Newbie Looking to Invest In NE Washington, DC

Newbie Looking to Invest In NE Washington, DC

Developer · Washington D.C. · Member since 2014 · 27 posts · 10 votes

Hello BP! I've been reading articles here for a few months now (which have been an immense help), and I've decided to finally put my hat in the ring!

My wife and I live in an up-and-coming neighborhood in NE DC, and while we are renting a small 1BD in a new multi-family development, we started out planning to build some savings to buy a new home in the next year or so.

As we've been saving for our new home, we begun talking about the idea of using that nest egg to invest in a property in our neighborhood and delaying the purchase of our own home. We love the idea of being able to make in investment that will grow our financial stability and also make our neighborhood a better place to live. Also, I'm a project manager for a developer in DC, so I already have some understanding of the state of the market for large projects and a passion for real estate, but still have so much to learn about the market for 2-4 unit deals.

We have been batting around the relative merits of flips, income properties, or wholesaling. After looking reading a few things on BP, it looks like my starting strategy will be wholesaling: it's a great way to get started with little risk while learning the market and building up some equity and then moving on to purchasing a row house close by that we could convert into 3 or 4 units. We would occupy one and rent out the others.

I really hope to use this post a launch point to connect with some experienced investors and developers in the area. I'll follow up to update on how my process comes along! Look forward to meeting the community!

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Residential Real Estate Broker · Washington, Washington D.C. · Member since 2013 · 150 posts · 77 votes
12y

Hi Bobby,

Welcome to BP. The DC market is great for all of the real estate investing avenues you mentioned; wholesaling, flipping, and renting. My wife and I have numerous rental properties in DC that we've acquired over the years and we wrapped up our first true flip late last year.

You can make good money with any of those methods. As you know, rents in DC are pretty high so finding an income producing property is not that difficult. It's more challenging to find good flip deals since competition from developers is really high. Obviously, wholesaling is the best way to go if you don't want to put up a lot of cash, but there the challenge is creating a marketing systems to get the properties.

If you get into wholesaling, please put me on your buyer's list. I'm always looking for the next deal!

Sincerely,

Rob

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  • Investor · Fort Washington, MD · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    12y

    Good luck on that. I would love to acquire DC property but those prices are through the roof. However, if the right opportunity presents itself, I will dive on it.

  • Residential Real Estate Broker · Washington, Washington D.C. · Member since 2013 · 150 posts · 77 votes
    12y

    Hi Bobby,

    Welcome to BP. The DC market is great for all of the real estate investing avenues you mentioned; wholesaling, flipping, and renting. My wife and I have numerous rental properties in DC that we've acquired over the years and we wrapped up our first true flip late last year.

    You can make good money with any of those methods. As you know, rents in DC are pretty high so finding an income producing property is not that difficult. It's more challenging to find good flip deals since competition from developers is really high. Obviously, wholesaling is the best way to go if you don't want to put up a lot of cash, but there the challenge is creating a marketing systems to get the properties.

    If you get into wholesaling, please put me on your buyer's list. I'm always looking for the next deal!

    Sincerely,

    Rob

  • Developer · Washington D.C. · Member since 2014 · 27 posts · 10 votes
    12y

    Rob,

    Thanks for the quick reply! Yes, if I do end up going the wholesale rout, I'll surely take you up on that offer! The good thing is that I'm currently working on budgeting for new multi-family deals ($50-$100MM) in the area, so I think I would have a good handle on the cost estimating side of the wholesale process, but one question I have for you as an agent: how do you even begin to find properties that have good value to them? In the area I'm looking at (20002/20003), it looks like ARV for homes hover around $600,000, so I'm looking to find purchase values around $365,000. That is a rough guideline to look for value add potential, but any ideas where to look for properties around this mark? Is that even realistic? Thanks!

  • Developer · Washington D.C. · Member since 2014 · 27 posts · 10 votes
    12y

    Mark,

    Yeah, prices here are high, but there is still a great need in many neighborhoods for the improvement of the housing stock, which presents us with good opportunities I think! Hopefully I can find a way to make it work!

  • Investor · Fort Washington, MD · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    12y

    Bobby, I got my eye on it as well. Always wanted something in DC.

  • Residential Real Estate Broker · Washington, Washington D.C. · Member since 2013 · 150 posts · 77 votes
    12y

    Hey Bobby...yes, that's that million dollar question: "How do you find properties that have good value?" If you're interested in wholesaling, you'll have to do marketing to find motivated sellers. The whole idea behind wholesaling is to secure a great deal from a seller and then to sell that deal to someone else for a profit.

    Wholesalers do everything from using targeted direct mailers (e.g. "yellow letters", postcards, etc) to placing bandit signs. There's tons of information on how to market for sellers here on BP. I'd start with the "Free Beginnner's Guide" which includes a section on wholesaling.

