate license and I graduated with a Bachelor in Business - Marketing from Seattle University. I meet with several investors regularly and advise on on rental properties and rehabs. Lastly, I'm about to rehab one of my rental properties, tear down another and I'd really like to get into flipping. I know, I'm a little late to the flipping party! 

I'd welcome an opportunity to meet any local investors, especially those that are rehabbing and flipping.

Warm Regards, 

Nicole 

I own two condominium units in the same building and my husband and I decided to put one of them on the market last week and four days later we're in contract. We stand to make $80K in profit on this deal and if I sell the other one shortly after, another $50K. I have other real estate holdings that I've been working on improving cash flow from because our cash reserves are nothing to write home about right now. 

Now I'm trying to think of the best way to leverage this cash. What would be my biggest return? I'm very open to suggestion, I've been "stuck" for a while. 

@Adrian, the home is in the heart of West Seattle. You hit the nail on the head, the design of the house will be one of those contemporary conglomerates. We plan on adding a few traditional craftsman details to blend in with the neighborhood and keep the look timeless, well, that is the intent. The only thing is, I don't know if I want to sell it right away although I do know these homes sell for top dollar, it would be very tempting. 

I asked my architect to use every SF of the land as possible and in turn he came up with a 10,000 SF design on a 6,500 SF lot. Impressive but overbuilt for the neighborhood unfortunately, I don't think there is a single 10,000 SF home in West Seattle! 

After much discussion over the weekend, we decided to build the single family with a mother-in-law. It would be marketed to ONE tenant entity with the intention of legitimately moving their parents in the basement, that way we can still make full use of the three floors without breaking any zoning requirements. I got this idea from another forum on this site. As for the additional ADU that might have to come at a later date.

Great suggestion @Matt Devincenzo, my architect thinks we can do exactly as you suggest, rough everything in and build it out later.

Perhaps I'm misinformed. My understanding is that an existing "non-conforming" home is legal because it was constructed before current zoning laws were enacted. You have all confirmed what I feared, if I get a permit to build a single family home in a single family zone and in-turn build a "single family, non-conforming, triplex" by definition it would be illegal and will surely come with consequences. 

Say no more! I do not want to go down that rabbit hole. =) 

Thanks everyone for your prompt and thoughtful responses, I really appreciate it. 

The property has been in our family portfolio for decades. My mother grew up in it, I grew up in it and now it's a rental. Great insight @Rick Harmon, you hit the nail on the head. 

We are making money but we could be making more if the home was in better shape OR rented to more tenants. I'd have to sell it "as-is" and it would be torn down by a developer anyway. 

I have no experience in 1031s Rick so I am going to make that my mission to research this weekend, I hadn't thought of that. 

@Rob Beland, you're right, getting on the city's short list would be a bad idea. My architect says so long as the basement is used as a "guest suite" there wouldn't be an issue with the city. Now, if I rent it as a triplex and I'm inspected, he says I could face some permitting fines. I disagree, I think that the city would force me into compliance and I would have to evict a tenant (or two). 

It just occurred to me though, from reading another thread, that the entire house could be leased to one family who has a need for an actual mother-in-law. I hear there is an increasing demand for this type of arrangement as more and more gen x-ers are moving their baby boomer parents in to care for them. 

My creative juices are flowing. I really enjoy these forums!!