Homes and Properties of Washington State - Tacoma, Puyallup, Seattle

"Remember this one thing above all else,
'Nothing ventured = NOTHING gained!'... If it were that easy..., EVERYBODY would do it. The hardest thing to do is to take the
first step. Failure..? Sure, it can happen and its happened to me.
Its happened to Bill Gates and Donald Trump too, I guarantee it.
Keep at it and you will make it."

----- Original Message -----
From: Mark Ridao / Kent WA
Sent: Saturday, July 16, 2005 8:43 AM
Subject: Re: Hi Mark, info update
> Hi Don-
>
> Thanks for being willing to help me get more informed on real estate
> investing. I have read some information on real estate investing but
> it is always good to be mentored/assisted by someone who personally
> has done it before.
>
>>From what I have read, it seems the less volatile way to build a real
> estate portfolio is to get into your first home (which Michelle and I
> have already done) and after a couple of years, move up to a bigger
> home and rent the other home. I have been told this is the best way to
> get the lowest interest rate but also get the crucial landlord
> experience that most lenders want. Then one can either repeat the
> process again or start buying other rentals.
etc...

Answer:

Hello Mark,

Yes I understand exactly what you are saying...., because I have been
there, done that. You know the old saying... once a man has learned to
make a million dollars the second million comes easy. Do you remember
the very first time you tried to ride a bicycle? I do... and today you wouldn't think twice. You just do it.

One of the basic fundamentals I learned was that you really MUST plan
ahead to start out in the black.... or in financial terms your Net should be
in the positive.

There are many methods and ways to get started, here are just a couple
ideas. What I have done several times and been able to duplicate, was
that you can look for property that you can occupy and yet bring in rental income from that same property to offset your mortgage payment. Like a duplex... or a nice home that has a "Mother-in-Law" attached or on the
same parcel of land. Some people do not want to be bothered or only see
how hard it is to "ride the bike".., while others see an opportunity.
Perhaps a couple real examples will help.....

Example1:
Twenty years ago I bought an acre with a nice 5 bedroom home and
detached garage. I remodeled the garage into a mother in law unit for my parents and later rented it out to the public. Today it rents for $1,000 a
month to a nice Filipino family with 3 little girls on section-8. I also rent
out the main home now for $1,495 a month... and I had built a metal 4 car garage in the rear for about $8,000 and it now rents for $800 a month.
There was 1/2 acre left over and I put a fence around it and rented out
vehicle storage spots for $35 - $45 a month and that brings in about $900
a month too. $4,200 a month on that one property alone and I had refi-
nanced to pay for these upgrades/costs of improvements so my mortgage
payment to the Bank is now up to $1,700 a month. Nice profit.

Example 2:
Some months ago I found this property for $549,000 with 5 acres and a
very nice 3300 sq/ft Tudor style home, two barns a pool.. pool house and a BIG RV shop. The same owner had a nice 3 bedroom 1.5 bath home on
a quarter acre next door also which adjoined the big property so I offered
him $139,000 for it as a part of a "Package Deal". The big house had a
price he put on it and I offered $30,000 under market value on the smaller house next door.

I put my pencil to work and...of course my wife was afraid we couldn't
make it, but I am a risk taker ...especially when I know something will
work, so we bought it. The mortgage payments are $3,200 a month on
an Interest Only Loan w/zero down. That's right, NOTHING out of pocket
at all.

     A. The first week I rented the RV shop to a plumbing company by just putting a simple ad in the local paper.... they pay me $1,000 a month. :-)
     B. I then remodeled the Pool House to make it a nice 2 bedroom home
and rented it out right away for $1,000 a month.
     C. I then rented the large barn out for $800 a month to a lady w/horses.
     D. I rent out the basement apartment for $495 a month (but discounted
for family).
Total income: $3,295 a month with Zero down. You can do it too.

