All Forum Posts by: Marshall M.

@Obi I. I like the sound of that! I was going to say buy an apartment complex, raise the rents and refi.

@Lesley Riddick welcome!

@Nick Pisano interesting observation! What do you think was causing the softness? Maybe increased supply nearby? 

@Manuel Diaz D.C. has multifamily buildings for sale but they’re usually a little hard to find at a good price. I would also check costar, crexi, local wholesalers, etc. Here’s a link to Crexi: https://www.crexi.com/properti...

It sounds like you’re looking for a property to either buy and hold or  possibly “house-hack,” by either renting three units in a quad and living in the fourth one or by living “upstairs” with a renter in a basement unit. 

It’s hard to get a quad in D.C. that cash flows well because you’re usually competing against investors who are seeking to convert the building into condos and sell off each unit (e.g. “condo-conversions”).  they can usually pay more than a buy and hold investor. Meanwhile, a basement unit will help offset your monthly expenses but it won’t usually generate positive cash flow. What exactly are you hoping to achieve with this investment? Are you looking for an investment property, somewhere to live or a hybrid of the two? What location are you hoping to be in? This will help determine what areas to focus on.

At your price point you’ll see a lot of multi-family properties selling in Columbia Heights/Mount Pleasant between 2-3 units in the $1.0-1.5 million range. You should also see some 2-3 unit multis in the $1.0-1.4M range near Rhode Island in Eckington, Bloomingdale, etc. For slightly larger 4-units you may see some near Brookland closing at $1-1.3M and a handful in and around Trinidad in the $800k-1.0M range. Duplexes and triplexes east of the Capitol sell in the $1-1.3M range.

Keep in mind you're shopping for a property in one of the most competitive multi-family markets in the world. The multifamily cap rates in D.C. hover close to 5.0% on average and have been known to drop into the 4's. The competition is paying all cash or using very little debt to buy the buildings you're seeing listed for sale. Most of the multi unit properties on MLS will also be overpriced and it takes a little bit of leg work to not only find a deal but potentially also create one. You'll have to get historical financials, value the properties and make offers that align with your financial goals

Also side note, when it comes to cash flowing in D.C. I recommend checking two things: 1) see if you can increase rents in a building with below market rents (e.g. upon turnover) or 2) looking into D.C.‘s Section 8 housing program to try and achieve above market rents and cash flow. They publish their rental rates here: https://www.dchousing.org/vue/...

Hope that helps! Feel free to let me know if you need anything else.

 The  rent rolls show how many units are occupied and what the tenants should be paying. Sometimes they don’t show a balance due so you can request a delinquency report for that.

For commercial maybe try a big company like NAI, CBRE, Cushman, etc. 

@Sireen Shahid try hiring a real estate agent or put it on Craigslist and offer seller financing if you don’t have a mortgage on it.

@Ben Petersen go for it, send the lowballs. I suggest that instead of sending 20 offers, send 20 emails or texts and reach out to the listing agents and see if they would even consider a low offer before your agent spends a ton of his or her time writing 20 of them. You’ll have much better success. Send an email feeling out the listing agent with a price range, then have your agent send the offer if they’re willing to show it to the seller. Most agents won’t even present a low ball offer even though they’re legally supposed to because it makes them look bad in front of the seller.

@Pawan Pandey go to Redfin or Zillow switch the filters to sold listings within last year and see what shows for houses with similar features to yours. Make an excel spreadsheet and dig in. Good luck!

@Anna Shan yes time to switch. A good one should be enthusiastic to work with you and provide open lines of communication.