How to Approach Landlord about Selling?

[Chi Pham]

Hi everyone!

I am a newbie BP member and am looking to learn more about real estate investing. Currently, I live in Washington DC. As a renter, I've always had pretty good luck finding low rental prices. Next week, I am moving into a bedroom in a 5 bedroom townhouse and the rent is only $470/month. This rent is LOW for DC, especially when you account for the prime location of the apartment (it's in Columbia Heights, only 2 miles north of The National Mall and 1 mile north of major attractions like 14th St Heights, U Street, Adams Morgan). I also talked to the housemates and they say that the landlord hasn't raised the rent of the house more than $100 for the past 2-3 years.

The house also isn't in the greatest of shape, and it seems like the landlord tries to interact with the house as little as possible. It sounds like a landlord that doesn't have too much invested into managing this property well. I am thinking that I would like to approach the landlord to see if they would be interested in selling the property to me.

Question is, how do I do this? I am just moving in so I don't have an extensive relationship with the landlord yet. Should I wait until I live in the house for a couple months? I don't want to swoop in or offend the owner.

It would be great to see if anyone on BP has any language that they use for this type of situation! Any tips, guidelines, or advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Chi