All Forum Posts by: Ika Sargeant

@Ben Pielstick yes rents are holding steady so far. There is a good chance the rents will stay up if people are not able to buy.

There was a lot of demand for homes.

@Nick Thomas Our market in Northern Virginia was very robust before COVID19 but even now we are still seeing a bit of activity. My office in Reston VA did a survey in the past two weeks looking at inventory levels in Fairfax and Loudoun counties. Both counties were seeing an increase in inventories. I think many buyers are asking the same question whether to buy or hang on and see where the economy eventually lands. I think if you need a place to live then you really have to go ahead and purchase. You will likely be competing against fewer buyers. But if you have the option to wait and see where the economy lands, then it might be beneficial for you hang around. For one thing prices are not going to rise and right now from what I hear the demand for loans is huge. So all the factors suggest the benefits of waiting outweigh buying now.

@Michael Fitts thanks

All tenants from 4 single homes have paid this month. Two actually requested to renew leases that would end in the next two months.

@Michael Fitts you are obviously an educated buyer and this served you well. I like how you identified all the parts of buying and showed how they are important. The only thing I would add that I try to show every buyer is the buying costs. This way they can visually see where all the money is going and how much of it they have to bring to the table. Well done and Congrats.

@Mateen Qureshi welcome to Bigger Pockets. This is indeed an excellent platform for both new and seasoned investors.

You will learnt a lot. It is going to be interesting what post COVID19 Real estate world looks like for the DMV area. We were going through one of the best seller's market when this virus hit. We still have an active market but in time some things will shift. Happy reading. 

@Kristen Shook If I am reading your question right, it sounds like the seller will not pay for the agent if you bring an agent. If you are not experienced at doing this, it makes sense to bring in an agent. Consider that if you were to purchase this home at 54K and you pay an agent 2% of that, this will be just over 1K. You will hear a lot of people here say only agents want you to hire an agent. Do people buy real estate without agent..ABSOLUTELY. Just make sure you understand the risk-reward. Do not save a few hundred dollars just so that you bring so much risk to your deal. Good agents know what questions to ask  and where to look for resources to make sure you are covered. 

@Mike Soofian My suggestion is; pay a professional especially when you are new and still learning. Go to a a settlement agent and let them do the title search. Do not save $300 and then pay $3000 down the road. And finally use a real estate agent. 

 @Sean Sullivan Welcome to Bigger Pockets from a fellow Virginia resident. Great job starting and doing a lot of studying. I completely agree that you need to learn as much as possible when you get into real estate. Two things I would suggest; 1. If you are going to buy something; start with a property that will not create too much risk for you. In other words you can easily handle payments if something goes wrong, easy repair, its within easy reach for you. 2. Don't spend a lot of time reading how to; Get out and buy. Lots of lessons you will not learn from reading that a lot. 

@Sarafina S. I am in Northern Virginia too. I have been thinking of a women investor only group for the DMV then this COVID19 hit. Would you be interested in connecting and starting this after everything settle down.