All Forum Posts by: Kenny Fletcher

Hey Laurie,

Welcome! Good to see another Richmond-area investor here. Congrats on the success with the first house. 

My wife and I are looking for a rental property in the area this fall. We have a rental in DC and also run an AirBnB here in Richmond, but this would be our first buy and hold property in the area. Bigger Pockets has been great. Another good resource we've found for networking is the RVA REIA group, which you can find by searching Meetup. They have meetings at least once a month.

Are both of the houses you bought in the Mechanicsville area? Are you looking in the city now? Best of luck!

I moved to Richmond from DC about a year ago and love the area. It's a beautiful city with good quality of life, and prices are much lower than the DC area. 

My wife and I have a SFH rental in DC, and since moving to Richmond we have done very well renting an AirBnB suite we set up in our primary residence here. We're currently starting the search for another rental property in the Richmond area, most likely in the suburbs.

What brought you to consider Richmond, Chase? 

Hi Scott,

Glad to hear it's worked out for you. I bought my first home in DC four years ago and rented out extra bedrooms and the basement. It more than paid my mortgage and gave me a lot of practical experience. Just like you I accumulated plenty of tools and knowledge, and know what to do in most "emergencies." I also got a nice place to live in and the pride of ownership. Now I'm recently married, no more roommates, and my wife and I are looking for our second property. I'd definitely recommend "house hacking" to anybody looking to get started and ease into things. 

This is one of the areas we try to save money. My wife and I together spend about $500-$600 per month on groceries and about $100-$200 per month eating out... So usually a total of $300-$400 per person. DC is known as an expensive city, but we try to be relatively frugal and healthy and prepare most of our own meals.  

@Account Closed There are also kits for venting outside on an exterior wall available online, and I believe that's preferable since there's less possibility for leaks. I didn't have the option since it is a rowhouse with a shared wall. However, I wouldn't necessarily recommend venting it through the attic vent, I think normally it needs its own vent. 

@Russell Brazil  thanks for the insight on Takoma and PG, and for bringing up the issue of rent control. My primary residence in DC is a few blocks north of the GA Ave/Petworth metro stop. We've also considered purchasing something in the Baltimore area or parts of Southern Maryland, but that would be a different strategy: I have work in DC so it would not be a primary residence, and we'll have to look further into financing options for that. 

Vent it to the outside if you can. I had an exhaust BR fan that was vented into the attic when I bought a place, condensation from the fan led to water damage on the ceiling's drywall. I recently added ducting and vented it out on the roof, I did the installation myself with a $25 roof venting kit I bought off amazon that includes the roof vent and exhaust duct, it only took about an hour and was definitely worth it. I also believe in many places code won't allow it to be vented into the attic, but check what's acceptable in your area. 

Brandt, thanks for the tips. At this point it's just my wife and I, so we've definitely considered buying a duplex to quad to live in for a year or two and get owner occupied financing. It all depends on if we can find the right deal. Takoma Park is a really nice area convenient to so much... Let's definitely keep in touch!

I had not taken into consideration the tenant laws when thinking about that area, good point. I know Maryland has a tenant-friendly bent, but is there anything specific to PG that I should be aware of vs other parts of MD? Is DC much better for landlords as far as tenant laws go?

One area we've been eyeing is Riverdale Park given the new development going in there anchored by the Whole Foods and the fact that the commute into DC isn't too bad, especially with the MARC. A strategy we've been considering would be to buy a place in PG as our new primary residence and rent our house in DC (which would have great cash flow). We'd hold onto the new house in PG for a year or two and renovate it, at which time we could move on to a new primary residence and either sell or rent the PG house depending on the market. I'm assuming that in that area it is close enough to UMD that we could market to that crowd if we decide to rent. Ray, I hadn't considered your point about the new construction and that's giving me something else to think about. 

We're really just starting to learn about our options, so it's great to be able to bounce ideas off here.  

My wife and I live in Washington, DC, and we're in the process of researching markets nearby to begin buy and hold investing, most likely SFH. So far we've just been renting out our basement apartment unit in the city (which has worked out very well) but we want to buy a second property in 2015 as an investment. One of the areas we've been interested in is the College Park, Hyattsville, Riverdale region... It seems to be one of the few spots within the beltway with reasonable prices, and given all the new development and the University of Maryland nearby it seems like an ideal spot for a rental. I'm familiar with the area, as I used to live in CP, but am looking to network with some folks actively investing there now. Who out there has been buying in the area?