All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

I agree with the people you talked with today. White Center is one of the final neighborhoods with a Seattle addres that still borders on affordable. It has the lowest entry price point in Seattle making it ripe for a boom of  new buyers and neighborhood revitalization.

Hello Aaron and welcome to the BP family! As you may know, Seattle is an expensive market. Luckily, West Seattle, specifically White Center, is still one of the most affordable parts of the city. 

As far as where to look, that depends a lot on what your goals are. The further you get from the core of Seattle, the lower the prices are, but so are the rents and the potential appreciation. Once you get clear on your strategy and what your goals are, it will be easier to decide where to look and what to look for. 

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me anytime. The best part of this community is how helpful we all are. 

Best of luck with your future investment! 

Christy 

If this home will be strictly an investment property, the most important question to ask the lender is does the type of financing you are considering require owner occupancy? Loan options for non owner occupied properties differ and often have a slightly higher rate, but it's important to get a mortgage that is not continent upon the home being owner occupied. 

Congrats on moving forward with an investment property! Bigger Pockets is a wealth of information and with this powerful community behind you I'm sure you will have great success. 

I agree with Justin. Evan Loeffler is an excellent real estate attorney and has a wonderful staff. 

Hi Colin, 

First of all, I'm impressed with the amount of thought you have put into your post and the options you are considering. You really know your stuff! 

All of your options sound viable, and I'm going to add my two cents. The fact that you have a low maintenance, cash flow positive property in the Seattle area is impressive. This is a hot market, and all the investors I know (myself included) would love to be in your shoes. 

I'm a big fan of buy and hold. If you were to sell, it would be VERY difficult to find a new property to buy in the Seattle area that would yield you as good or better results. If you were planning on selling and taking the proceeds to buy in am area outside of Seattle that has better prices and ROI, selling might be a good plan. But if you wanted to reinvest that money back into our area, it's going to be a challenge to find anything that is better than what you currently have.

If this was my scenario, I would keep looking for another cash flow property, and when I found one, use the HELOC to pull money out of this home to invest in another.

Best wishes, 

Christy 

Hi Bryan, 

Thank you for bringing up an important aspect of this business that isn't often addressed. I'm also an introvert and consider it my main strength in real estate transactions. Many good points have already been made on this thread, and I have just one more to add. 

Being an introvert drives me (and other introverts) to be overly prepared before entering into a situation, be it a business deal or an in person meeting. That level of preparation will make you 200% more informed and prepared than most others in this industry. That will allow you to quietly but confidently come from a place of facts and confidence in your position. Although this won't win over every potential client, deal or business partner, I've found that the type of people that respond well to it are the type of people that are great to be in business with. 

Stay true to who you are. Being an introvert is a strength, not a weakness. Give yourself permission to say no or walk away when the situation doesn't mesh well with who you are at your core! 

Cheers, 

Christy 

Mary! Welcome to BP! It sounds like you have a  solid foundation of buying and selling houses, and now you are armed with all the knowledge that this community has to offer. 

North Seattle is an increasingly tight and expensive market, but it is still possible to find deals. You may have to analyze 100 deals to find the right one, but that's half the fun! 

Cheers to another Seattle investor on BP. I'm always around if you have questions. 

Christy :) 

Yes I am!!! I've been a full time liveaboard for almost a decade, and I have two other boats that I rent out fully furnished on three month leases.ive considered turning one of the rental boats into a vacation rental, but the turnover cleaning is so daunting! 

If you are ever on Lake Union, I'd love to have you over for coffee and to chat real estate. 

Hi Keiko, 

What a bummer! That is happening more and more here in Seattle as the real estate market continues its frenzy. I'm sorry you are in this position. 

I suggest you take your notice and go down to the Municipal Tower and talk to the City Planners. They can let you know what the specific zoning is for the house that will soon block your view. If the new home is going to be taller than current zoning allows, they will have to get an exception, and that means they will be required to get community feedback. Ask if there is a meeting planned to discuss the permit for the new house. If there is, attend that meeting and let your concerns be heard. 

Hope that helps! 

Christy 

@Tammi - Thank you so much for your reply!  About 7 years ago I used to rent my downtown condo out on VRBO (Is that site even around anymore?).  As much as I enjoyed the logistics of reservations and furnishing the space, I got too busy to clean between guests.  If you know of a service that can clean between tenants, I would love to hear about it.

Good luck with your next investment property!!