    Direct marketing to sellers will also yield you the best flip and rental deals, but you can also use a traditional real estate agent to find good deals. If you're not working with an agent, I'd use Redfin to see what properties are coming on the market. Don't use Zillow or Trulia...information on those websites is hopelessly out of date.

  • Investor · Fort Washington, MD · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    12y

    Can someone explain the legality aspect of wholesaling? Many people have told me that it's illegal to do this without some sort of license.

  • J. MartinPro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Oakland, CA · Member since 2011 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    12y

    Hi Bobby, and welcome to BP! I'm a "fix and hold" investor from the Bay Area in CA, and loving it! But you'll find a variety of every type of investor on the site, and everyone is amazingly helpful. Some pointers for you: The "Learn" link across the top navigation bar has lots of great info, and so do BP members! You can click on the "vote" button if you like someone's post or is helpful, and there are "awards" to earn on your profile. And you can tag people by typing @ before you type their name, then clicking their name at the bottom of the message box. Welcome to the site, and good luck in everything!

  • Specialist · Rockland, MA · Member since 2010 · 7k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    12y

    @Bobby Akines

    Welcome.

    Check out the Start Here page http://www.biggerpockets.com/starthere

    Check out BiggerPockets Ultimate Beginner's Guide - A fantastic free book that walks through many of the key topics of real estate investing.

    Check out the free BiggerPockets Podcast - A weekly podcast with interviews and a ton of great advice. And you get the benefit of having 50 past ones to catch up on.

    Two Great reads, I bought both J. Scott The Book on Flipping Houses,The Book on Estimating ReHab Costshttp://www.biggerpockets.com/flippingbook

    Locate and attend 3 different local REIA club meetings great place to meet people gather resources and info.

    Consider checking out HUD homes for small multi's owner occupied gets first crack.

    You might consider Niche or Specialized Housing like student housing. Rents can be 2-4 times more. Remember you don't have to own a property to control it.

    Good luck

    Paul

  • Brandon TurnerPro Member
    Investor · Maui, HI · Member since 2009 · 13k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    12y

    Hey @Bobby Akines Thanks for jumping in and introducing yourself! If you haven't yet- be sure to setup some "Keyword Alerts" to get into conversation in your target area.

    Seeya around!

  • Developer · Washington D.C. · Member since 2014 · 27 posts · 10 votes
    12y

    Thanks, @Robert Williams I will definitely have to look into some of the marketing strategies you mentioned. I guess I'd like to find a way to target the types of sellers that are the most motivated to sell at a good value. People sell for all kinds of reasons, but there should be some rhyme or reason to a specific type of seller that is motivated to sell his home at below the real value of the asset. My guess is these would be pre-foreclosures, absentee owners, etc. I'm assuming the first step will be to find out how to target my efforts to get the most effective results per solicitation.

    Also, do you know why the information on Zillow or Trulia is so much more out of date than Redfin? What makes Redfin different than the others.

    I'll definitely continue reading up on BP to get a baseline on how to find motivated sellers in the market!

  • Developer · Washington D.C. · Member since 2014 · 27 posts · 10 votes
    12y

    Thanks J. Martin! Appreciate the information and best of luck to you!

  • Developer · Washington D.C. · Member since 2014 · 27 posts · 10 votes
    12y

    Thanks for the advice @Paul Timmins I have already gotten on the invite for a DC BP meet up, and and looking for other ways to get involved. And thanks for the tip on HUD properties, I'll have to look into that more.

  • Contractor · Bethesda, MD · Member since 2013 · 22 posts · 9 votes
    12y

    Welcome@Bobby Akines !

    I'm just getting into investing as well in the DC area with a GC background and have formed a boutique development company to start doing condo conversions and rehabs etc.

    Best of luck....this site is a great resource to learn and connect with like minded people

    Best,

    Andrew

  • Hyattsville, MD · Member since 2013 · 10 posts · 1 vote
    12y

    DC is a great market if your going to find deasl in DC direct marketing is the way to go.

  • Investor · Orlando, FL · Member since 2014 · 76 posts · 26 votes
    12y

    @bobby

    Wholesalling is the probally the best way to get into REI and it will help you to learn all facets of the business........

    -Sellers

    -Buyers

    -What is and is not a deal, how to analyze a deal.

    - Your Market area prices

    -Repair Cost

    -Funding...etc

  • Involved In Real Estate · Washington DC, Washington D.C. · Member since 2013 · 42 posts · 2 votes
    12y

    A little late to this topic but glad I stumble upon it. I'm currently a listing agent on Cap Hill 20002, 20003 zip codes. And have been really considering putting on my wholesaler hat. I had to see how one of my listings was done in action with a wholesale buyer, to really understand the concept of how this works. And its been somewhat of an eye opener I'm curious if any of you guys had any update on deals within the last few months since you posted? Also I would like to add a few of you guys to my end buyers list if interested.

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