house renters: what's your rent and where do you live?

[Anonymous]

For those of you who rent a house, how much is your rent and where/what neighborhood do you live in? Considering whether it makes more sense to sell and rent now, so if you can share why you rent instead of own that would be a bonus. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

I'm interested in this too - I suspect we'd pay more in rent than we would in mortgage.

3brm TH, Northern silver spring, $1550 mortgage. We have neighbors that rent for $1700 (I think...)

[Anonymous]

Chevy Chase, MD - $2200. We got the cheapest house in the neighborhood, by far! We own elsewhere, but the schools aren't as good. We rent out that house, and then rent this house for ourselves. It is working well for us.

[Anonymous]

We live in an approx 1100 sf 2 bedroom townhouse in Cameron Station (Alexandria) that has been fully renovated. Free gym, shuttle to metro, pool in summer. $2300.

[Anonymous]

Renters, I have news for you. There will be a HUGE discrepency in what you pay. Look around. Chances are, there are new houses being built around you while your house is old and crumbly. I would bet your house was paid off YEARS ago, and this is the owners sole source of income. Many people who are not that ambitious do this for generations, without putting a penny into their rental and playing the sob story card. That is what happens here. Like I said, look around. Tell them you will be happy to but their rat infested property and take it off their hands, so someone will actually take care of the place.

[Anonymous]

Springfield. 4000 sq ft SFH, 5 bedrooms, 3.5 baths. 1/2 acre lot. Nice neighborhood, but no amenities. Lawn care included. $3150/month.

PP, we moved here in 2006. We were smart enough to see the writing on the wall and not buy. Any home we bought would have lost value.

Also, as a renter, we are not responsible for upkeep of the house. When the refridgerator died, we called hte owners. It was replaced as soon as the store could deliver it. A tree fell on the house during a major storm last winter; luckily, it did minimal damage, none to the interior of the house. Even with crappy roads, the owners had someoene out the next day to cut it off and start the repairs.

My DH changed jobs and we moved in the spring to get closer to work. That home sold for $635k. There is no way we could have paid a mortgage of $635k. Yes, we didn't build any equity. But we didn't risk buying a home at the peak and being underwater.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We live in an approx 1100 sf 2 bedroom townhouse in Cameron Station (Alexandria) that has been fully renovated. Free gym, shuttle to metro, pool in summer. $2300.

We are in ~2200 sq ft townhome in Cameron Station, 3 bedroom, 2 full bath, 2 half bath. 1 car garage, small backyard. 10 years old. $3000/month.

The size and style townhome I rent sells from low 500k to low 600k. I couldn't pay that mortgage for only $3000/month, nor do I have 20% to put down to qualify for a home loan. The owners are very nice (moved out of state), and have home repair insurance that I call whenever there are any issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Renters, I have news for you. There will be a HUGE discrepency in what you pay. Look around. Chances are, there are new houses being built around you while your house is old and crumbly. I would bet your house was paid off YEARS ago, and this is the owners sole source of income. Many people who are not that ambitious do this for generations, without putting a penny into their rental and playing the sob story card. That is what happens here. Like I said, look around. Tell them you will be happy to but their rat infested property and take it off their hands, so someone will actually take care of the place.

This is naive and misleading at best. I purchased a rental property so I could have years of income. My profit margin is sufficient to allow for any upkeep and potential vacancy between tenants. I have no interest in selling to my tenants. What I would really like is for rents to continue rising in DC for the next 20 years so that I will have a nice stream of money in my retirement.

[Anonymous]

Potomac 1980's style townhouses great school district $2450 per month for a 3/3

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We live in an approx 1100 sf 2 bedroom townhouse in Cameron Station (Alexandria) that has been fully renovated. Free gym, shuttle to metro, pool in summer. $2300.

wow, that is a seriuos rip off. You can rent in much nicer areas for that.

[Anonymous]

3 bed/2 bath 1950s brick rambler in one of the best pyramids in Arlington = $2500. Wish we could buy this from our landlord!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live in an approx 1100 sf 2 bedroom townhouse in Cameron Station (Alexandria) that has been fully renovated. Free gym, shuttle to metro, pool in summer. $2300.

wow, that is a seriuos rip off. You can rent in much nicer areas for that.

Actually, its normal for Cameron Station. I haven't met anyone that lives in Cameron Station that doesn't love it. Yes, there are Landmark area haters, but if you haven't lived in a community, don't knock it. Its a huge community with a lot of amenities.

[Anonymous]

we just closed on our first house last week and we are moving out of our 2br/2ba single family in north cleveland park this weekend - our rent was $2500. we felt that was a good deal for our neighborhood!

[Anonymous]

basement in sfh in tysons corner (1 bed, 1 bath, full kitchen)--1,000 K per month all utils included. (I'm here for the short term).

SFHs in the same neighborhood (generally 4 bed/4 bath or 3/3) are renting for around 3K per month. If the whole family ends up moving out here, I'll probably try to rent a house in this neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Very charming bungalow in Cleveland Park, DC. The house is near the metro and a good public elementary school, parks and shops. 5 BD, 4 bath for our family of 5. We pay $5,300/month. Similar homes sell for over $1M. We would love to buy this home, but are not sure how many years we'll be here (job reasons) so this is the best choice for now.