Does anyone know how to rent to Diplomats or Embassy Personnel?

[Anonymous]

I will be renting my 5 bedroom house in Chevy Chase, MD beginning 1 September 2024. Would like to rent to Embassy, Military, or other persons for at least a 2 year lease. Where is the best place to advertise my property?

Thanks in advance!

[Anonymous]

Just post to zillow and the location should attract lots of diplomat types

[Anonymous]

https://www.militarybyowner.com/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://www.militarybyowner.com/

sorry hit send before adding text. many dips, use militarybyowner.com

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I will be renting my 5 bedroom house in Chevy Chase, MD beginning 1 September 2024. Would like to rent to Embassy, Military, or other persons for at least a 2 year lease. Where is the best place to advertise my property?

Thanks in advance!

That's great!
You're about to enter the world of being a spoiled landlord, lol.

You'll have a much greater advantage over the vast majority of other landlords, because BCC is one of the very few high schools in lower MoCo, that can accept international credits from schools overseas in the International Baccalaueate Program (better known as the 1B).
Since most diplomats have children, that is a BIG deal!.

The only high schools that are affiliated with 1B in lower MoCo are BCC, Richard Montgomery, Einstein & Rockville.

I rented to 4 different embassies over a 20 year period (England, Italy, Austria & Copenhagen).
Let me tell you, embassies are THE best tenants!

- They always pay on time, every time.
- They send their own embassy workers over to the house to fix anything & everything that needs to be fixed.
- They leave the house in better condition than what they found it in usually, as the vast majority want to upgrades to the home to make it into the luxury that they're accustom to (and they pay for it all).
- They're super easy/available to communicate with.
- The actual tenants are almost always very respectful, as they know that their embassy has the power to make or break them and more importantly, where they end up next.

We loved all of our tenants, with the exception of one... she was from the UK embassy and she was an absolute NIGHTMARE!
She let the water run on the master bedroom toilet 24/7 without telling anyone, so we ended up getting a $20,000 water bill at the end of the month (which the embassy paid for). She was difficult, smug, sanctimonious, had a nasty attitude, incommunicative when we needed to get in the house to look at things thatSHE complained about, she damaged a few sections of hardwood that had to be totally replaced, and she was even nastier to the people who worked at the embassy than she was us (and the people who work at the embassies in support are a special kind of patient and kind. There was absolutely no reason to treat them that way).

My contact and the embassy filed a report on her, which she said she'd never done in her 18 years of being a landlord liason.

For my tenants next assignment, they sent her to Tripoli, Libya. 🤣

So, as for getting on their radar.
I would look at their website and find someone who you can send the listing of your property to, and then send it to every single embassy on the row.
You'll get a bite ASAP (especially if you're in the BCC cluster, they snap those homes up as soon as they hit the market).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will be renting my 5 bedroom house in Chevy Chase, MD beginning 1 September 2024. Would like to rent to Embassy, Military, or other persons for at least a 2 year lease. Where is the best place to advertise my property?

Thanks in advance!

That's great!
You're about to enter the world of being a spoiled landlord, lol.

You'll have a much greater advantage over the vast majority of other landlords, because BCC is one of the very few high schools in lower MoCo, that can accept international credits from schools overseas in the International Baccalaueate Program (better known as the 1B).
Since most diplomats have children, that is a BIG deal!.

The only high schools that are affiliated with 1B in lower MoCo are BCC, Richard Montgomery, Einstein & Rockville.

I rented to 4 different embassies over a 20 year period (England, Italy, Austria & Copenhagen).
Let me tell you, embassies are THE best tenants!

- They always pay on time, every time.
- They send their own embassy workers over to the house to fix anything & everything that needs to be fixed.
- They leave the house in better condition than what they found it in usually, as the vast majority want to upgrades to the home to make it into the luxury that they're accustom to (and they pay for it all).
- They're super easy/available to communicate with.
- The actual tenants are almost always very respectful, as they know that their embassy has the power to make or break them and more importantly, where they end up next.

