All Forum Posts by: Sharon Rosendahl

I know this is a few months old but I'm curious about the non-renewal laws that were in place during Covid. Here in WA, we had limited ability to non-renew, couldn't raise rents even if notice had been sent pre-covid. There are a slew of laws pertaining to non-payment that are continuing. The permanent law has now been passed that we can't non-renew except effective on lease expiration of at least 6 month lease and it has to be for cause. Moving in to it yourself requires 90 day notice prior to lease ending. Same with selling. If you are Month to Month then you can never do this. The only way to have a non-cause non-renewal is at the expiration of the first lease of at least 6 months. BTW, tenant only has to give 20 days notice. And even having your unit condemned doesn't keep you from having to give 30 days notice!

Obviously, we are selling our WA properties and moving investments out of state.

Hi,

I'm preparing to sell a 2 unit property in WA state and want to 1031 to a more landlord friendly place. We prefer being on the fringe of a larger city as we really don't understand city people that well and find it harder to determine what features they are wanting in a unit. We prefer blue collar areas that are safe so aren't interested in low c or less, high C and solid Bs are great. While appreciation is nice (WA and OR appreciation has worked well for us) we are more into cashflow and don't mind a slower appreciation, as long as it isn't completely stagnant ore negative at this time.

So tell me where you would invest and who your Agent and PM would be. We are trying to put together our team before we actually list our property as it is possible it will only be on the market for a few days (and it is in a small market outside of a small city).

Thanks

Sharon

Hey All,

We are about to sell one of our properties in Washington state and want to relocate our money to a more landlord friendly state. We will be doing 1031 so will be short on time and are preparing ahead of listing the houses. We normally purchase in what we call fringe areas, places that are commutable to a metro area but not so close that they are congested. We are simple country people who don't do well with crowded cities and don't really understand what that type of people are looking for in a unit.

To begin with, I need an investor friendly Realtor who can help me with finding the right property and a PM as I can't really manage a property so far from my home base.

I have chosen the DFW area for multiple reasons, not just the better legal situation. I spent 16 years east of Albuquerque so TX isn't a far leap. DFW doesn't have the awful humidity in the Gulf Coast. It is closer to home than Florida which is choice #2, although also very humid. I don't care much for hot and humid. I also feel that the area has had pretty steady growth over my lifetime and isn't likely to have fluctuations like some places that have a single industry.

So please offer your opinions on agents, PMs and towns.

Thanks

Sharon

I vote for leave it be if there are no other issues. If there are other issues then act based on those. If your building is the neighborhood blight then terminate all, upgrade and rent to a better class of people. If you are in a bad neighborhood then you need to grow thicker skin to handle being a landlord in such a neighborhood.

If this is loads of different guys/people then that is different than an individual. Drug trafficking usually will involve multiple, very short, we're talking a minute or two, visits. Prostitution usually involves multiple visit of a little longer nature. Side piece, one person, longer visit. If it tends to be for a pretty set time frame it may be more of a tutoring/teaching type of situation.

I tend to stay out of my tenants' business unless it involves safety of the neighbors or some kind of major crime, so yes, drug dealing would fall into that but most lower level dealers will have more than 1 customer and many high level ones who might only have one visitor are not as likely to have them daily.

I got an email the other day informing me that loan limits were being increased and first payments deferred to the above.

I also got an email about additional advance. I need to look into this as one of my properties falls into the low income zone and has had a loss (one tenant hasn't paid and also trashed the house). I'm still not fully clear on what I can spend the EIDL money on, I have only used it to replace missed rent and the rest sits in a savings account. I know there was much debate last year as to whether even the slightest amount of maintenance could be done. At that time there was little direction although I am hoping I can use it to repair this home and clean it. We would fund any upgrades out of other monies. This house is my inventory and I need to make it rentable.

Good to know the emails aren't fake. I'll look into the offers more deeply this weekend when I have more time. I have a non-paying tenant and in Washington state there is no hope of being able to do anything about it. 

The neat thing about the Bend area is that Bend itself is pretty city like although surrounded by great outdoor activities. Head over to Redmond it is more of ranch town feel. Sisters has that funky vacation land vibe. Couple that with skiing, hiking, fishing, rafting etc and there is always something to do.

I have to agree with the ID area. I love Wallace. It has tourism but isn't quite as over crowded as Leavenworth. Central OR around Bend is also nice. 

@Sinjin Lee

Since you are looking for a certain vibe, I would pick some places out and go hang out for a few days. Out north of Spokane, that is mountainous and there are smaller towns out there that might fit the bill. If you want small, mountain town, Rosalyn is adorable. In fact, so cute that it did a stand in for an Alaskan town in the TV series Northern Exposure. Index is breathtaking. There are lots of small towns in the Mount Baker area. 

I have to say that Leavenworth is overcrowded during tourist season but there is a lot going on there and great outdoor stuff out of town. 

Much of what is out in the Okanagan is treed, with various types of wild water (streams, creeks, rivers, lakes). Mount Baker is full of small town, many that get tourist traffic. 

Not sure exactly what you are looking for so hard to say. I have spent a large amount of my life wandering this state. I'm not a big fan of the drier parts given I was born and raised outside of Seattle but the whole state is beautiful and has a little bit of everything.

The thing to watch out for in Brinnon and Quilcene is that there is no city sewer. Those little in town lots have septic. Often, the cheap houses have no septic and are deemed unlivable because of it. My family has had a vacation home out on Quil Bay for about 35 years. It is beautiful, a few miles out of Quil and very peaceful. Just do you due diligence as Jefferson County has some difficult building/land use laws and just because someone chopped a lot out doesn't mean it is buildable, well and septic permits will be granted etc. There are a lot of camping lots out there.

@Sinjin Lee I haven't ever been to Big Bear but have an idea what it is like. You may want to look at the area north of Spokane, Kettle Falls and such. It is a logging area so a much more rural lifestyle. It is heavily treed, has creeks and lakes. If I wasn't stuck working in Seattle metro that is where I would go. I would miss the ocean but not the crazy traffic and prices.