Consider eviction time when buying rental

[Jasmine Hu]

Some info:

In Fairfax or entire VA, very easy to evict, 3 weeks to 1 month. In Maryland, generally 60 days. In DC, if you can evict, 90+ days. It is very tenant friendly. I won't touch it unless it is high end, you will have no cash flow or negative cash flow. Or you need a very good PM.

In general touch in any democracy state, easy life in republican state.

PG county I heard needs 5% county tax, a pain. Yet downtown silver spring appears to be interesting. 

Nova is more expensive in general due to strong high tech high pay jobs. Remember AMAZON H2Q impact?

Montgomery county is slower. Could consider howard county I feel in MD.

[Teresa F.]

Hi Jasmine --  Interesting.  I've been a buy and hold investor for over 20 years and a property manager since 2012.  In that time, I've had 4 evictions.  3 in Maryland and 1 in DC.  Granted DC evictions are not easy or quick, it was almost six months and that was not a set-out.  I was able to talk with him and he gave me a couple hundred dollars, left the unit broom clean and moved on.  I, in turn, reported it on his credit, re-rented the unit, and moved on.  I try to keep communication lines open with my tenants so that we can try and address issues long before I need to think about eviction. 

While evictions are always a possibility, I try to screen applicants thoroughly including walking through where they currently live.  I also spend a significant amount of time going over the lease with the new tenant so that my expectations are clear and their questions get answered.  This "front end" work seems to have limited my turnovers, I have one tenant who has been with me since 1999 and most are over five years. 

Not sure if that helps but perhaps gives a different perspective when thinking about where to invest.  

Best, Teresa