All Forum Posts by: Sharon Rosendahl

I don't know about Ellensburg but yes, it seems to vary by county as to what is legal. If the ADUs were built with permits then you are probably fine (double check since I believe Whatcom county requires you tear down the ADU if property isn't owner occupied). I have an ADU in Grant county (it was built in the 50s so I didn't worry about it) and and ADU in Jefferson county (also fully permitted and on the property tax) and has been in existence since the 80s.

@Brad Hammond

You are right, Yamhill county is nice and a good commute to the tech area in Hillsboro, Salem and Tigard/Tualatin. Not as easy to Portland proper but I've done it before. They also seem to have chased out the homeless RV camp that was in McMinnville. I lived in that county for many years and sometimes miss it.

@Lara Nicole

I own in Jefferson county but everything over there seems to be doing pretty well right now. If you get in areas near the ferry docks you can commute to Seattle quite easily. 

I lived in OR for many years. Looking out in the burbs can improve conditions. The west side has always been nice (I used to live near North Plains), SIL just moved out of Vancouver because they retired, otherwise she loved it there, one of my kids is in SE Portland. Far enough from the rioting she doesn't have a lot of issues but close enough to commute. There is also Salem, I haven't looked there for investments though since I exited OR investments a few years ago.

Where OR goes so does WA and vice versa. State laws are slightly better here now than OR but they will catch up. I would avoid Seattle as they have extra laws. Much like OR, you get away from Portland there are nice places same goes for getting away from Seattle.

I would have to say that cash flow isn't all that great in a lot of the greater Seattle metro ie near me, you can buy a house for 500k and rent it for $2500 per month. We have a couple units in central WA that are doing ok and a couple in Oly Peninsula which is doing great. But prices in that area are going through the roof right now.

Last time I was over in Spokane it was also a challenge to find properties that cash flowed.

Honestly, there are deals out there but I don't think anyone can tell you a specific area, it is like a deal by deal find. If you are going to house hack, find an area you like and buy there.  

I also believe the capital gains tax excludes houses and business equipment so it sounds like we may be safe from that.

I am one of those landlords that will likely leave the state. I am looking for a fairly easy dollar since I put in 50 or more hours per week at my W2 job. I also believe that these restrictive laws come in to play because people who have no knowledge about business write them. Throttling supply does not make prices go down. Making it hard for us to run our businesses will make some exit the market and others create more restrictive tenant requirements. Less units available and a higher bar to entry is not going to make tenant situations any better.

HB 1236 has passed the house and is in committee in the senate. https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsum...

SB 5139 is in Senate committee https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsum...

SB 5160 has passed the senate and is in house committee https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsum...

On the linked pages you can access information on what is in the bills.

@Jayman Dalal

I screen tenants very carefully so have not had to evict since I acquired a property with a non-paying tenant. And even then, they vacated once I started the process. The problem is, we are now at 14 day pay or quit instead of 3. We are subject to a judge determining that the tenant has a good reason for not paying. The trend is becoming more landlord unfriendly. Bills like the ones that have been being proposed during the last few years along with some of the laws that are also being proposed or passed in neighboring Oregon indicate that we will continue to lose power in determining our own business direction.

I have properties in central WA and the Oly Peninsula. Good screening is critical and I also would rather have an empty unit than a badly filled one. It does happen though, I had a tenant fall off the wagon after years of being clean. That was a costly issue.

My point really is, all these restrictive laws may protect a small handful of tenants from abusive landlords but it will chase away many of the good landlords thus leaving less options for the tenants. It is hard enough to make money, who needs more laws to prevent it? I can invest my money in other investments or in different markets.

Since I feel we are losing control of our business with so many restrictions we are considering selling two of our properties in a lower quality tenant area. While we have a couple that are in a good area and we have been able to choose our tenants we have actually discussed selling them despite good cash flow because we may no longer be able to eliminate bad tenants. We will take our investments to areas with more typical laws for landlords. I'm not sure how this is a win for WA tenants as we provide reasonable priced, well maintained housing but I guess WA doesn't want us anymore.

@Evan Dobrowski

Can't forget to go to Fat Smitty's on 101 (at 20 in Discovery Bay) for a burger when in the area. Best, messiest burgers.

Sharon

@Greg Moran

A lot of people have difficulty adapting to our rainy (west side) weather. I would say that if they are limiting their areas to the west side of the mountains then now would be a good time. Much of the west side of WA/OR stay pretty grey from about November to March. The further south, the less grey.  If they will be going east of the mountains late spring would be better since the roads can be unpredictable this time of year, especially if they aren't used to driving in snow.

Summer will allow them to experience a lot of the outdoor activities available since the weather will be drier and more things will be going on outside. If it is more of the inside stuff like museums and theater then any time is good although be aware that at least WA is still pretty limited in what is open. I think OR is a little less restrictive.

Since I'm not sure what kinds of activities they are interested in or how much it is hard to recommend what could best suit them. Eugene has a University of OR so would have many of the typical college town things. On a smaller scale, McMinnville has a private college (Linfield). McMinnville is also about 40 minutes to Salem and about an hour to Portland. Vancouver is closer to Portland and all of those activities. It sounds like they also have friends there so that may be a good place for them to start or end in. Also, heading out toward Hood River would get them close to a lot of outdoor activities.

Heading further north, being reasonably close to Seattle would give you lots of activities but it is hard to get close enough to Seattle and still be rural. Out on the eastside the price tags are pretty high but there is still some nice rural properties. North of Seattle the prices are a little more affordable. Western Washington University is located in Bellingham which might be a place they would like. There is reasonable, rural land outside of the city. Bellingham has a lot of people who are environmentally oriented. It is on the ocean and very close to the Canadian border. It is going to be cooler than Portland area.

There are also a lot of beach communities that might fit what they would like. Maybe start in southern OR and meander their way at least to Vancouver area if not all the way north to Bellingham. Don't forget the San Juan islands and Olympic Peninsula. My family has had property in the Peninsula for most of my life. Much of it is rural. Sequim has grown quite large and has been popular with retirees for years. It is called the banana belt since it supposedly gets more sun. (The Hoh rain forest takes much of the water. BTW, Hoh rain forest is the only rain forest located in the lower 48 of the US.) Port Townsend and Port Angeles also offer some activities they might like. 

If they want to check out the east side I would have to say that Bend may offer what they would like. It is a tourist town with both skiing/winter sports and summer hiking/water sports. Also, Spokane is a pretty substantial city with a lot of rural areas surrounding it.

I'm sure they will find something they like, it is just a matter of getting out and seeing it. If nothing else, they would have a pretty cool vacation.