All Forum Posts by: Kevin Wade

@Pat Rach I completely agree with @Scott E. as my experience was very similar. Depending on where you live 2-4 units many be extremely difficult to find or overpriced. I live in the Washington DC area and small multi units are hard to find at reasonable prices. If you can I would use Scott’s strategy of buying s house and rent rooms initially which Ks what I did and eventually can scale from there. Just recognize that no matter what you do there will be some form of sacrifice but it will be worth it.

I too did not like having roommates in my house but it was a short term sacrifice. My next steps now are now having a basement as a separate unit so the tenant would have their own space. This is another strategy that can be an easier way to get in.

Best of luck and I’m happy to answer any questions that you may have.

K Wade

 Thanks @Russell Brazil

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone had any good contacts for 1031 exchange companies in MD (more specifically Montgomery county area). Thanks

@Brandon Madden Hey Brandon, good question. I do a rent by room strategy in MD but I only do long term (12 months or more). It depends on what your goal is. Airbnb you may make more $ but have a lot more turnover and associated costs. Also in speaking with my mortgage company they indicated to me that if I have a lease of 12 months or more I can use that to show additional source of income /rental income when applying for new loans.

In reference to the leases, it varies by different states and cities. Some counties have on their website. The advice I had initially received was that it was worth reaching out to an attorney to draft one and then you can always make edits to it as needed.

 Hope this helps and good luck with your decision.

@Laurie Cundiff Hi Laurie, I do a rent by room strategy in MD and charge different rates but the timeframes are typically 12 months. I think you should check to see if there are any governing laws but in general I think if you check to see what the market is going you can charge whatever rents you want and different timeframes. Good luck!

After initially focusing on finding a 2-4 unit property, I recently successfully pivoted to a rent by room strategy that has been working well so far. As it is set up now, my tenants are allowed to have overnight guests but limited to only a few days. In general I am ok with overnight guess (as I think it's a little unrealistic for tenants not to be able to have an overnight guest here and there). My concern is more about the frequency of guests staying over as my contract only addresses the time period. I was curious to know how other landlords handle guest overnight policies for their tenants and how/if this is incorporated into the rental agreement. Also any additional tips that you think would be helpful for the rent by room strategy would be great.

Thanks,

@Russell Brazil Thanks Russell, that is good information and i appreciate your insight. I'm sure the taxes suck in Gburg but crown is a great location with everything around there.

Thanks again

@Russell Brazil . Hi Russell, I was looking to follow up on this post as i am also looking at a similar strategy and this was very helpful. It seems that getting an ADU would be tough to get in Montgomery county if renting a basement (with separate kitchen). You mentioned rental opp by the room in the higher price range may be a good option. Do you mean $400K +? What are your thoughts on Germantown and Gaithersburg in terms of rent by room options. I was looking at these areas as well as they were cheaper than buying in Rockville and also appeared to have some decent homes.

If getting the ADU would be tough in general and renting by the unit in those areas would also be challenging I may need to rethink my strategy.

I am doing this as a first time MD homebuyer and looking at my options to rent a portion of the home. Any insight that you have will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Kevin

@Ian Barnes. Thanks so much for this info. I may have some other questions as I go though process as it seems you have some good experience with the Baltimore market.  Thanks again.