Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Even with current rates you can buy a whole home for 4k / month. Why would anyone in their right mind spend that kind of money for some run down boomer condo in Montgomery county? You are delusional.

I don't get these posts. At current interest rates, with 20% down you are talking about a $750k house. That's not a house in the best parts of Montgomery County and nowhere near downtown Bethesda.

Also, that's just the mortgage payment. You also have property tax, homeowners insurance and then an expectation of annual maintenance. Your $4k/month is more like $5500 - $6000/month...and again, you aren't living in a dynamic place.

Finally, I assume your house doesn't come with a nice pool (maintained by someone else), a nice gym, maybe a nice clubhouse, rooftop deck, etc.

There are many empty-nesters that are happy to be done with SFH ownership and the interest they earn on selling their house more than pays for the $4000/month (or more like $3000/month) for a luxury downtown Bethesda rental.

SFH can be bought for $750k all along the red line from Takoma to Glenmont. But I guess Silver Spring is not a “dynamic place”.

It’s not. I doubt it is where OP’s condo is located. I also don’t see many Takoma Park homes walkable to downtown TP that don’t need tons of work going for $750k.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I'm not interested in debating why condos *shouldn't* cost $4K per month, and as I stated earlier, I don't want to provide lots of details that could potentially identify me - I'll just say it's a unit with a high-end renovation in an excellent location.

The main point is that I have been receiving these "too high" rents for years, and now all of a sudden, I'm not. Perhaps the high end of the market is falling. Just trying to get perspectives from other landlords in the area - any thoughts?

Did you start off charging $4K per month? Or did you get there after a series of rent hikes? If the latter, then your prior tenant may have just paid it to avoid moving even though it was higher than the market rate.

Most recent tenant began in 2022 at $3,900 and renewed in 2023 at $3,975. I only do small, inflation-type adjustments while a tenant is with me. Bigger increases, if needed, come between tenants. As mentioned, prior tenant in 2019 was at $3,200 (and then $3,280 in 2020 and $3,360 in 2021). The new lease in 2022 came on the heels of the massive bout of inflation, and tenant did not bat an eye at the $3,900 price tag - the property was only on the market for about a week.

OP you're just off season, it's November. Off season started mid July.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Even with current rates you can buy a whole home for 4k / month. Why would anyone in their right mind spend that kind of money for some run down boomer condo in Montgomery county? You are delusional.

I don't get these posts. At current interest rates, with 20% down you are talking about a $750k house. That's not a house in the best parts of Montgomery County and nowhere near downtown Bethesda.

Also, that's just the mortgage payment. You also have property tax, homeowners insurance and then an expectation of annual maintenance. Your $4k/month is more like $5500 - $6000/month...and again, you aren't living in a dynamic place.

Finally, I assume your house doesn't come with a nice pool (maintained by someone else), a nice gym, maybe a nice clubhouse, rooftop deck, etc.

There are many empty-nesters that are happy to be done with SFH ownership and the interest they earn on selling their house more than pays for the $4000/month (or more like $3000/month) for a luxury downtown Bethesda rental.

SFH can be bought for $750k all along the red line from Takoma to Glenmont. But I guess Silver Spring is not a “dynamic place”.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I'm not interested in debating why condos *shouldn't* cost $4K per month, and as I stated earlier, I don't want to provide lots of details that could potentially identify me - I'll just say it's a unit with a high-end renovation in an excellent location.

The main point is that I have been receiving these "too high" rents for years, and now all of a sudden, I'm not. Perhaps the high end of the market is falling. Just trying to get perspectives from other landlords in the area - any thoughts?

Did you start off charging $4K per month? Or did you get there after a series of rent hikes? If the latter, then your prior tenant may have just paid it to avoid moving even though it was higher than the market rate.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Even with current rates you can buy a whole home for 4k / month. Why would anyone in their right mind spend that kind of money for some run down boomer condo in Montgomery county? You are delusional.

I don't get these posts. At current interest rates, with 20% down you are talking about a $750k house. That's not a house in the best parts of Montgomery County and nowhere near downtown Bethesda.

Also, that's just the mortgage payment. You also have property tax, homeowners insurance and then an expectation of annual maintenance. Your $4k/month is more like $5500 - $6000/month...and again, you aren't living in a dynamic place.

Finally, I assume your house doesn't come with a nice pool (maintained by someone else), a nice gym, maybe a nice clubhouse, rooftop deck, etc.