We loved all of our tenants, with the exception of one... she was from the UK embassy and she was an absolute NIGHTMARE!
She let the water run on the master bedroom toilet 24/7 without telling anyone, so we ended up getting a $20,000 water bill at the end of the month (which the embassy paid for). She was difficult, smug, sanctimonious, had a nasty attitude, incommunicative when we needed to get in the house to look at things thatSHE complained about, she damaged a few sections of hardwood that had to be totally replaced, and she was even nastier to the people who worked at the embassy than she was us (and the people who work at the embassies in support are a special kind of patient and kind. There was absolutely no reason to treat them that way).

My contact and the embassy filed a report on her, which she said she'd never done in her 18 years of being a landlord liason.

For my tenants next assignment, they sent her to Tripoli, Libya. 🤣

So, as for getting on their radar.
I would look at their website and find someone who you can send the listing of your property to, and then send it to every single embassy on the row.
You'll get a bite ASAP (especially if you're in the BCC cluster, they snap those homes up as soon as they hit the market).

Wow, this was such a detailed post. I appreciate you taking the time to write it all out.

Since OP clearly wasn't appreciative enough to say thank you, I will.
Sorry, but I can't stand people who ask for advice and then aren't grateful and don't thank the people for doing it.

[Anonymous]

For military you need to be around BAH. If not, then embassy is more likely

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For military you need to be around BAH. If not, then embassy is more likely

Actually no. Walter Reed PCSs doctors (often 2-doctor couples) for 3 years. There are a ton of these fellows, residents and interns but they may not feel up to the rent on a 5b house in CCMD depending. You can be certain the house would be respectfully cared for, though

NIH also draws some temporary luminaries who head institutes.

OP figure out a contact within the World Bank and IMF too. I don’t have that office but I am certain that many families rent in close-in CC/Bethesda for years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will be renting my 5 bedroom house in Chevy Chase, MD beginning 1 September 2024. Would like to rent to Embassy, Military, or other persons for at least a 2 year lease. Where is the best place to advertise my property?

Thanks in advance!

That's great!
You're about to enter the world of being a spoiled landlord, lol.

You'll have a much greater advantage over the vast majority of other landlords, because BCC is one of the very few high schools in lower MoCo, that can accept international credits from schools overseas in the International Baccalaueate Program (better known as the 1B).
Since most diplomats have children, that is a BIG deal!.

The only high schools that are affiliated with 1B in lower MoCo are BCC, Richard Montgomery, Einstein & Rockville.

I rented to 4 different embassies over a 20 year period (England, Italy, Austria & Copenhagen).
Let me tell you, embassies are THE best tenants!

- They always pay on time, every time.
- They send their own embassy workers over to the house to fix anything & everything that needs to be fixed.
- They leave the house in better condition than what they found it in usually, as the vast majority want to upgrades to the home to make it into the luxury that they're accustom to (and they pay for it all).
- They're super easy/available to communicate with.
- The actual tenants are almost always very respectful, as they know that their embassy has the power to make or break them and more importantly, where they end up next.

We loved all of our tenants, with the exception of one... she was from the UK embassy and she was an absolute NIGHTMARE!
She let the water run on the master bedroom toilet 24/7 without telling anyone, so we ended up getting a $20,000 water bill at the end of the month (which the embassy paid for). She was difficult, smug, sanctimonious, had a nasty attitude, incommunicative when we needed to get in the house to look at things thatSHE complained about, she damaged a few sections of hardwood that had to be totally replaced, and she was even nastier to the people who worked at the embassy than she was us (and the people who work at the embassies in support are a special kind of patient and kind. There was absolutely no reason to treat them that way).

My contact and the embassy filed a report on her, which she said she'd never done in her 18 years of being a landlord liason.

For my tenants next assignment, they sent her to Tripoli, Libya. 🤣

So, as for getting on their radar.
I would look at their website and find someone who you can send the listing of your property to, and then send it to every single embassy on the row.
You'll get a bite ASAP (especially if you're in the BCC cluster, they snap those homes up as soon as they hit the market).

