Eastside Deal of the Week

Each week I’m picking out the Deal of the Week out of my Eastside Value Buyer’s List.  I’m looking for a house that is already discounted to fair market value at the list price and is in good repair.  I visit the house, take 60+ photos, and record a video of my impressions.  Read on about my property analysis and bidding strategy:

Eastside Deal of the Week

Eastside Deal of the Week

Eastside Value Buyer’s List

Today I launched a weekly series of MLS searches to discover the best prospects on the Eastside for investors and handy owner occupiers to buy houses at a discount.  This is an amalgamated list of bank owned homes that already appear to be fairly priced, estate sales, out of state owners, listings with data entry errors, houses sitting unsold for an excessively long time – a whole variety of searches I use to find situations with distressed owners.

Learn more here:

Eastside Value Buyer's List

eXp Realty would like to welcome its newest real estate investment expert, Bob Kelly, to our team in Bellevue, WA.  Bob is a newly licensed agent, since June. He lives with his wife and three sons in Bellevue, WA.

Real estate investment background:

Bob and his wife have purchased six rentals houses between Bothell and Olympia. They own a vacation rental beach house out at Pacific Beach. They self-manage all of those properties. That experience has taught Bob about advertising, blogging, and building websites. He began last year to turn over the rental portfolio on lease options and owner financing for greater cash flow, and recently learned about the business of flipping mobile homes in senior parks. His first project is currently for sale on the MLS (#152530).

Bob Kelly joined eXp Realty for the technology platform, training in Social Media Marketing, the company leads, and the reasonable fees. He is excited to be the first agent on the Eastside (Bellevue, WA),  and looks forward to the opportunity to build the company’s business over there.

Unique Real Estate Services:

Investors: Bob likes working with investors. He’s a member of the REIA in Bellevue , a real estate education and networking club. He will fearlessly make low bids for investors.

Vacation rentals: Based on his personal experience, Bob can help buyers with the acquisition, furnishing and set up, remote management, and advertising of a vacation rental property. He also offers a vacation rental marketing service, where he will photograph the property, create a new website, and post daily ads to Craigslist.

Bellevue Real Estate Services: Bob Kelly has  lived on the Eastside since age 3, so he expects to fill out the company’s websites with articles about Eastside communities and make Bellevue his area of expertise.

Education:

1. Data Processing at Bellevue Community College – 1983 to 1985
2. Lots of real estate investor seminars and programs: Robert Shemin (wholesaling), Dean Graziosi (wholesaling), Todd Toback (lease options), Jerry Lucker (mobile homes), Jeff Adams (REOs), and Rich Dad.

Former career: Computer Programming (25 years). His favorite part was the six trips to Italy to work with Olivetti in the late 80s and early 90s.

So, if you are a real estate investor looking in the Seattle, Bellevue or Greater Puget Sound area, Bob is your guy. He’s been there, and he’s done it, so you can bet he will get you a good deal.

Bob Kelly is a real estate broker with eXp Realty in the Bellevue, Washington area, near Seattle. He specializes in residential investment property. He can be reached  at (360) 480-9154 or bob.kelly@bellevuepowersearch.com

Rob LeRoy is a Seattle real estate agent and social media marketing coach with eXp Realty.

There may be more variety at the Seattle Zoo but certainly there is a lot to do at the smaller Cougar Mountain Zoo in Issaquah.  For kids who love to see unusual animals, explore wildlife facts, and especially see their favorite tiger or reindeer, it’s a winner.  The  location is good too, even though it’s admittedly out from the city of Seattle a half hour or more.  For families coming from Seattle a trip could be coordinated with going to a honey shop or farm stand to get fresh produce and see a farm atmosphere (I’ll blog about local farms that invite visitors later this week).

For kids living more locally, this is a great resource as, if you get a family membership, you have a park with animals and other fun elements that you can visit again and again.  As the novelty of running around looking at the animals wears off a bit the animal track library, the mini lectures, and the “Cougar Encounter” “Lemur Encounter” “The World of Wallabies” and “Tiger Encounter” start to draw attention.  The “Fountain of Tomorrow” will be a must-stop every time, and can become a wonderful tradition (take a moment and contemplate your hoped for tomorrows,  then make a wish).  Here is a photo album from our trip to the Cougar Mountain Zoo this year, please send me some if you have any nice photos I can add!  It’s edy.kizaki@exprealty.com.

Click here to go to my Picassa photo album of our Cougar Mountain Zoo visit.

These studies, judged on students graduated, grades, honors classes taken,  general academic record and other critera.  Ranked in the top 100 were Bellevue’s  International School as number 11 nationwide , followed by Inglewood at 18, Newport Hills at 35, Sammamish at 48,  and Bellevue at 79.  Following those Eastside schools were Edmonds-Woodway High,  Garfield and Ingraham in Seattle, Redmond, Mercer Island, Issaquah, and Inglemoor in Kenmore. 

So what does this mean?  Seattle and the surrounding schools, especially Bellevue, Kenmore and Northshore schools consistently rank as the top schools in the nation.  For most of us that cannot afford to enroll our kids in privately schools, this is of great comfort knowing that our students will be getting a good education from our local school districts.  Sports and music, which also carry weight, are well recognized with Roosevelt, Nathan Hale and Garfield High Schools in Seattle winning nationwide awards for both their Jazz Ensembles and Athletic Achievements in Varsity Football, Basketball, and Soccer. 

Congratulations to our educators and students for their outstanding efforts in making national recognition for excellence in public high schools!   Truly an honor well deserved.

One of the familiar sights on Main Street in Issaquah

lot of things of interest, including the recently built library and the salmon hatchery.  There are lots of culinary choices, Jak’s Grill is wonderful cuisine and delightful atmosphere (however they don’t accept reservations) and another great choice is the Issaquah Fish House.  Both are on Front Street very close to the Train Park.   There is also a Chocolate Facotry, Zoological Park, and operating trollys!  One of my favorite spots along Main Steet is the Dairygold Dairy which has wonderful huge murals and those sparkling white milk towers.  I know my son is always facinated when I point it out as we go by.

Issaquah public schools are under the jurisdiction of the Issaquah School District 411. Including schools outside of Issaquah, the Issaquah School District is home to 23 different schools.

The neighbouring highlands are called the Issaquah Alps and feature hiking trails and outdoor activity throughout the three mountains making up the Issaquah Alps. There are also many cultural and historical activities to be found in the town of Issaquah itself.