All Forum Posts by: Sharon Rosendahl

Be aware, much of the great NW is very liberal whereas much of TX is conservative. Generally speaking, the more central to Portland, the more liberal. More farm country/rural areas are a little less so. Having spent a lot of years just outside of McMinnville/Newberg, it is still reasonably balanced. Bend is changing from fairly conservative to liberal. Eugene is very liberal.

West of the mountains is pretty rainy and may be more of a climate change than they like. East of the mountains has more sun but also is generally colder in the winter. 

If they don't have a specific place they want to buy (friends or relatives already there) then I would suggest they visit some of the areas people have mentioned and check them out. WA and OR are beautiful places but the culture and weather can vary and they should probably see where they most feel at home.

Just my observation. If you have an abandonment situation you can deal with it. A friend lives in an apartment building in Seattle and he said that a lot of the doors have abandonment notices on them. He had seen people moving out of them so he knows they really did leave. There would be a legal process to notification if you ascertain your tenant has left. It will likely be much cheaper than actual eviction. You might want to check in with a lawyer or at least go look at the RCW and see if there is anything there. We currently can't evict tenants except in cases of dangerous behavior.

@Jason Denis Eastern WA is much cheaper than most of the Seattle metro. Spokane seems to be getting to the point it is getting a little harder to find cash flowing properties but they are still there. Especially if you look a little out on the fringe.

I also have central WA rentals that used to be a little slower to rent but lately things are heating up there too.

SW WA seems to be getting hotter too. Even north of Vancouver is moving faster. My SIL retired and sold her house in Vancouver in a week and has been beaten out on houses further north. 

I haven't really looked at Tri-Cities. We are looking outside of WA for rentals now due to the numerous laws that aren't very landlord friendly that appear to be coming down the pike.

@Shweta Bharti I would say it is as good as anywhere else in Seattle metro. One of my kids works in Bothell and ended up renting in Everett 2 bedroom 1 bath apt for $1200. My nieces also rent in Everett, 2 bedroom 1 bath duplex with fenced yard for their dogs at $1600. A few years ago I met a guy who rented a room in Everett and he was paying $800 month and that was a really good deal. It seems that rooms are closer to $1000 up here now. 

Edmonds, Everett and Mukilteo have a Sounder train stop making for easy commuting into Seattle. Everett has a big transit station with a decent amount of parking. I have heard parking is much scarcer at the big Lynwood transit center.

I think you are much more likely to find a house for around $500k in these areas. It seems like Bellevue you're looking at closer to 1m.

Heading north is a little cheaper Everett, Marysville is a little more affordable. Commuting much further is a headache but I live even further north and commute to Seattle. It takes me 2 hours ish by public transit but I'd rather live out on the fringe than in the city. I drive to Everett and then ride the train or bus (depending on my exact location). Saves me on parking and traffic headaches. I do know people who commute from Mount Vernon/Burlington into downtown Seattle so it is doable. I just figure 4 hours of commuting is enough for each day. Other closer options are Edmunds/Bothell/Lynwood area.

Also, Stuff is moving fast. SIL's house had multiple offers by day 2. They held offers open for the week and then chose the best one. They also got over asking for it.

Looking outside of Vancouver proper may make it easier to find a large lot to build an ADU. MY SIL just sold her large lot home and it was 530k in Vancouver. It may be hard to find a good neighborhood in your price range in the city.

What part of WA state you are looking at will influence your decision. Seattle metro is a whole different world than Moses Lake. I have seen 1 bedroom condos in Everett going for around 150k but a SFH is unlikely. Even Moses Lake is getting pricey and so is Spokane. So where in WA you are will make a difference.

If you are wanting to house hack with the duplex in Il but don't want to live there then house hacking won't be very satisfying, forcing you to live where you don't want to. 

Good for you for saving up 20k on a low income. Look around your part of WA and make sure you understand what you can buy and if there is a way to house hack it. You should also talk to lenders since that will tell you what you can afford. If you really want to buy an investment property, the plus of IL is that you have friends and family to kind of keep an eye out for you and you know what areas are good/bad. Long distance management can be difficult, especially if it is your first investment unit.

Here is the post with the clauses I mentioned yesterday. I'm not a lawyer but I feel that it doesn't include real estate, just personal property.

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/49/topics/835756-sba-eidl-loan-terms-is-it-worth-it-for-25k?highlight_post=4951648&page=3#p4951648

@Rudy Bello @Peter Vetdun So a couple things I noticed when I read the documents. I'm working right now so can't look things up but one paragraph talks about personal property. That is normally defined as anything besides real property (land and buildings). Then it mentions stuff like accounts receivable, equipment and inventory although you can sell and buy inventory without permission. Also in another paragraph there was some mention of not used in your home or something like that.  I'm kind of guessing (I'm not a lawyer) but that we are agreeing to allow them to seize inventory, equipment etc from the business in the event we don't pay. I'm really busy this week but I'll look around since somewhere I actually posted something about this after I got my contract.