This has not been my experience, and I've rented to a fair number of diplomats.

Yes, they always pay, no question. But the embassy sending their own workers to fix issues in your house and making luxury upgrades at their expense? Yeah, lol, that never happens. The landlord has to fix issues just like they would with any other tenant. And while I do agree that diplomats are in general good tenants, they feel the strain of housing costs just like everyone else. They may get a $3,500/month housing allowance when it really costs $5,000/month to comfortably house their family near the embassy (ambassadors and the other highest-level diplomats are exceptions to this). So they are either faced with a long commute or have to pay for some of their housing costs out of their pocket - neither of these prospects makes them particularly happy.

I have a $100 repair deductible in my rentals just to avoid getting called to change a light bulb and so on. Most tenants are OK with this and understand that actual repairs cost much more than $100. However, my diplomat tenants will often let things go (nothing major like water leaks, etc.) simply to avoid paying the $100 fee.

[Anonymous]

For the person with the bad UK tenant…I wonder if this has to do with what seems like rental norms in the UK.

I rented a house in London and at the end of the lease, asked for the security deposit back (house was treated ver well). The landlord said nobody had ever asked for the security deposit back.

I wonder if everyone expects you will damage the house and just leave the deposit.

We did get our money back but only after threatening to take the guy to the equivalent of small claims court.

It was odd because we go along perfectly fine with the landlord during the lease term.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I will be renting my 5 bedroom house in Chevy Chase, MD beginning 1 September 2024. Would like to rent to Embassy, Military, or other persons for at least a 2 year lease.

In MoCo, you are required to offer the tenant a 2-year lease (they can opt for a shorter lease, but it has to be offered). Also when you rent to active duty military, they may break the lease early if they get assigned to another post. The issue with that is they may leave in February, but most housing rentals occur in the summer (no one wants to move mid school year) so you may be stuck with an empty house for a few months (this happened to me).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will be renting my 5 bedroom house in Chevy Chase, MD beginning 1 September 2024. Would like to rent to Embassy, Military, or other persons for at least a 2 year lease. Where is the best place to advertise my property?

Thanks in advance!

That's great!
You're about to enter the world of being a spoiled landlord, lol.

You'll have a much greater advantage over the vast majority of other landlords, because BCC is one of the very few high schools in lower MoCo, that can accept international credits from schools overseas in the International Baccalaueate Program (better known as the 1B).
Since most diplomats have children, that is a BIG deal!.

The only high schools that are affiliated with 1B in lower MoCo are BCC, Richard Montgomery, Einstein & Rockville.

I rented to 4 different embassies over a 20 year period (England, Italy, Austria & Copenhagen).
Let me tell you, embassies are THE best tenants!

- They always pay on time, every time.
- They send their own embassy workers over to the house to fix anything & everything that needs to be fixed.
- They leave the house in better condition than what they found it in usually, as the vast majority want to upgrades to the home to make it into the luxury that they're accustom to (and they pay for it all).
- They're super easy/available to communicate with.
- The actual tenants are almost always very respectful, as they know that their embassy has the power to make or break them and more importantly, where they end up next.

We loved all of our tenants, with the exception of one... she was from the UK embassy and she was an absolute NIGHTMARE!
She let the water run on the master bedroom toilet 24/7 without telling anyone, so we ended up getting a $20,000 water bill at the end of the month (which the embassy paid for). She was difficult, smug, sanctimonious, had a nasty attitude, incommunicative when we needed to get in the house to look at things thatSHE complained about, she damaged a few sections of hardwood that had to be totally replaced, and she was even nastier to the people who worked at the embassy than she was us (and the people who work at the embassies in support are a special kind of patient and kind. There was absolutely no reason to treat them that way).

My contact and the embassy filed a report on her, which she said she'd never done in her 18 years of being a landlord liason.

