All Forum Posts by: Nic Werner

@Richard Le I would first confirm your numbers will work out, and you can cash flow in this area first. House hacking will be lower, but you will need 25%+ for rent to cover the mortgage + expenses (roughly speaking).

For rental rates, Craigslist is your friend. I use that for rentals and Mashvisor for Airbnb comps. Local FB groups can give you an idea as well, when people post rates.

Vacancies are a little more opaque, and I’m watching to see if others respond with some approaches.

Having researched, I’d go where there are few rentals. Columbia city has very few places for renting, and would do well for you since you’re looking at renting rooms and there is little other inventory. BUT CC is opening up several hundred units over the next six months, so I’d look 3BR+ to not be in direct competition.

@Wayne Xie welcome to BP, great introduction and awesome career arc! I’m also based in Seattle (Columbia City), and others of us will chime in here too.

@Scott Mac I think you nailed it. While I didn't write out my full pitch here, I can definitely be clearer with a property developer - and you've written just the template.

VERY helpful response, thank you!

And for completeness, this is Door #2: I *am* looking to work for someone as a way to learn the ropes. Down the road it would be more of a partnership as I get more immersed and have more to bring to the table. For now I'll take any scut work to get the exposure. I previously founded an automated building-code compliance startup, so no shyness around the thorny stuff :)

And I appreciate everyones helpful (and patient) responses - getting normalized into a new industry really helps with support like this.

Thanks for the thoughts Jeffrey. We got far enough for me to explain my background, skills, and Why my shift. So it may have just been the brushoff. I also have a voice in the back of my head that they may not want to expose their playbook to someone. This is an industry of trust, and I am an unknown...... 

Oh, definitely not that! :) I'm using that term in the sense of opportunities: properties that have not been managed well. 

Odd subject, but I am stumped, and could use some insider deciphering.

I'm shifting my career into hands-on property development in Seattle area. I'm looking to join a small property development team that specializes in distressed multi-units. From my AEC + operations background, I know I can help uncover the mismanagement, analyze books, bring economies of scale, etc.

BUT when I reach out to property developers, the only response I get back is "Bring me a great deal and then we'll talk". 

Why is this? Is this how I get a seat at the table, Wall-Street style?

To me, it doesn't make sense that an operations person would have to prove themselves by finding an off-market gem. If I was getting into wholesale, that makes complete sense. I know I need to prove myself (and am excited to), but not understanding this challenge. Is this how one proves they are serious?

Thanks!

I’ve been playing with DealMachine and Propstream (their sub product). No clear winner, but I’d use DM while still cursing it. I’m going to try others. 

DM is clunky but has clearly optimized for quickly adding properties, even auto sending texts, emails or mailers through zapier. But it crashes often, has confusing, limited filters. There are different colors on the map, but no legend. You can’t zoom out to see clusters of houses that meet your criteria, the app forces you to zoom back in. Filter-wise,min Property size is measured in acres :). You can’t exclude commercial, corporate owners,etc.  There is no True North feature so it can be hard to drive and stick to a route. Adding notes is a couple taps too deep.   

DM has done a good job focusing on the workflow, even recording my route. I’d like it to show me while driving so I can work the roads like Pac Man.

DM also just feels....scammy with everything being a product. Did you want to add a google street view pic? That’ll be an additional $20/month for their Street Pic product.


Propstream  has superior filtering, which makes sense as their main product focuses on research. But the app fails as it takes a few steps to add a property, and the property lines aren’t as clear on the map, crucial when you are driving! The app lacks a designers touch, meaning it’s easy to get into another part of the app while driving, and then a couple taps to get back. The button features were added wherever, so, yes, the feature may be there, you just have to “know” where it is.  (I still don’t know why there is a bird icon).

As I said at the top, I’ll continue with DM, but import and research my leads with Propstream. For those of you who have said they are “watching” this thread, you really just need to load up a couple and drive, no excuses! :) it’s instantly apparent what parts work. May look at ProfitDriving, Batchdriven next.

Happy driving. 

Thanks @Johanna V. And @Dean Phillips for the responses, very helpful! The wording helps when searching through.

That's right - the word is redemption. Thanks both of you - I dug deeper and it is the Sheriffs sales where this redemption period applies.

A property developer told me they avoid foreclosures because the owners could come back within a year and re-claim their property. Is this true? I've been doing research, but can't find anything about this. The King County Foreclosure office wouldn't answer me and told me to speak with a lawyer.

This doesn't seem correct - that I'd buy a property, fix it up, and then the owners can take it back from me just by paying their back taxes.