All Forum Posts by: Nick Pisano

Hi Manuel-

Also just wanted to throw in my 2 cents as a property manager who manages small multis throughout the city. Other PMs may have a different experience, but through the last 6-9 months or so, we've definitely seen some softness in demand for these type of places (duplexes/quads/basement units), except in the highest-end units or the ones in premium locations. On top of that, the quality of applicant has also decreased somewhat for these type of properties. Again, just my experience but this is pretty consistent across all quadrants of the city for us. Just potentially something to keep in mind when factoring in vacancy and such. 

I can definitely second @Marshall M.'s suggestion about Section 8. If you're willing to learn how to wade through the bureaucracy and regulations there, you'll find pretty great rents and basically a firehose of interested applicants. 

Others will be more knowledgeable about this than me, but have you considered working with an agent to take a look at zoning maps and seeing what areas of the city/metro are most friendly to additional units? It may make sense to owner occupy a house with a potential basement unit in Columbia Heights or a similar area, spend your cash on making it a legal 2-unit, and then move out and rent them both. 
 

Hi Amanda! Property manager here in DC, so I can speak a bit to my experience on the furnished vs. unfurnished question. The vast majority of our rentals (SFHs in DC proper) are unfurnished, and we advise owners that that's the best way to go. Most prospective tenants that you'd want in your place have their own furniture already (or at least their own taste, which may be different from yours), so with a furnished place, you're generally shrinking your pool of applicants a bit. There's also the additional hurdle of cataloging everything you're furnishing, and any disputes you may have at move-out over condition, what counts as normal wear and tear, and things like that. In my experience, any boost you'd get in furnished rent is not terribly significant compared to the potential for a longer vacancy, and the hassles furnished rentals entail.

Two other things I'll note. We do manage a few furnished places, but they're more often than not shorter-term situations, e.g. a homeowner needs to relocate for a few months or a year for work, but intends to come back at some definite future time. More commonly, if we're showing a house where the owner is open to leaving some stuff behind, we'll mention those items specifically to prospective tenants, almost as a "bonus", if they want it. 

Hi everybody-

I’m looking at purchasing my first investment property in Jacksonville in the near future, and have come across a few places that would convey with a quitclaim deed. My agent tells me this is fairly common in Jacksonville, and that the title company would sort everything out in the closing process. However, I’m a little cautious about the prospect, since in my local market (DC) this is relatively uncommon and usually backed up by some significant reason. Anyone have any guidance here on dealing with quitclaim deeds? Thanks!

Hi Aaron-

I manage a few properties with HCVP tenants, and it can be a mixed bag, for sure. Yes, you can generally get rents above what you'd get on the market otherwise, and it's nice to have the safety of the government backing up your payments. There's also a very ready pool of potential tenants, especially once you build relationships with DCHA and case workers.

BUT, there are also some major pitfalls. Depending on how you're screening your tenants, you may have a hard time being able to find someone suitable if you care about credit scores and rental history. Many have previous evictions, lots of collection accounts, etc. My experience has generally been that our voucher tenants don't have much experience in how to take care of a home, and put in a serious amount of maintenance requests for things as simple as changing lightbulbs. Also, if you're not familiar with the amount of paperwork required to lease up tenants through voucher programs, it can be a bit daunting the first few times.

As for your second concern, this is also a very real thing to worry about. Less so with traditional vouchers, (as my experience has been that people receiving them can often get extensions as long as they follow the rules of the program) but definitely so with rapid rehousing vouchers. These only last for a year, and we've had several problems involving tenants who simply stop paying once it expires and force us to evict them. When you consider the time and expense in getting them out, suddenly that extra money you were making per month in rent evaporates very quickly. 

Bottom line, it all comes down to finding the right tenant. A quiet, respectful tenant who treats your property well makes the HCVP program extremely rewarding. But there are some nightmares out there, so use caution.

Hi all-

New investor here, scoping out potential first deals. I've been working with an agent who's set me up with auto emails for MLS listings, but I'm also interested in looking for more off market properties. What does everyone think about using Listsource for potential leads? For those who've had success with it, what kind of data points should I be using to create the best lists? For those who don't like it, I'd love any other suggested services/sites. Thanks in advance!

Thanks so much for all the responses! Going to do my best to verify if it's a legal 2-unit, but starting to feel like it might not be worth it to chance it, if not. 

Hi all-

Hoping to get some guidance from Baltimore city investors here. I’m looking for my first property in the city, and have come across what I believe to be an unregistered/unofficial two-unit apartment constructed inside a former single family home. Anyone have any experience with cases like these? How stringent is any enforcement of this kind of stuff? My agent suggested it’s not a big deal, but I wanted to check in anyway. Thanks in advance!

@Shadonna N. if there is serious damage as a result of ignored maintenance that’s specifically spelled out in the lease as the tenant’s responsibility (and not just normal wear and tear), I would say you should be OK taking it out of the deposit.

But depending on what it costs you to fix/do, I would probably just let it go. For something like an air filter or cleaning a dryer vent, it may be more hassle and stress than it’s worth to deal with an upset former tenant who feels he/she’s been nickel and dimed. 

Again, just my experience, but for minor stuff I’d prefer just to get it done by myself or one of my colleagues and move on to more productive uses of my time than potentially fighting with a former tenant over relatively small dollar fixes.

Hi Brad-

I’m not sure there’s any definitive guide, but I work in property management here in DC and can give you a sense of what we do.

I would say you are entirely within your rights to deduct a cleaning service from the deposit, as long as you made clear to the tenant about the expectations that the place be cleaned before they leave. 

The bulbs and the caulking, I would probably just forget about. Call it normal wear and tear and the cost of doing business, I’d think it’s not worth the hassle if the tenant tries to dispute the cost.

We always charge tenants for bulk item pickups they don’t take care of themselves. Same for re-keying locks. But again, we make these expectations clear and if you do as well, I think you’ll be fine. 

Hi all-

I'm a new investor looking for my first property, and find myself at a bit of a crossroads in terms of strategy.

I live in Washington, DC, and my current goal is to get a small multi-family or house-hackable single family. I've been encouraged by my boss and mentor to owner-occupy my first property, primarily to take advantage of lower rates and cut my own living expenses in the process.
 However, I'm running into some issues based on affordability. Simply, there's not a ton of deals here that I'd be able to get a loan for (mostly based on my income rather than down payment) and the ones that I can afford/qualify for are generally in neighborhoods I wouldn't feel comfortable living in. 

My question to more experienced investors is, given all that, is it worth looking into buying a place strictly as an investment (either locally or long-distance)? Generally, how much more should I expect to pay in interest rates, fees, and down payment? Or should I just be patient, and keep searching for an owner-occupiable place that fits my situation? Thanks in advance for your thoughts!