Tell me about being a landlord in dc

[Anonymous]

Thinkingnofnrenting out our house in DC. Anything words of wisdom from those that have been there, done that? I want to be sure I truly understand what I'm getting into.

[Anonymous]

DC is an extremely tenant friendly location. For example, a tenant has the right to live as long as he/she wants in your house as long as they don't violate the lease and you (or a subsequent owner) doesn't want to live there.

[Anonymous]

Review DC landlord-tenant laws carefully. Also, if you decide to sell your house while it is rented, you have an obligation to offer it first to your tenant and then offer the tenant a right of last refusal before you finalize the contract with the buyer. Some landlords selling their properties find it easier to offer a benefit, such as some free rent, to tenants who waive these rights in a sale process.

[Anonymous]

If I were you, I would sell rather than rent it out. Being a landlord can be a nightmare.

[Anonymous]

I disagree. Have been a DC landlord 3+ years with positive experience and cashflow overall. I make good money renting and plan to continue renting after I retire. My advice?

Make sure you are charging enough $$ for it to be worth your while. You need to make a profit and plan for potential repairs and vacancy.

Review the law and have a good tight lease. http://och.georgetown.edu/uploadedfiles/Tenant_Survival_Guide.pdf is wonderful. Make sure your lease has a waiver of notice to quit.

Screen your tenants carefully. Confirm employment and run background checks and rental history always. No exceptions and no sob stories.

Don't overrenovate. A mediocre rental often has better cashflow than high end fixtures. A lot of people waste money on kitchen and bath. Aim for cheap, clean, and replaceable fixtures.

[Anonymous]

Any suggestions on where to find a really good online lease?

[Anonymous]

Get a copy from a local (DC based--laws vary by state) corporate landlord or property management company. Ask you realtor or your friends in big managed buildings and review it carefully. Most of the online ones I would not trust.

[Anonymous]

Can i manage my properties in dc. Do i need to be a licensed realtor or management certification

[Anonymous]

We've been renting out our Georgetown rowhouse for 10 years now. No problems.

Pp is correct--DC has some of the strictest tenant laws. They could really screw you over if you don't cover your bases.

Don't ignore your instincts. Don't get lazy with background/financial and court records. Screen heavily beforehand.

We rent through Craigslist. DH is extremely handy, but we have a great contractor if there is something he can't handle.

We don't do group rentals, college kids, etc. We've only had two longterm tenants in all that time. One a married professional couple-- the other a 40- year old divorced professional.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We've been renting out our Georgetown rowhouse for 10 years now. No problems.

Pp is correct--DC has some of the strictest tenant laws. They could really screw you over if you don't cover your bases.

Don't ignore your instincts. Don't get lazy with background/financial and court records. Screen heavily beforehand.

We rent through Craigslist. DH is extremely handy, but we have a great contractor if there is something he can't handle.

We don't do group rentals, college kids, etc. We've only had two longterm tenants in all that time. One a married professional couple-- the other a 40- year old divorced professional.

To pp-- not a nightmare at all. We literally never hear from our tenants. E-check on time every month. They've nearly paid off our mortgage.

[Anonymous]

DC is a disaster for good honest landlords. Some tenants take advantage of an old law designed to protect the less fortunate. Don't do it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC is a disaster for good honest landlords. Some tenants take advantage of an old law designed to protect the less fortunate. Don't do it!

That's largely a problem with tenant screening. Also-location has a to do with it, re. Type of people scamming.

[Anonymous]

We've had good luck renting out our Adams Morgan apartment for the past 4 years. Also: You do not need a property management company. (If you are not in DC, you will need a resident agent, which is essentially someone who DC can serve papers to in case you are sued.) We have had 3 different tenants in 4 years (high turnover, not great), but have had 0 days between tenants, so that's good.

If you rent it, will you hold on to it for a while? If not, you may want to consider selling for tax reasons (limited to no cap gains taxes if you sell within 3 years of moving out.)

[Anonymous]

I will echo the previous comments about DC landlord/ tenant laws- they are incredibly biased in favor of the tenant. We have rented out our condo in Logan Circle, largely problem free, for the past 8 years, initially managing it ourselves and in later years using a management company.

The problem arose when we decided the market was right to sell it last year. We, naively, thought that with adequate notice, we could ask the tenants to leave (timing coincided with the end of their lease, which it turns out does not matter), get it on the market, and be done with it. Oh how wrong we were. Unless you are asking the tenant to vacate so that you can move in yourself, the tenant essentially owns the property until they choose to leave. If they don't pay or damage the property, that is a different story.

You definitely need to get yourself a BBL and an exemption from rent control, which requires some paperwork and a city inspection. It has been nice having someone else cover the mortgage these past few years, but the process of trying to sell the property has been, to say the least, difficult. Just be prepared to be a landlord for life, whether you want to be or not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I will echo the previous comments about DC landlord/ tenant laws- they are incredibly biased in favor of the tenant. We have rented out our condo in Logan Circle, largely problem free, for the past 8 years, initially managing it ourselves and in later years using a management company.

The problem arose when we decided the market was right to sell it last year. We, naively, thought that with adequate notice, we could ask the tenants to leave (timing coincided with the end of their lease, which it turns out does not matter), get it on the market, and be done with it. Oh how wrong we were. Unless you are asking the tenant to vacate so that you can move in yourself, the tenant essentially owns the property until they choose to leave. If they don't pay or damage the property, that is a different story.

You definitely need to get yourself a BBL and an exemption from rent control, which requires some paperwork and a city inspection. It has been nice having someone else cover the mortgage these past few years, but the process of trying to sell the property has been, to say the least, difficult. Just be prepared to be a landlord for life, whether you want to be or not.

Why not just keep increasing the rent to get them to move? Or does DC have rent control/rent stabilization laws?