Having located us through our Seattle Condo Review Facebook Page, this buyer came to us with the idea of using an inheritance to purchase a real estate investment property. We met up to get a conversation going. Several months later when the funds became available to our buyer, the time was right to make a move, we started the search for a Seattle investment property.
Originally looking in all Seattle urban neighborhoods, we soon centered our focus on northeast Seattle to be closer to the University of Washington and Children’s Hospital for a potentially larger renter pool than in other locations. Wanting a multi-family unit, we narrowed in on duplexes and triplexes. When we located a nice one story duplex in Meadowbrook we pounced. Knowing rents will be higher on units that are above ground, this was a great find. Many small multi-family properties have basement level rental units which fetch less rent and have the added concern of water intrusion which makes for potentially higher operating costs. So we were stoked to see both units in this duplex above ground. We ran this property through our investment spreadsheet analysis and it came out looking good from cash flow and rate of return perspective. Another bonus came after we spoke to our property management team, it was determined rents were low and there was the potential to increase them since the rents had not been raised by the current owner in over 4 years, making the investment an even better option. After detailed inspections and heavy negotiations, we came to an agreement that both the seller and buyers were comfortable with and set off to a quick cash sale closing. Our client met with the property manager we recommended and now they have a great investment that is professionally managed, which they felt was the best plan for their busy lifestyles as they near retirement.
Good luck with your first rental property David and Mandy!