All Forum Posts by: Lexie De Stefano

Definitely townhome from my optic as well- you'll likely be able to employ different strategies (midterm rentals, rent by the room, LTR, etc.) in a townhome with multiple bedrooms where as you're a lot more limited with a condo in the area. 

Hi Domenick, congrats on taking your next step! I'm sure other folks will have all kinds of additional insight, but I'd offer that multi-family properties in Arlington at a relatively decent price are hard to find. For a traditional multifamily property, you'll probably need to look in DC itself for a reasonable price point. However, you can easily keep an eye out for either a single family home that you can create an in-law suite (whether in the basement, or converting a family room or other separate area of the house) or even a townhouse with a walkout exit that could have the bottom floor serve as an in-law suite. You can also build an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) that's completely separate from the main single family home, but the permitting process in Arlington is a hot mess- my neighbor a couple houses down had his ADU permit take 13 months...so up to you on what's worth your time. I currently househack using the in-law suite method and also rent out rooms in the main part of my house, happy to connect if you have questions or want additional ideas of how to make something work!

Totally agree- it's a tough area to get started even with a higher salary, but you've got a few options. The ideal situation would be to do a low downpayment househack (huge advocate of this and I rent by the room in arlington!) but since you're locked into a lease for 12 months, it sounds like that route will have to wait. If you are itching to get started and determined to lock something in during the next couple months, I'd look a little further out (but simultaneously do your best to save for that future primary residence). Perhaps in the meantime you can pick up a traditional rental at 15% down within a reasonable driving distance, or alternatively, some lenders have been offering a 10% down vacation loan option-perfect for an Airbnb. (But that may cause some debt to income ratio issues for that future primary...just something to keep in mind!)

Hi Paul, thanks for your response! I was able to find that Apple Federal Credit Union allows for a non-occupant co-signor, at least per initial screening conversations with them. Additionally, I've been chatting with a bank in West Virginia that may allow us to move forward as well. Still haven't pulled the trigger yet- we will see!

Hello!

I initially planned to cash out/refinance my primary residence as if it was a BRRRR, but the rates make the mortgage unmanageable for the long term as I locked in a pretty decent rate at the time of purchase. Instead, I'm looking at options to leverage a HELOC on my primary residence that I purchased with a family member as co-owner, but she lives in a different state. My DTI (on my own) is too high to qualify for a HELOC at the local credit unions that I've talked with, and they won't let someone apply as a co-applicant if they don't live in the property as well. I'm hoping to find a bank that would be willing to let us apply together as co-applicants so I can unlock some (pretty significant) equity in my home. (Banks that won't work include: Tower federal, arlington community federal credit union, and department of commerce federal credit union.)

Any ideas or recommendations that you have would be much appreciated!

I personally think it's worth it, because the point of a househack is to reduce your expenses, and most househacks are tough to breakeven (and especially cashflow) in this area unless you are basically Airbnbing out the rooms. My first househack was similar to the situation you reference above, and was completely worth the negative cashflow for my case. My HOA had 30 day limits + I wanted to keep a guest room, which meant I paid up to a third of the mortgage myself per month (depending on who was there/what the tenants paid at the time). Fast forward 3.5 years later and I moved into my next place, and now property #1 cashflows as a long term rental, whereas it wouldn't have been cashflow positive as a LTR in the beginning. Also keep in mind you'll get some awesome tax deductions for your househack, and will be able to write off a portion of those condo fees. If you factor some of the tax return savings per month into your calculations, you might actually end up profiting more than you think!

One of my properties is within a couple miles of the new HQS in Arlington, and it added significant equity early on. In general, it made my particular neighborhood more desirable and house sales moved a lot faster. I've been pretty pleased! Multifamily is quite pricey here, and you may find it more economical to pursue other strategies, such as househacking a SFH or townhome.

What a great property! If only this was closer to the fall, it's exactly what I'm looking for and in the area I'm hoping to enter. Will definitely keep you in mind going forward!

Is this in North or South Arlington? I'm assuming South based on the ARV estimate

My Arlington Community FCU experience was awful as well. About 100 days to close, with me calling at least once per week to check the progress...squeaky wheel didn't really help. Taxes/fees (for an Arlington county property) cost about $700 at closing, and not folded into the loan. Overall an annoying process, and I probably would refrain from them in the future. However, their banking system is pretty user friendly on the backend and it's been pretty smooth.