All Forum Posts by: Ika Sargeant

@Theo Daubresse in addition to all the things mentioned above, pick up the phone and talk to the last landlord/lady. This is extremely helpful.

@Nabeel Ahmed Welcome to BiggerPockets. You are right, It can be hard to make decisions about real estate. This is true even for seasoned investors. Its like deciding to go from Washington DC to Richmond. Some people want to get there via 95, doing high speed and arriving under two hours. Others prefer back roads. Less traffic and less stress. You will arrive in three hours. You just need to make sure your decisions are well informed.

If you already are a homeowner you have an idea of costs of owning and maintenance issues. But investor owner requires putting on a different hat. What are your goals; like how much cash flow do you want from your rental monthly. May be you are looking for higher returns. Cash flow in NOVA as you are finding is tough to do. If you go elsewhere, are you prepared to be a landlord from a distance? All these myriad question have no right answer.

I do think you can start small, may be buy a townhouse nearby markets. Do not forget to forget to a run an analysis for your property to make sure it meets or comes close to the criteria you have identified. 

@Erickson Sainval Welcome to BiggerPockets.  This is an invaluable platform. There are lots of connections you can make. Certainly join investor groups.

Been working with buyers and made offers. There are typically around 6-8 parties competing for the house every time. This past two months I have also noticed even the high end areas which normally required a longer days on the market, homes are flying off the shelves. An example is Great Falls VA. I just saw last week two homes on the same street; one priced at 1.6 M and another just over 2 M. get an offer within a week. The 2M home had been on and off the market in the last two years. Was put on the market a week ago and got an offer under a week. Been thinking about what is driving this? Low Inventory? Low interest rates? City Dwellers fleeing to the Burbs? Is it beneficiaries of the stock market who have cashed out and now moving their cash to real estate? Then I also think how human beings can be so irrational in making investment decisions. But what of the looming unemployment? Perhaps people can add their two cents.

@Daniel Edwards you will not have a problem getting a room mate. A lot of people are now renting rooms. With our rents rising more and more people are priced out. Renting a Rooms is become very popular. 

@Daniel Edwards Welcome to Bigger Pockets. You can learn a lot on this platform and people are always willing to give info or point you to where you can get the information.

@Charles M. Yes please share with us for a handyman. The current companies I use seem to overpriced every repair. 

@Edwin G Cruz Jr There are lots of areas. At the top of my list is Arlington but then if you start looking at properties you will choke on the prices.

@Marcus Glover The best cities are areas closer to Washington DC but you know prices for homes get very high. I will tell you I am seeing room rentals every where in Northern VA. Even in areas that I thought were a bit out I am seeing lots of room rentals. Check out a website called roomies.com(I think thats the name) and you can also see how much people charge for rooms.

@Matt Stricklen Completely agree with you. These so called rules should be called guidelines. They will help you make a quick educated guess. But each local market determines what its numbers are. In my area you hardly ever find the 1% deal. Its likely to be somewhere around .07% or less. Knowing the nuances of each market matter.