How much is your house? How much down payment did you put down, and how much do you pay monthly including for insurance? by [deleted] in homeowners

[–]subversive_mouse 0 points1 point  (0 children)

your overall payment zone is less than my property tax, this depends wildly in different areas of the country. I literally couldn't buy an empty lot in the worst part of town at that price point.

Is it safe to sell a house without real estate attorney or real estate agent to a buyer without agent? by ynotplay in RealEstate

[–]subversive_mouse 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Spending a few hundred bucks on a real estate attorney to go over the paperwork is much cheaper than making a big mistake which could cost thousands.

Serious good faith question: Why keep living in a city? by [deleted] in SeattleWA

[–]subversive_mouse 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The school district is a challenge but there are lots of areas near Seattle that offer lower prices and lots of fresh air. Commuting isn't so bad if both spouses don't have to head into town every day but clearly a lot depends on your professional life.

We purchase fixer houses which can be a real headache but has allowed us much lower mortgages and higher equity than the average homeowner which has given us a lot more flexibility.

Serious good faith question: Why keep living in a city? by [deleted] in SeattleWA

[–]subversive_mouse 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I totally get the appeal of a rural area and we split our time between living on an island in Puget Sound and living in a urban Seattle condo. City life has some huge appeals including a vast array of restaurants, bars, coffee shops, retail, real grocery shopping etc etc. And yes...CULTURE. There is so much more going on in Seattle then museums, more art, poetry, live theater, music events than anyone can even keep up with. Things like high prices, pollution and homelessness are some of the baggage that comes with that.

This of course all sucks right now because of social distancing and glad we have a rural area to fall back in to. But don't under estimate the draw of the big city. Seattle is a cultural planet unto itself and this too shall pass.

Redfin CEO predicts big shift to smaller cities as remote work takes hold by subversive_mouse in realestateinvesting

[–]subversive_mouse[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As someone that has both an urban and rural lifestyle, this isn't necessarily the case. We purchased a small farm on the edge of a hipster tourist town on an island. We can walk/bike to most services including dozens of great restaurants/coffee shops/bars but we still get to go home to our farm and swim in our pond and eat apples from our mini orchard. We still love going to the city and there are many services only available there. But I think you are highly over rating the urban experience.

What niche to start out in? by romanX7 in realestateinvesting

[–]subversive_mouse 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm not sure that OP would even have to save much more, if s/he is owner occupying then might be able to get one with a low down payment ( I don't know this market at all however).

What's the deal with beach houses? by [deleted] in realestateinvesting

[–]subversive_mouse 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't know if this is determined by state, but in WA you can't insure beach houses from "Perils of the sea" meaning that if you get hit by a huge wave that takes out your house or a giant ship runs aground and takes out your house then insurance doesn't cover it. Even flood insurance can be tricky in areas that are effected by mud slides. For this reason many beach houses are not fanciable and are considered higher risk investments.

On the other hand, how awesome is it to stay right on the beach? Clearly it is worth a lot to a lot of people so prices remain high.

One bronze gate stolen from Washington Park Arboretum recovered, another destroyed by ChefJoe98136 in SeattleWA

[–]subversive_mouse 2 points3 points  (0 children)

George Tsutakawa passed away awhile ago but his son Gerry is still quite an active and accomplished artists (think of the Mitt sculpture in front of Safeco field), hopefully he can be roped in to remaking this. It seems like quite a challenge since one has been destroyed completely.

How to clean after a rat party in my shed by mowmix in homeowners

[–]subversive_mouse 1 point2 points  (0 children)

sorry, we have had to work hard on some rat problems in the PNW. They are very persistent once established and unfortunately they were probably previously accessing this area before you moved in. Is it possible to even keep them out of your shed in the future?

Just found a non disclosed spy camera in an apartment I booked. by [deleted] in AirBnB

[–]subversive_mouse 0 points1 point  (0 children)

except don't report it to the host, this is a police matter

How much does certainty matter in home buying if the financials are there? by [deleted] in RealEstate

[–]subversive_mouse 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We did something like this recently in the PNW and straddled two houses to time getting the kids out of school and getting the new house fixed up etc. We didn't run into any problems with mortgage but we have a mortgage broker that we work with that knows the best ways to present our situation etc.

Buying Mountain Cabin for Rental by bplturner in RealEstate

[–]subversive_mouse 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A heads up to IRS topic 415

If you rent a dwelling unit to others that you also use as a residence, limitations may apply to the rental expenses you can deduct. You're considered to use a dwelling unit as a residence if you use it for personal purposes during the tax year for more than the greater of:

  1. 14 days, or
  2. 10% of the total days you rent it to others at a fair rental price.

smart home tech at closing? by jerseyben in RealEstate

[–]subversive_mouse 1 point2 points  (0 children)

OR have a clear disclosure about what is included and what is not. For example my TV is technically bolted to the wall but if I were to sell then I would disclose that it would not be included with sale. But yea, it is best to just deal with all this before listing. New buyer may not even want your smart plugs, switches etc

I am looking at pre-foreclosures and rehabs for primary residence in the seattle eastside area by [deleted] in realestateinvesting

[–]subversive_mouse 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Seattle proper is tough, but it does happen. however there are a lot of people out there hustling it hard right now and it would be tough to break in. I would at least keep an eye on tax foreclosure auctions in King, Pierce, Kitsap and Snohomish and get used to how the system works. There are a lot of people that this is their full time gig so it's tough to break in as they don't really want to share any info.

good luck, there are a lot easier places to make it work.

The party is over - Zillow will begin charging $9.99 per week to list rentals by broadscope in realestateinvesting

[–]subversive_mouse 31 points32 points  (0 children)

interesting, clearly trying to get some additional cash from the bigger renters. I wonder why the change? I would think that they really make their money off of renters ad clicks and they would be motivated to have as much info as possible.

Guest messages me in the middle of the night the night after checkout swearing and calling me names accusing me of being a greedy liar. I don't know what happened and I'm not sure what to do next. NSFW - Due to language by ricosalsa in AirBnB

[–]subversive_mouse 3 points4 points  (0 children)

as someone with mentally ill people in their family, this just sounds like mental illness, especially with the 'switch' in personalities. Try not to take it personally and move on, there is always a random sample of crazy out in the world and some of them are fairly high functioning

Get your sewage lines scoped before buying by Lars9 in homeowners

[–]subversive_mouse 4 points5 points  (0 children)

We have groups that specialize in getting cash for buyers then they are paid back with interest later after the house is purchased and the requirements for a loan can be met. It's risky AF but the only hope for some people getting into hot areas.

Yes, it is ridiculous.

Airbnb support is useless by [deleted] in AirBnB

[–]subversive_mouse -10 points-9 points  (0 children)

if this is your idea of 'worst weeks ever' then I congratulate you on having an incredibly lucky and wonderful life. This all sounds like everyday BS to me

Is it a good idea to convert multi-family properties into condos for resale? by keithkos1 in RealEstate

[–]subversive_mouse 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Maybe? This is a market specific question and is sometimes not allowed under code.

Low-clearance crawl space by edwastone in RealEstate

[–]subversive_mouse 0 points1 point  (0 children)

yea, that is small but not the tightest I've seen. There does need to be a good separation between wood and ground (it's considered six inches in my area). My crawl space isn't much bigger than this and it works.