For my tenants next assignment, they sent her to Tripoli, Libya. 🤣

So, as for getting on their radar.
I would look at their website and find someone who you can send the listing of your property to, and then send it to every single embassy on the row.
You'll get a bite ASAP (especially if you're in the BCC cluster, they snap those homes up as soon as they hit the market).

This has not been my experience, and I've rented to a fair number of diplomats.

Yes, they always pay, no question. But the embassy sending their own workers to fix issues in your house and making luxury upgrades at their expense? Yeah, lol, that never happens. The landlord has to fix issues just like they would with any other tenant. And while I do agree that diplomats are in general good tenants, they feel the strain of housing costs just like everyone else. They may get a $3,500/month housing allowance when it really costs $5,000/month to comfortably house their family near the embassy (ambassadors and the other highest-level diplomats are exceptions to this). So they are either faced with a long commute or have to pay for some of their housing costs out of their pocket - neither of these prospects makes them particularly happy.

I have a $100 repair deductible in my rentals just to avoid getting called to change a light bulb and so on. Most tenants are OK with this and understand that actual repairs cost much more than $100. However, my diplomat tenants will often let things go (nothing major like water leaks, etc.) simply to avoid paying the $100 fee.

I've only rented to the embassy of Japan.
They rented from us for eight years, and they always sent their own handymen over to fix things that broke due to tenant mishap.
They explained that using their own people was far more affordable for them than any handyman that I would've hired.
However, it's no secret that landlords in Chevy Chase have the leverage to include special provisions in their leases, because there were such a limited number of homes whose addresses qualified for the 1B program.
Of course, that created high competition among the embassies that were eager to secure the properties for themselves.

It's really not that far fetched. Is your rental in Chevy Chase or slated for the 1B program?

My eight year tenants also did upgrades.
Our house wasn't in Chevy Chase, but they wanted to do it for tradition.
We said yes because we wanted them to feel more comfortable here and more at home. It's what they used in Japan and ithelped them keep to traditio, even with being so far away from home.
Although, they always approved it with us first, though.

Just because your tenants didn't do it doesn't mean that it "never happens" like you claim.
It's narrow-minded and foolish to assume you know everything about renting to every embassy.

Most of the upgrades were reverted back before they vacated, but a few we retained (particularly the high-tech bathroom equipment they installed, which included a bidet that spoke three different languages (Chinese, Japanese, and English) heated seat warmers, deodorizers, and even a white noise machines to mask unpleasant or embarrassing sounds ( :lol.
Most of those things were unheard of in America in 2010 (beside the bidet, of course).

We removed the Onsen bath from the bathroom in the MIL suite, though.
Despite its beauty, we anticipated that future tenants probably wouldn't use it, making it neither cost-effective nor practical to retain.

We moved to Deleware ten years ago, so we had to sell our rental along with our primary home. Otherwise, we'd still be renting to the Japaneseen embassy, as it was such a pleasurable experience!

[Anonymous]

Almost nobody answered the question at hand. The post was clear and specific as how to find those tenants.

[Anonymous]

Our real estate agent is foreign and has strong connections with several embassies which has been helpful

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will be renting my 5 bedroom house in Chevy Chase, MD beginning 1 September 2024. Would like to rent to Embassy, Military, or other persons for at least a 2 year lease. Where is the best place to advertise my property?

Thanks in advance!

That's great!
You're about to enter the world of being a spoiled landlord, lol.

You'll have a much greater advantage over the vast majority of other landlords, because BCC is one of the very few high schools in lower MoCo, that can accept international credits from schools overseas in the International Baccalaueate Program (better known as the 1B).
Since most diplomats have children, that is a BIG deal!.

The only high schools that are affiliated with 1B in lower MoCo are BCC, Richard Montgomery, Einstein & Rockville.

I rented to 4 different embassies over a 20 year period (England, Italy, Austria & Copenhagen).
Let me tell you, embassies are THE best tenants!