I had worked on a zoning change and its now zoned Residential. I now
have a Developer who would like to purchase 4 of my acres which is
buildable and flat for $1.2 million dollars but leaving me the big house!
see: www.homesandproperties.com/farm

I have to go to work right now..., but remember, You can do it too.
Your friend,
-Don

##############################
Donald J Leske II
John L. Scott Licensed Real Estate Agent
Canyon Road Office, Puyallup WA
Office: (253) 536-5600 | Fax: (253) 536-7808
Cell: (253) 241-6695 | Home: (253) 536-1236
Toll Free: (866) 557-7268
www.Homes-and-Properties.com
www.TheLeskeTeam.com
##############################

----- Original Message -----

From: Ricky and Lilliana in Seattle

Sent: Friday, July 22, 2006 2:05 PM

Subject: Answer for getting started

QUESTION:

Hi Don,
Where do you start with helping ordinary people to become Investors?

What I do for my other Investors is to research the area and help

them to find possible investment properties. A lot of people up in

the Seattle area are now coming to Pierce County to find more

affordable rentals/income properties as an investment. If an investor

finds their own property for sale then I offer my help to research the

property by a "Pre-Title Report" which most Title companies charge

about $300 for. I also put together the Purchase and Sale Agreement

which is so important to make sure the offer is properly presented....

then I also help negotiate the terms and represent your best interests.

The seller will typically pay all my fees in the end, NOT the buyer.

Before you do anything..., be sure to sketch out a "game plan".

Every successful Endeavour has had a pre-game plan in place.

Net Income... after taxes, what money you take home all together.

2. Then write down your expenses for living, bills, food, utilities etc.

and then deduct your expenses from Net income (not gross income).

This is called "Debt to Income Ratio" and will show you what your

true spendable net income really is. Only you will know what your

true spendable income is for now. If you do not have $500 a month

at least it will be a bit harder... if you have at least $1,000 a month

then you are well on your way. Either way, you can still do this.

The prices of property and housing is raising each month as you are

aware I am sure, so there is no time to waste if you wish to succeed.

Your next step is to "visualize" the purchase of an Income Property,

its cost to purchase and list of repairs/fixes to make it ready to rent,

then put that down in writing. If this is not in writing it is not going to

A. Then you must find out by reading the local Newspaper or

by other means what other rentals of that type are renting for, in the same

area it is in..., and look to see if there are there a lot of such rentals or a

A 3 bedroom, 2 bath rambler home is purchased in Auburn for $195,000

and it needs $10,000 to clean, paint and carpet it. You have a combined

mortgage payment of lets say $1250 a month, with taxes/insurance etc.

As an example lets say your utilities are $200 a month if the house is not

rented and if it is the renter will pay more of course because of usage.

Within about 8-10 years you should have a net profit of lets say $500 a
month.

If there is any problem with renting the house you must cover that

$1450 a month in total cost yourself. If you have rented the house out

lets say for $1450 a month and do not have to cover utilities, you can

save $200 a month in net profits until you have enough to cover 3 months

Mortgage payments.... that is the general rule of thumb in my humble
opinion.

A 4-plex of lets say 2 bedroom units is purchased for $360,000. The rents

have been $800 a month each. Your Mortgage payment is $2800 a month

after your down payment. The income is $3,200 and all Tenants pay their

own utilities. You have $400 a month in net profit and .....still must save

up enough to pay 3 months of Mortgage payments. But now, the chance

of loss is lessened because if one unit goes empty there are 3 more. In

time your rents will go up but your mortgage will stay the same. As an

example lets say your Net Income is $1,000 a month within 8 years. If

you had 5 such units your net income would be $5,000 a month! Not bad...

I did not figure in any upfront costs of repairs/fixes etc. as you can see.

Any income property up to 4 units can be financed as residential. Over

Please know that these are examples only. Your actual experience will

be dependant on what is on the market, your game plan and desire plus

I hope this has helped you to see what you can do. I can only do most

of the paperwork, help to find properties and if you find one I can make

sure that the offer in properly presented. You must still do most of the

work to go look at it and determine if its a good deal for you. I do not

drive around all day to look at properties but when you have seen one

or two you like we can meet to review them and at that point I can assist

you to determine their real value. Everyone is looking at the MLS listings

so you must also look at other ways of finding properties too.

##############################
Donald J Leske II
John L. Scott Licensed Real Estate Agent
Canyon Road Office, Puyallup WA
Office: (253) 536-5600 | Fax: (253) 536-7808
Cell: (253) 241-6695 | Home: (253) 536-1236
Toll Free: (866) 557-7268
www.Homes-and-Properties.com
##############################