Most people read a story like this one and take away the wrong lesson — that the secret is finding a $38,000 house. It isn’t. You won’t find one in Kitsap, and the price was the least interesting part of the deal anyway. What actually built this portfolio was a sequence: control a property without a bank, add value you can document, then let a lender finance the finished version.
The story comes from a recent BiggerPockets Real Estate Rookie episode with Joshua Settimio, an agent and investor in Batesville, Arkansas. Six months into his license, no local bank would lend to him. Today he estimates he’s in about 70 properties across four partnerships. The distance between those two facts is worth understanding — and so is the part that doesn’t survive the trip to the peninsula.
Here’s the honest version of what he did, why the math doesn’t translate, and what still works in Kitsap. This is educational context, not legal, lending, or financial advice — situations like these deserve your own attorney and lender.
The story: control first, financing second
A coworker mentioned a two-bedroom rental whose tenant hadn’t paid in about a year and a half. The owner was collecting nothing, so a buyer offering money down and a monthly check looked better than the status quo. The owner agreed to carry the financing, and Settimio’s payment came out to roughly $390 a month.
Then the house behaved like a house at that price — termites, soft floors, rotted joists. Once the tenant left, it sat for the better part of a year while he and his wife worked on it a few hours at a time.
The turn came once he owned the property and could hand a lender a line-item scope of work. A bank ordered an as-completed appraisal — a valuation that assumes the planned repairs are already done — and it came back at $86,000 against roughly $28,000 still owed to the seller. The refinance paid off the seller and funded about $20,000 of repairs, and the house rented for $850 a month. That equity became a line of credit, which became the down payment on a $45,000 house. Repeat, add partners, and you eventually get to 70.
The pattern worth recognizing: The banks that said no to a borrower said yes to a property with a plan. Nothing about him changed — what changed was that he had a specific deal, a documented scope, and a finished value a lender could underwrite.
Kitsap: why the $38K version doesn’t exist here
Kitsap’s median sales price was $589,500 in September, according to NWMLS, with 2.58 months of inventory — the tightest supply of any county in the NWMLS service area. Rates aren’t helping. Freddie Mac’s weekly average for a 30-year fixed mortgage was 7.40% on October 15, up from 6.27% a year earlier.
| His first deal (Batesville, AR) | Kitsap County today | |
|---|---|---|
| Purchase price | $38,000 | $589,500 countywide median, September 2026 |
| Monthly rent | $850 after the rehab | $2,676 HUD fair market rent for a three-bedroom |
| Monthly rent as a share of price | About 2.2% | About 0.45% |
| Financing | Seller carried the note | About $3,265 a month in principal and interest at 7.40% with 20% down |
The ratio matters more than the price. His renovated house rented each month for about 2.2% of what he paid. A median-priced Kitsap home at HUD’s three-bedroom benchmark is closer to half a percent — and with conventional financing, principal and interest alone runs higher than the rent. That doesn’t mean Kitsap rentals don’t work. It means the deal here is rarely in the price — it’s in the terms and the value you add.
Seller financing: still real here, just rarer and more regulated
The Kitsap owners most likely to carry a note usually aren’t in distress. They’re long-time owners with a lot of equity — the retiree who’d rather have monthly income than a lump sum, the heirs to a Bremerton rambler, the landlord who is simply done. With rates where they are, the terms can matter more than a few thousand dollars off the price.
Two cautions before you ask. A seller who still has a mortgage generally can’t carry a new note without dealing with that loan first. And when a seller finances a home the buyer will live in, federal and state lending rules can apply. A seller-financed deal should be written by a real estate attorney, closed through escrow, and recorded — not sketched on a napkin.
Problem tenants: Washington is not Arkansas
Part of what made his first deal cheap was the tenant, and part of what made it work was a negotiated move-out without a lawyer. Don’t plan on that here. In Washington, nonpayment starts with a 14-day pay-or-vacate notice in a form set by state law (RCW 59.18.057), and qualifying low-income renters have a right to appointed counsel. If you buy a property with a tenant who isn’t paying, underwrite the vacancy in months, not weeks, and budget for legal help.
What still works: value you can document, units that share the load, and partners
The as-completed appraisal is the most transferable lesson. Kitsap has plenty of 1970s housing with original windows, tired septics, and deferred roofs, and renovation financing that lends against after-repair value generally wants what he brought — a detailed scope, contractor bids, and a realistic timeline.
Here, “more doors” usually starts with more units on one property. An owner-occupant buying a duplex to fourplex can typically put down less than an investor, and an ADU can turn one lot into two rents — our guide to Kitsap’s ADU rules covers what’s actually permittable. And remember that his 70 doors came through four partnerships, not one person’s balance sheet. Pairing someone with capital and someone with time and skill is how many investors scale in a market this expensive. Write down who decides what, who funds overruns, and how either of you gets out — and if you’re raising money from passive investors, securities rules can apply.
The practical takeaway
If you’re starting out in Kitsap, don’t go looking for his price. Look for his sequence — a property you can control on reasonable terms, a scope you can document, and a lender or partner who can see the finished value. For more on loans beyond the conventional kind, see investor financing options in Kitsap. And if you’d like to test whether a specific property or seller-financing idea pencils here, talk to us before you commit.
You won’t buy your way into a cheap deal in Kitsap. You can still build one.
Sources
- BiggerPockets, Real Estate Rookie, “Seller Financing His First Rental When No Bank Would Lend” (September 28, 2026): https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/rookie-776
- Northwest Multiple Listing Service, County Recaps, September 2026 (Kitsap median and months of inventory, residential and condominium): https://www.nwmls.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Recaps-September2026.pdf
- Northwest Multiple Listing Service, “Home Inventory Reaches Highest Level Since 2014, Expanding Buyer Choices” (October 6, 2026): https://www.nwmls.com/home-inventory-reaches-highest-level-since-2014-expanding-buyer-choices/
- Freddie Mac, Primary Mortgage Market Survey (30-year fixed: 7.40% on October 15, 2026; 6.27% on October 16, 2025): https://www.freddiemac.com/pmms
- HUD USER, FY2026 Fair Market Rents, Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA MSA (Kitsap County): HUD FMR documentation for Kitsap County
- Washington State Legislature, RCW 59.18.057, Fourteen-day notice to pay rent or vacate: https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=59.18.057