Anonymous wrote: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 wrote:

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!

I agree. I've been a landlord for 10 years and got guided into doing section 8 by my property manager. Let me tell you, what ever the tenant does in the house, the landlord pays and pays and pays. House passes initial inspection and less than 3 months later there is suddenly a gas leak behind the stove; tenant's off the hook and landlord pays. A washer, less than 2 years old has the motor burn out, landlord pays. Nearly impossible to get the tenant out and now i'm hearing that monthly inspections can be considered harassment.

My advice, if your thinking about being a small (2 properties or less) landlord in DC is DON"T DO IT! You'll end up frustrated because NO ONE cares about landlord concerns!


And be clear on section 8 inspection, you WILL pay (unless your outside the norm) ALL the time......I had 1 beautiful section 8 tenant a while back and our house passed inspection all the time....since then, with less attractive tenants we pay ALL THE TIME; regardless of whether the tenant caused the problem. And i know many other small landlords that have the same problems.

DC will cry all day long about needing housing but will screw you to the wall if you become a landlord. Unless you have to DON'T DO IT! The law is NOT on the landlord's side and no one will give a care about the preservation of your property.

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!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's the deal about right of first refusal: basically, the tenant can hold up the sale for months, in which time interested buyers could go elsewhere. So typically landlords agree to pay the tenant money in order for them to give up the tenant right of first refusal. This is usually anywhere from 3,000 to 12,000 dollars for a small landlord. Big buildings that are converting ownership to condos, etc, it is usually more like 20,000.

This is why if you think you might sell---you start the process early. You notify the tenant early. You get the clock started and he has only 90 days. Period. I don't know where the hell you people get they can stay forever. When we were purchasing a FSBO with a World Bank tenant that did not want to leave, tried to woo the older, single woman with wine to let him stay (not kidding), said his momma in Italy was going to buy the place...we sought legal counsel from a very good real estate attorney and the guy was out in the minimum amount of time.

The key is---it's on you to cross your i's and dot your t's. If you screw up anywhere in the process, a scammer could stay longer.

That said--we rent out our place in Georgetown. We have professionals only---hell--many are more successful than me. We have open dialogue, did extensive credit, court and background checks (even if our gut said they were fine--we still did them!!!!). One woman that seemed totally normal--came back with a check of all kinds of tenant court problems, and skipping on rent, etc. Don't rely solely on their references even if they 'seem' legit and you verified employment.

DC real estate can be a big money maker.

Best thing to do is before you even put the house on the market is talk to you tenants about them buying it. If it is out of the question have them sign off on first right of refusal then there is no problem when it hits MLS. Be reasonable about accommodating them for move out and base your closing on them being gone at least a week before closing. If you have a tenant that is hold up the process just to hold it up means you didn't screen well enough in the first place.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's the deal about right of first refusal: basically, the tenant can hold up the sale for months, in which time interested buyers could go elsewhere. So typically landlords agree to pay the tenant money in order for them to give up the tenant right of first refusal. This is usually anywhere from 3,000 to 12,000 dollars for a small landlord. Big buildings that are converting ownership to condos, etc, it is usually more like 20,000.

This is why if you think you might sell---you start the process early. You notify the tenant early. You get the clock started and he has only 90 days. Period. I don't know where the hell you people get they can stay forever. When we were purchasing a FSBO with a World Bank tenant that did not want to leave, tried to woo the older, single woman with wine to let him stay (not kidding), said his momma in Italy was going to buy the place...we sought legal counsel from a very good real estate attorney and the guy was out in the minimum amount of time.

The key is---it's on you to cross your i's and dot your t's. If you screw up anywhere in the process, a scammer could stay longer.

That said--we rent out our place in Georgetown. We have professionals only---hell--many are more successful than me. We have open dialogue, did extensive credit, court and background checks (even if our gut said they were fine--we still did them!!!!). One woman that seemed totally normal--came back with a check of all kinds of tenant court problems, and skipping on rent, etc. Don't rely solely on their references even if they 'seem' legit and you verified employment.

DC real estate can be a big money maker.

Anonymous wrote:Great discussion. There are certainly a number of benefits to owning property in DC but as everyone mentioned above it is not something to be taken lightly. Every landlord in D.C. must have a Basic Business License to rent out a property. In fact you must have one BBL for each location and the license varies based on what type of property you have. That can be a process in itself.

For example if you fail the inspection, you have 45 days to meet requirements otherwise the license may be revoked and you may lose all fees paid in connection with the licensing process.

Before you think about renting, do some research on market-rate rents for similar properties in your location to get an idea of what you can charge. Perhaps its not what you were expecting to make minus maintenance costs, etc. You will also want to make sure to be familiar with DC Landlord/Tenant laws to avoid potential legal issues.

As a property management firm we handle almost all of this for our clients so we've become quite good at the process. That being said, its definitely possible to do on your own, just make sure to weigh your options before you get your hands in the dough!

- Tom Carcone, Gordon James Realty

Anonymous wrote:Don't ever give the tenant extra time to pay the rent, esp. if you need the rent to cover a mortgage. Extra time for them to pay the rent is BUILT IN to the Landlord-Tenant court system. If they are a few days late, start the eviction process. I know that sounds heartless, but you can stop it at any time. However if you give them a month or 2 and they are still not paying, there is no way to speed things up so you can get a paying tenant in there.

Anonymous wrote:DC does have rent control, but as a small landlord ( i think it has to be 4 or fewer units) you can get an exemption from rent control. You generally cannot raise the rent 'vindictively' or as a means to force a tenant out. You can raise it to a fair market rate, but even then they can take you to landlord tenant court.

Anonymous wrote: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.