All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

And this profit is from turning around and wholesaling the contracts after you settle with the original owner? Just wondering if these numbers are for fix and flip deals, wholesaling deals or some combination of them both. 

PS: Thanks for providing your numbers and insight to the community. That is awesome. 

Hi Brandt,

In the DC area there are a few lenders that will offer the 5% down option. BB&T has a 5% down fixed rate mortgage that will go up to a maximum of $650k (or maybe $625k, I forget). I was actually just dealing with them last week and this specific product. Their interest rates are sitting at about 3.8% for that product. It does have PMI but not nearly at the cost of FHA and you are getting 30 years of 3.8% interest. So it might be worth it to consider. All depends on your long term goals and plans. The idea of PMI offends me as well but this is a good option for 5% down. There are a couple of other credit unions in the area that offer the 5% down but the ones I have talked to will only lend up to a maximum of $417k with those specific loan products.

I would encourage you to talk to BB&T as well as any of the local credit unions. We have quite a few in the DC metro area. Shop around for the best loan product that will fit your goals. 

Hope this helps,

Eric

@Brandon Hall  can you share with us the scam your "old" roommate used? As a DC landlord I am curious and I am sure a few other people on this thread would also be interested to know how that scam worked. This way we can protect ourselves, hopefully, from that kind of situation with our own tenants. 

Thanks in advance,

Eric

Hi Weis,

I think it is safe to say that there are definitely better markets for buy-and-hold investments. Other parts of the country have way better cash flow potential. With that being said, I am an investor in DC and primarily invest in buy-and-hold properties. I know I could get better cash flow in other markets but DC is home and I like being able to invest in my backyard. There are opportunities for buy-and-hold in DC but they are hard to find. And they go fast. So when you find one you need to move quickly. 

Best of luck on your journey! 

Hi all,

I have tried googling the answer to this figuring it must have been asking in the past but couldn't find an answer. I live in Washington, DC where there are lots of old 3-4 story rowhouses that have been converted into condo buildings with single floor condos. So there are buildings with 3 or 4 condo's only. I am curious if I could buy one of the condos and live in it while letting all the other owners know that if they ever want to sell I am a buyer. I know this could take years and years in theory. I am just curious the legal ramifications of doing such a thing. If, after 20 years I buy the remaining condos in the building can I now dissolve the condo association? maybe there is a healthy amount of reserves to sweeten the pot, maybe not. But could I then abolish the HOA fee and basically convert the whole rowhouse in a 3-4 unit apartment building?

Just curious if this is even an option,

Thanks

-E

I am hoping some of the more experience BP members can help me out with what I want to do. I currently own a rowhouse in Washington, DC. It is in the Columbia Heights neighborhood which has lots of rental demand and lots of development coming in. What I would like to do is to dig out the basement an additional 2 feet. So, increase the ceiling height to 8 feet. I also have a parking pad in the back of the house. I would like to dig the parking pad out as well and extend the entire house and foundation to the property line in the back. This will add about 25 feet to the length of the house. And then I would like to turn the house into a "pop-top" and add a 3rd above-grade floor on to the existing structure. After doing this my goal would be to have four 2 bed/2 bath units of roughly 1,000 sq/ft each. 

My question is, what is the best way to go about doing this? I don't have really any construction skills so I would probably need to hire someone. Would people recommend hiring an architect? or a GC and having them lead the process. I have all the ideas for how i would like to incorporate the outside of the house to keep it looking uniform with the existing rowhouses. So I would like to get the best work done of the house but for the cheapest price (like everyone else in the world). Does anyone have any experience doing things like this in DC? Is it complicated to get the permits, etc. 

As a follow up how would people recommend going about getting financing for this. Can I get a loan from a bank? I probably only have about 25% equity in the house currently so I doubt I could get a home equity loan. 

Any guidance and advice would be greatly appreciated,

-Eric

Here is some info from NVAR (Northern Virginia Association of Realtors) specifically related to renting to diplomats.  

http://nvar.com/disclosure/nvar-law-ethics-portal/legal-knowledgebase/disclosure/real-estate-laws-leasing-with-impunity-a-landlords-guide-to-diplomatic-immunity

Hey DC BP members,

I need some help finding a good home inspector. I have looked on consumer's checkbook and found a few with high reviews but I am seeing if anyone has a really good recommendation for one they always use. I would prefer to use a "deal killer". Someone who is going to find every little thing wrong with a place. I am buying from a flipper so I want someone who can sniff out all the problems they have hidden.

Thanks in advance BP,

-E

Thanks for the input Rob. I have seen lots of activity with the flippers in the area but I am thinking along the lines of as a buy-and-hold investment. Is there much market rate rental demand there that you know of? Since the blue line metro is so close i would think that some rental demand would be there but it is also a bit off the beaten path and that side of the river still scares some potential tenants.

Hi BiggerPockets,

I am hoping I can get some of the Washington DC based members to help me out with their thoughts on the Deanwood neighborhood of DC. I am looking around the Benning Road metro station. I see that houses are priced cheap (comparatively....not too many other places in the country would $200k be classified as cheap) but I also realize that cheap does not always mean a wise investment. What do people think are the prospects with this neighborhood and area? I see that there is a $6 million dollar project in the pipeline around the metro for the SOME building. That will add some much needed infrastructure to the area but I wonder if the clientele of that building will actually do more harm than good. Anything else people know of going on in that area? Or are investors shunning that neighborhood and don't see development there for many years.

Please let me know your thoughts and insights into this part of town. Thanks in advance.

-Eric