Cashflow in NoVA Area

[Ramy Man]

I am looking to get into the Real Estate market with a buy and hold strategy but finding it difficult to find deals that will have a good cashflow. What are people's cashflow around the Northern Virginia area?

Are there good deals out there or is it a matter of just settling for low cash flow?

[David Fernandez]

@Ramy Man, in my experience, most of NOVA is not a cash flow market. You will get a much higher return here flipping and/or developing properties, then deploy your profits in another market where you can find cash flowing properties, lend your money as a private lender, etc. Don’t think about $100/door, think about how can you get the highest  return on your money within the amount of risk that you feel comfortable with.

Yes, you can cash flow a property by buying it cash or with very little debt, but what’s your cocROI? $100/door might be a good strategy if you have no or little money down. If you put $70k down and you get $100/month (assuming you can get something that cash flows $100/month after all expenses and vacancy) your return is only 1.7%. IMO, if you are going after these types of yields, a CD may be a better/easier/safer investment. 

Now, if you are interested in cash flowing properties in NOVA, the markets you can try to look into are around Fredericksburg (all I-95 corridor south of Woodbridge until Richmond) and the triangle Manassas-Gainesville-Leesburg. Also, on the MD side, from Germantown to Hagerstown and PG county. Take a look at condos too, not only townhomes, they won't appreciate as much and they will be the first to lose value during a recession/correction, but they are cheaper than townhomes/SFH and if the HOA fees are not ridiculous, they can probably cash flow a little better. Good luck!