All Forum Posts by: Matt Smith

Thanks. How is the strength of the rental market in these areas? Good enough to underwrite 10% general vacancy loss on an annual basis? Creditworthiness of rental tenants in these areas is another question (ie, underwriting credit loss) but I would imagine the lack of rental housing for larger families (3+ persons) makes this niche attractive. My strategy is to invest in a long term buy and hold so my properties serve as annuities down the road, so cash flow is important...

All, 

I am a new investor in the Washington, DC market. As many of you know, residential supply of single family housing is extremely limited in the metro area, and pricing makes it difficult to underwrite positive cash-flowing properties in many submarkets of the District, such as Adams Morgan, U Street, Shaw, Logan, etc. Does anyone have experience investing inside the Beltway, where properties may not be immediately metro accessible but still possess strong fundamentals for renting based on their close proximity to DC? Properties in areas like Silver Spring, PG County, etc. are significantly cheaper and have consequently drawn my eye as a better foundation for a diversified investment strategy. But, I simply don't know the market well enough for non-metro accessible single family homes as a rental asset--both in terms of strength of the market, tenant creditworthiness, etc. Any recommendations where to find this information? Thanks!!