All Forum Posts by: Sara N.

Hello Peter, Like Boston, the DC market has cranes everywhere and is flooding with luxury, high end rentals--some as much as $4-5K a month for a 2 bedroom apt. in a hot location. Most of these new buildings are too high end. There's only so many (few) peeps who can afford that high end rent. Unless you plan to go into the luxury market, I think you're safe to have lots of commoners to rent to. Look at the data and trend if Boston is gaining more or fewer people moving in the near future? --like most urban areas, I'm confident the city is gaining in population (not loss). People, espec. younger peeps want to be close to where they work and live, some happy be without a car. Getting into the Boston market will be easy to find renters, it is a college town anyways. Find a good, safe location, walkable to the T/subway ideally.   Upgrade your property, rent to professionals, keep your rent a little lower than the competitors to entice more applicants and keep the tenants wanting to stay. I went to college in Boston (too long ago) and have several friends who still live there (and they tell me it's still very competitive to find a nice rental in the city). 

i just did a google search on boston's luxury market. yes, it's saturated, but like I say not everyone's going to afford it.

http://realestate.boston.com/renting/2016/06/10/lu...

Hi--here in DC, the properties are very expensive to begin with. The 2% rule that we've all been reading on BP, this rule surely doesn't work in a market like DC.  We have 2 rentals (row houses) in very good locations--both a few blocks from the metro, in very safe locations, renting to young professionals. It is very easy to find tenants and thus, we're able to more carefully pick and choose the tenants. We keep the rent a little lower than what's out there so our tenants' never moved out because of the high rent. We put a lot of $$ down for each, upgraded the homes, and have refinanced a few times, now with 15 yrs. mortgages and a very good rate. For us, after all that's said & done w/each of properties after the mortgages which includes payments for insurance and property taxes, after all these costs, as long as we are making a positive cash flow even small (a few hundred $$ each month, to cover stuff that breaks/maintenance) we are building equity and long term, once we sell, the property value will go up.  Specifically, with the total rent received, the take home $$ that's left per month after these above expenses: approx. $500+ on 1st property, approx. $200 on 2nd property.  So you can do the math and see how much we take home total each yr. Of course, we will need to pay $$ for maintenance & stuff that breaks, needs to be replaced on the properties this yr. Our properties are both in very good condition (as we already put a lot of work into it when we 1st got them. Overall, so far this yr approx. less than $1,500 for 1st property & $3,000 on 2nd property --($2,000 which was spent on getting the attic better insulated).  We manage our properties ourselves, so that cuts out the property manager expenses, even if it means dealing w/tenant issues.  Hey no one's going to care more about these homes than you the owners!  No way are we experts in RE as we are just buy and hold investors (we have full time jobs trying to save the world, not at all related to RE), we just look at doing this as a way of diversifying our investments, get a little passive income, not worry too much about $$, and hopefully will allow us to retire a little earlier. : )

Hi Lincoln, If it's going for that price $300K, it better be in a very good location in DC, close to metro.

@Sid Rao So many neighborhoods like H ST NE are priced out. You may want look at other neighborhoods of: Anacostia, Brentwood, Brookland, Ivy City, Fort Totten metro area, as they are still developing. We bought our last rental near R.I. Ave metro and even that neighborhood is now untouchable for investors.  

@Margaret R. --If  you're still looking to invest in Trinidad neighborhood I think you've missed the boat by a few yrs already. I think that neighborhood is over-hyped, and over priced and no metro nearby (the street car is a failed initiative and doesn't even run on Sundays!). You may want look at other neighborhoods of:  Anacostia, Brentwood, Brookland, Ivy City, Fort Totten metro area, as they are still developing. We bought our last rental near R.I. Ave metro and even that neighborhood is now untouchable for investors. I'm happy to meet with you and share with you my experiences.

@Churchill Eisenhower welcome. Since you're local and don't have several properties already, why would you see a need to hire a property manager vs. doing it yourself and save the $$? I agree with

Russell Brazil that multiple units are going to be hard to come by in DC and if they are available, it's going to be a bidding war in this hot market. You may want look at the neighborhoods of: Brentwood, Brookland, Ivy City as they are still developing.

@Kai G If your plan is to hold on to this property long term, and considering it's in the DC area/NoVA and you are making a few hundred $$ every month, I think that's pretty good.  RE is more expensive in DC area so it's harder to invest here & the property value will only continue to increase if it's in a desirable location. Since this place is a condo and seems to be in good condition and it's your only property you're renting out, it's probably not needed to hire a property manager. But definitely make sure have a friend/relative who can help you out in emergencies and have an extra key to the property. Make sure you have a few handyman, espec. plumber on speed dial, that you trust. Some friends of ours with condos in DC will hire a co. to find/screen a tenant but after that they just deal with the tenant themselves. In my cause, I do it all myself.  Good luck! 

@Pete Flynn I totally agree with what Andrew and Erica said above. Definitely look at what the going rates are on Airbnb in similar areas & conditions as yours. When you first start, lower your nightly stay to get good reviews and more people booking your place. Expecting an 80% occupancy rate may be a little high considering H ST area is not the most touristy area and not walkable to metro. You may get people who are here working and want to rent for a few wks, or visiting their kids at nearby universities--that may be a good move, so you should add long term rental discount. 

We live in SW and hosted on airbnb for almost a yr our extra guest bedroom. We didn't have any trouble renting our place our since tourists liked the location & they could just walk to the museums, mall, Capitol building, Nats park and walkable to L'Enfant Plaza, SW Waterfront metro,  etc.  But after doing this for a while, it does get tiring having to constantly keep the place extra clean, dealing with booking, etc. So we ended up leasing the guest bedroom to someone that comes to work in DC for a few nights a wk and so we don't have to deal with it anymore. 

Welcome to DC! Some good websites for learning about the DC market & various neighborhoods: 

http://dc.urbanturf.com/

http://dc.curbed.com/

http://www.popville.com/

http://greatergreaterwashington.org/

Also sign up for NEXTDOOR neighbors so you can know exactly what's going on in the neighborhood you're moving into, crime, what's going on etc.  If you ever want to chat more about RE in DC, feel free to contact me. I'd be happy to share about my experiences.

Hi --our go to plumber is Bill's who is honest & reliable! You can read my positive reviews and others' reviews on yelp dc search for:

I dont have any suggestions for electricians, so good luck.