All Forum Posts by: Sara C.

That is a straight up ****** neighborhood. I never solicited a PM in DC but have tons of experience with class D communities. My entire portfolio was low income at one point. In my Baltimore and St Mary's units PMs would not touch them. I was forced to manage them myself. One I managed from Afghanistan.  Fact is, in too many cases this may be 10 percent of a property manager's portfolio but they have to spend 90 percent of their time dealing with chaos over there. Believe me, I'm a better manager than most of those people you can hire and in so many cases this is true. In most instances, if you find someone willing to mange them they tend to be incompetent bottom feeders. I've had my share of those fools. I'm under the impression that you are priced too high. Also, the condition of your unit needs to be assessed. In that area you would have to filter through several tenants with a strict screening to get the right one. That takes time in many instances. Also, regardless of the neighborhood, that good tenant will require a nice looking place with desirable amenities. In terms of lowering rent; you may have to assess what the accurate market rent should be. If you are above that you may not have a choice. In good conscious, I must tell you that if you chose to manage this yourself and you don't understand the culture or community, you can be in for an extreme rude awakening. In terms cutting your loses this is a tough business. If you encounter your first series of problems in this business and are ready to quit this may not be the business for you. If you continue to operate in these kinds of communities this can be the tip of the iceberg. I have experienced that and a thousands times more. If it comes to that and you really feel this isn't the space for you, don't walk away. Reach out to people here and maybe you can off load it to someone else where you both can benefit. Good luck in the future. 

 Where is this located? How/where have you been trying to get tenants? What class neighborhood and property? You mention the rent in comparison to the mortgage...how does the current rent compare to the market? Have you tried offering half off first months rent? Have you tried offering shorter term leases just to get someone qualified in?

 Where is this located? How/where have you been trying to get tenants? What class neighborhood and property? You mention the rent in comparison to the mortgage...how does the current rent compare to the market? Have you tried offering half off first months rent? Have you tried offering shorter term leases just to get someone qualified in?

You're going to hit hurdles no matter what REI you do.
A.  Decide if you want to be an REI investor.  Learn from this one.  You need more learning and input is what I read before you do more investments.

B.   This isn’t a don’t give up or quit posts.   My commits are get someone local to bounce idea off. Join a group.

C.  For better input on this forum you need to give pertinent info and pictures.  
D. If you decide to sale look up your tax or GIS map for your city. Look at similar properties. At the bottom look for owners who have a lot of related listings. They are REI investors in your type of property. Ask them for advice or to sell to.