- They always pay on time, every time.
- They send their own embassy workers over to the house to fix anything & everything that needs to be fixed.
- They leave the house in better condition than what they found it in usually, as the vast majority want to upgrades to the home to make it into the luxury that they're accustom to (and they pay for it all).
- They're super easy/available to communicate with.
- The actual tenants are almost always very respectful, as they know that their embassy has the power to make or break them and more importantly, where they end up next.

We loved all of our tenants, with the exception of one... she was from the UK embassy and she was an absolute NIGHTMARE!
She let the water run on the master bedroom toilet 24/7 without telling anyone, so we ended up getting a $20,000 water bill at the end of the month (which the embassy paid for). She was difficult, smug, sanctimonious, had a nasty attitude, incommunicative when we needed to get in the house to look at things thatSHE complained about, she damaged a few sections of hardwood that had to be totally replaced, and she was even nastier to the people who worked at the embassy than she was us (and the people who work at the embassies in support are a special kind of patient and kind. There was absolutely no reason to treat them that way).

My contact and the embassy filed a report on her, which she said she'd never done in her 18 years of being a landlord liason.

For my tenants next assignment, they sent her to Tripoli, Libya. 🤣

So, as for getting on their radar.
I would look at their website and find someone who you can send the listing of your property to, and then send it to every single embassy on the row.
You'll get a bite ASAP (especially if you're in the BCC cluster, they snap those homes up as soon as they hit the market).

This has not been my experience, and I've rented to a fair number of diplomats.

Yes, they always pay, no question. But the embassy sending their own workers to fix issues in your house and making luxury upgrades at their expense? Yeah, lol, that never happens. The landlord has to fix issues just like they would with any other tenant. And while I do agree that diplomats are in general good tenants, they feel the strain of housing costs just like everyone else. They may get a $3,500/month housing allowance when it really costs $5,000/month to comfortably house their family near the embassy (ambassadors and the other highest-level diplomats are exceptions to this). So they are either faced with a long commute or have to pay for some of their housing costs out of their pocket - neither of these prospects makes them particularly happy.

I have a $100 repair deductible in my rentals just to avoid getting called to change a light bulb and so on. Most tenants are OK with this and understand that actual repairs cost much more than $100. However, my diplomat tenants will often let things go (nothing major like water leaks, etc.) simply to avoid paying the $100 fee.

I've only rented to the embassy of Japan.
They rented from us for eight years, and they always sent their own handymen over to fix things that broke due to tenant mishap.
They explained that using their own people was far more affordable for them than any handyman that I would've hired.
However, it's no secret that landlords in Chevy Chase have the leverage to include special provisions in their leases, because there were such a limited number of homes whose addresses qualified for the 1B program.
Of course, that created high competition among the embassies that were eager to secure the properties for themselves.

It's really not that far fetched. Is your rental in Chevy Chase or slated for the 1B program?

My eight year tenants also did upgrades.
Our house wasn't in Chevy Chase, but they wanted to do it for tradition.
We said yes because we wanted them to feel more comfortable here and more at home. It's what they used in Japan and ithelped them keep to traditio, even with being so far away from home.
Although, they always approved it with us first, though.

Just because your tenants didn't do it doesn't mean that it "never happens" like you claim.
It's narrow-minded and foolish to assume you know everything about renting to every embassy.

Most of the upgrades were reverted back before they vacated, but a few we retained (particularly the high-tech bathroom equipment they installed, which included a bidet that spoke three different languages (Chinese, Japanese, and English) heated seat warmers, deodorizers, and even a white noise machines to mask unpleasant or embarrassing sounds ( :lol.
Most of those things were unheard of in America in 2010 (beside the bidet, of course).

We removed the Onsen bath from the bathroom in the MIL suite, though.
Despite its beauty, we anticipated that future tenants probably wouldn't use it, making it neither cost-effective nor practical to retain.

We moved to Deleware ten years ago, so we had to sell our rental along with our primary home. Otherwise, we'd still be renting to the Japaneseen embassy, as it was such a pleasurable experience!

Have never been to Japan, but that comports to my basic understanding of their culture. I would not at all assume all of this applies to embassy staff from other countries.