All Forum Posts by: Ran Iarovich

Check out airdna and you can also use a local rental calculator like Rentometer for a plan b. What people sometimes do during long vacancy periods is have longer-term rates such as travelling nurses or students during the winter/cold months

First

Fire your realtor. They should've known this before - they have access to HOA and resale certificates.

I'm not sold yet...

I think that it gets easier if you get personally affected. If you start seeing people feed themselves while you are only left with some scraps, it's easy to start developing an iron-clad way of doing things. 

I would suggest to get a mentor in your area and see what they have to say. Someone who has been through every scenario you can count, 10+ years experience at least.

Quote from @K S.:

Quote from @Ran Iarovich:

Over what timeline? 

Anyone who bought and held a house 50 years ago is smiling. But then again, the hundreds of cycles in between then have brought a lot of tears.

The average rate of home inflation in the past 50 years has been 4.26% according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. So you may not be smiling once you factor in average home CAP expenses and maintenance with a house in the 50-100 year range assuming it's still standing. You may have multiple cash outs for renovations and repairs. The neighborhood may have went to **** in that time as well and you yourself may be dead. Not everything is guaranteed to be rosy just because you held.

 Though you are right. Not everything is rosy and you can't ever truly have a "riskless" investment with real estate. With that being said, we are all taking a risk here in the same way we take a risk when we drive on the road

Quote from @K S.:

Quote from @Ran Iarovich:

Over what timeline? 

Anyone who bought and held a house 50 years ago is smiling. But then again, the hundreds of cycles in between then have brought a lot of tears.

The average rate of home inflation in the past 50 years has been 4.26% according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. So you may not be smiling once you factor in average home CAP expenses and maintenance with a house in the 50-100 year range assuming it's still standing. You may have multiple cash outs for renovations and repairs. The neighborhood may have went to **** in that time as well and you yourself may be dead. Not everything is guaranteed to be rosy just because you held.

That is true but there is a bigger picture than taking an average. Having an average means that there is a binomial distribution of really really bad investments and really really good ones on both ends and then some average so and so ~4.26% in the middle. For example, in the Eastside part of Washington where I live the average appreciation is between 8%-10%. If you are on this forum then you are probably also on the right side. You also have to take into account tax depreciation, write-offs, rental income, leverage, and risk hedging - it doesn't stop and end at that 4.26%. 

Quote from @Julien Jeannot:

@Willie Creear III

What has worked for me so far is to find mis managed properties and do the following:

- Light cosmetic rehab

- Landscaping clean up

- Increase rents

 If you are in Washington you can increase rents however much you want. Just be careful that you are not overpriced from the competition 

Quote from @Jamiru Mutebi:

@Ran larovich  and @Jim  Rivell  

Thank you so much for the information. You really make good points.

 With pleasure!

Quote from @Aleksandr Shmidt:

Quote from @Ran Iarovich:

There is more of a concentration of wealth in the middle of King County as you have probably noticed. The farther north or south that you go the less value that you get and the more affordable the land is. The reason land prices are so high in the middle of King County is because of their potential. If you can build a 3,000 sqft house in Bellevue and double your returns through appreciation in 3-5 years then the bet is well worth it. Adding on to this, liberal zoning laws in King County (such as HB111) have created an environment of insane potential for the savvy investor. 

 Thanks Ran 

This helps a lot as well. What would be the right way to evaluate a piece of land once I have found one? thanks

All the best,

Alex

Usually, I go with the comparable approach. By finding 5 active, 5 pending, and 5 sold pieces of land with similar size and in a 2-5 mile radius. 

As an agent, I'd be happy to help you with an evaluation piece of land if you have one in mind. Send me it through private message.

Best

Ran

What you lack in wisdom you have in energy. 

SHOW people your passion and commitment, the wisdom and know-how will come later. 

Don't ask them what they can do for you but ask what you can do for them. 

I promise you it is that simple.