All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

We are looking to buy what will be our primary home in the next year and are considering purchasing a home (townhouse or detached) and converting the basement into a legal apartment to rent out to help offset some off the mortgage.  Because duplexes are hard to come by in this market, we are looking at homes with walkout basements and are assuming a $50k-$60k cost in converting the basement to an apartment.   I'd love to know what other investors and realtors think of this strategy.  Is it smart to spend the money on creating another living space and what would it do to the resale value of the home?  

Thank you everyone for your responses - it is greatly appreciated!  I still can't believe how helpful and responsive this community is! @Sam Lin - What is the best way to find a subteam within one of those brokerages?  I'm not sure where to start!

There is actually a REI meeting on Thursday at Tysons. We are going to check it out as well.

http://tractionreia.com/

Hi everyone!

I am eager to get started in real estate and am thinking of becoming a real estate agent to gain knowledge and work for myself while I develop the investment side.   I currently have a 9 to 5 and wanted to get out of the corporate rat race.  What advice do you have for me as far as what I should expect and what kind of company I should be looking to work for?  Any insight or help would be greatly appreciated!

Welcome @Jay Campbell!  We are new to investing as well and looking to buy a rental property in WV in the next couple months.  Our main goal is to get a couple rental properties and hopefully flip a few properties.  Let's stay connected!

Welcome Marc!  Hopefully we can work together one day!

@Oliver Bonk - thank you so much for your reply!  I have a friend who has a couple VRBOs in downtown, and she does pretty well.  We are thinking of the Shannondale area?

Hi everyone!

We are thinking of making our first purchase a short-term vacation rental in Harper's Ferry, and I wanted to get some feedback as to whether we have a good plan.  We are looking at buying a fixer upper (3 bed, 2 bath) in a more private, wooded area with a view.  Purchase price would be no more than $100k with rehab at no more than $50k, leaving us with a monthly mortgage of $800 or so.  

We are thinking of finding some nice furniture on Craigslist and having a photographer friend take professional photos, then listing on all the VRBO websites at around $250 per night.  I've been researching how often and for how much comparable rentals in the area have been going for and this looks to be a fairly safe investment, but I wanted to get some feedback as to anyone's experience with this type of rental market and what we can do to promote cash flow ( as well as anything else we should be considering).  

Thank you in advance for your feedback!

I was an insurance broker in another life, and it is actually very common for a fire dwelling policy, which is intended to cover a rental property, to be more expensive than a primary homeowners policy.  The insurance company assumes that a tenant is not going to care for the property the same way the owner would.  It is considered higher risk so it carries a higher rate.  That said, your friend should approach a broker and quote alternative insurance carriers because it can vary significantly.  I would just caution against not disclosing it is a rental as if it is not written incorrectly, coverage could be denied in the event of a claim.  I hope that helps!