House Hacking with Basement Airbnb in Old Town Alexandria

[David Cherkowsky]

Hi all, I am considering the following strategy for a house hack in Old Town Alexandria. I am looking for a property with a walkout basement and I would rent out the basement as a STR. From what I've read on BP, the city of Alexandria seems to be friendly towards STRs

I would then also potentially rent out one of the upstairs bedrooms as a MTR or LTR. I’m interested to hear if anyone else has used this strategy in Alexandria. I also have some general questions:

1. Besides registering with the city, are there any other steps required to setup as a STR/Airbnb host in Alexandria?

2. Any lessons learned from STRs in Old Town or the DMV?

3. How accurate are websites like Airdna? I like the idea of STR as it seems like it can generate significantly more income than LTR and would allow me to block out dates if I have friends or family come visit. I can imagine it is considerably more work as well as I plan to manage myself. I'm trying to get a feel for how much more income it would generate compared to LTR or MTR.

4. Any podcast or blog recommendations for DMV STRs or general STRs?

Thanks in advance for the help and advice!

[Russell Brazil]

Yup City of Alexandria, not to be confused with Alexandria Fairfax County, is pretty much the only place you can STR in the metro are without restrictions. Mid term rentals allowed too. Just need to stat under the occupancy limit.

Also keep in mind basement needs to be livable square footage, ie have egress and proper ceiling height.