I am a noob looking to get started in the Seattle area. In my market I am having trouble finding deals that even come close to cashflowing. Am I missing something? How do I find the deals?
got3 - based on my very limited knowledge, I don’t think you usually “find” deals. I believe you need to “create” deals. What I mean is that I believe most sellers will try to get as much money as they can. So they usually ask for market price or as close to market price as possible.
Yesterday I went to see some properties in my target area. The majority were priced at 90k to 100k. I found few listed below that amount. The majority were bank owned properties. So for me to cash flow $100 per month (considering 50% of rents as operating expenses) I would need approximately $1,600 in rents which is not going to happen in that area.
Based on my estimates, I would need to buy those houses for $40k to $45k, maybe $50k. Anything above that and I would be dangerously close to have a negative cash flow.
So from a newbie to another - I believe you first need to find a motivated seller. Actually, a very motivated seller, and then you will need to find the price that you are willing to pay for the house, and then negotiate it. If the seller is not interested, than you move on to the next. I believe you will eventually find what you need.
Hope this helps. Have a great weekend! and good luck!
I’ve lived in a few different places in Western Washington for the past several years. The area is very expensive and overpriced. It will be difficult to find places that cashflow for rentals. Now there are people who are stuck with their homes (that is if they can still afford them) who will try to rent just to get some money out of them. The rental market won’t support rents high enough for most of the mortgages so what you have are a bunch of people who owe a ton, but can only get mediocre rent for their house.