041 - Ferries, French Fries, and a Better Way to Invest

In this episode of Growing Up Yakima, we got talking about one of the best ways to escape the valley pollen for a bit — hopping a ferry over to the Puget Sound. I shared some of my favorite memories growing up: lining up at the ferry docks, grabbing clams and fish and chips at Ivar's, and tossing French fries to the seagulls. Turns out it was the anniversary of the Washington State ferry Yakima being christened 58 years ago, which sent me down memory lane about summers spent with family friends on Bainbridge Island, digging clams and running around the beach — the kind of stuff that's basically a rite of passage if you grew up in this state.

From there we got into a fun tangent about what those old ferries used to cost to build versus the new hybrid ferries being built today (spoiler: it's a lot more), which led into a bigger conversation about why so many property owners and even shipbuilders are looking to leave Washington state altogether because of the regulatory and tax pressure. That's exactly the kind of situation where investing with Wilkinson makes sense — you don't have to be tied down to Washington's landlord-tenant rules, because you're not hands-on with the property at all.

I talked through why we intentionally invest in states like Indiana, Georgia, Texas, and the Carolinas, where the landlord-tenant balance is a lot more fair for everyone involved. I used the example of a 240-unit property we just picked up in Indianapolis, now one of three in a passive investing portfolio — meaning instead of putting $100,000 down on a single duplex here in Yakima and dealing with one or two problem tenants yourself, you're diversified across multiple properties and a much bigger group of tenants, without the mortgage, insurance, or emergency-repair headaches. If that sounds interesting, give me a call on my cell or look up Wilkinson here in Yakima.