All Forum Posts by: Emily Howlett

@Jenna Bamlet you should reach out to @Sean McDonnell. He works with investors and would probably be able to help you out

I would say get an agent. It's a difficult market to find tenants right now, and especially with it being commercial, you're going to want to have someone who has a client base to market to as well as the exposure to the MLS

Hey Owen! I have recommendations to pass on! Shoot me a PM and I'll get you their contact info :)

You got a duplex for 85k?! Congrats - That's a steal! Where did you find it? What is the rent you're charging the other side? 

@Jenna Bamlet send me a PM and I’ll get you their info! 

Welcome to the community, Samuel! The first area that comes to mind for rent-by-room is Arlington County. It may be a little tougher to find something in your budget, but it's close to DC, has a solid professional community of young professionals, and is considered way too expensive by most people to just buy their own house (although ironically they could likely afford a condo easy peasy...). Alexandria is another option with similar reasons behind it. 

A couple other random thoughts tied to your request: 

• Keep in mind the various limits each jurisdiction puts on how many unrelated persons can live in one house. For example, some areas are lower, some are higher - this will affect how much you can anticipate realistically making in terms of profit). 
• What are your goals? If you're looking for cash-flow, it may be tough. If you're looking to simply not pay anything out of pocket, you can probably pull it off. Appreciation is usually pretty solid for NoVA, so that's a win regardless.
• Are you completely tied to living in NoVA? There's no wrong answer here. NoVA just tends to have higher prices, when you could look in MD and find something a bit more in your range with similar benefits.
• Are you open to doing some manual labor to fix a place up? If so, that would open up the possibilities so much! 

I'm an agent and have been in the area for a decent amount of time, and would be happy to help with anything you need! 

Congrats on your upcoming move to the DMV (you'll here this a lot out here...in this area it actually stands for "DC, Maryland, Virginia" rather than Dept of Motor Vehicles)! I'll echo what's already been said: if you can, you may want to consider expanding your search outside of just Annandale. There are lots of solid areas, and even though things look far on a map, they're not that far away. If you ever want anyone to bounce ideas or questions off of, I'd be happy to talk! Just send a DM :)

@Stacey Mollinet

Step 1: ensure all your numbers are actually on the do not call list (linked in another reply)

Step 2: wait a couple days for it to be logged, and then proceed to step 3

Step 3: whenever someone calls, answer the phone, get ALL of their contact information (name, business, phone number, email, etc)

Step 5: Inform them that you’re going to file a complaint, which carries a $10,000 fine for each call that’s determined to be a violation of the list. Also request that they remove you from their call list if they don’t want multiple complaints

Step 6: they hang up, you file complaint

Step 7: rinse and repeat

I can't speak for Yuma, but Jacksonville has a good number of multi-family properties in town. It really would just be a matter of finding one that's for sale (or convincing the owner to let go of their property). It's also a solid community in terms of amenities and proximity to other fun things (Wilmington, Raleigh, etc). It also has a constant supply of renters due to the bases nearby. 

I found having a CPA was incredibly helpful after getting my first property. I work with Kelly Hughes at Thompson, Hughes & Trollinger, PLLC, and he's been great!