There are many empty-nesters that are happy to be done with SFH ownership and the interest they earn on selling their house more than pays for the $4000/month (or more like $3000/month) for a luxury downtown Bethesda rental.

+1

PITI with a $1.2M loan at 7% (for, say, a $1.5M house) is $10K a month. Plus, all repairs/maintenance are on you. So why are people shocked that someone would pay $4K per month for a nice condo in a good location??

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I'm not interested in debating why condos *shouldn't* cost $4K per month, and as I stated earlier, I don't want to provide lots of details that could potentially identify me - I'll just say it's a unit with a high-end renovation in an excellent location.

The main point is that I have been receiving these "too high" rents for years, and now all of a sudden, I'm not. Perhaps the high end of the market is falling. Just trying to get perspectives from other landlords in the area - any thoughts?

You were lucky now you’re not? Now your high end renovation might look dated compared to other newer buildings. Is your building luxury? Gym, pool, concierge, etc?

Moving can be a lot so some people stay. I also know people who have companies or organizations pay part of some of their rent so certain people don’t mind if a unit has high rent because it might not be coming directly from them. It is also a weird time to rent.

We have a house in my neighborhood rent up from September and they keep blowing the cost because it’s now November and who rents in November? It also was renovated a few years ago because the owners moved overseas for postings. I went in (owners asked me to look because they are abroad and can’t/ have a property person) and I told them it looks dated. It looks worn and there are other SFHs and newer buildings that people might prefer. The neighborhood is great but now it’s asked less rent than it has ever.

Could you furnish it and turn it into a rental for visiting nurses or someone teaching at a university or someone doing a language at State for a semester until spring /summer arrives and you can put it back on the market?

Anonymous wrote:Even with current rates you can buy a whole home for 4k / month. Why would anyone in their right mind spend that kind of money for some run down boomer condo in Montgomery county? You are delusional.

You couldn't be more wrong if you tried. I did the math on 2-bedroom condo and a home without HOA and the rent vs buy never meet. Withe every year, the gap widens and at the end of 30 years, I could buy two condos cash or two homes.
Provided I invest the down payment and all the extra money spent into market. Real estate can double, but the market grows faster.

What area are you in OP? I have been looking at townhomes for rent in the King Farm/Crown area and they seemed to have dropped after being at a crazy high. Still not 2019 prices but lower. Not sure if it's because of it being fall, the prices seemed higher this summer for sure.

Anonymous wrote:Even with current rates you can buy a whole home for 4k / month. Why would anyone in their right mind spend that kind of money for some run down boomer condo in Montgomery county? You are delusional.

I don't get these posts. At current interest rates, with 20% down you are talking about a $750k house. That's not a house in the best parts of Montgomery County and nowhere near downtown Bethesda.

Also, that's just the mortgage payment. You also have property tax, homeowners insurance and then an expectation of annual maintenance. Your $4k/month is more like $5500 - $6000/month...and again, you aren't living in a dynamic place.

Finally, I assume your house doesn't come with a nice pool (maintained by someone else), a nice gym, maybe a nice clubhouse, rooftop deck, etc.

There are many empty-nesters that are happy to be done with SFH ownership and the interest they earn on selling their house more than pays for the $4000/month (or more like $3000/month) for a luxury downtown Bethesda rental.

OP here. I'm not interested in debating why condos *shouldn't* cost $4K per month, and as I stated earlier, I don't want to provide lots of details that could potentially identify me - I'll just say it's a unit with a high-end renovation in an excellent location.

The main point is that I have been receiving these "too high" rents for years, and now all of a sudden, I'm not. Perhaps the high end of the market is falling. Just trying to get perspectives from other landlords in the area - any thoughts?

$4050 for a 2br condo is a bit steep. Was your last tenant there for years with a few hundred buck rent increases over that time? If so, that may have inflated your perception of the rent you should charge

2BRs in a lot of nice buildings in DT Bethesda look like they are going for $3300-$3800 on apartments.com, some are offering 1-2mo free rent on top of that as we are out of leasing season and it is tougher to fill vacant units during winter.

rent is on upward swing in my SFH neighborhood in Fairfax.

Anonymous wrote:Are you turning away multiple applicants? Are you running their applications through credit software for property managers?

Be careful.

what's to be careful about? Put the rental listing at Zillow and they will do everything for you including screening, preparing lease, etc.

Anonymous wrote:Even with current rates you can buy a whole home for 4k / month. Why would anyone in their right mind spend that kind of money for some run down boomer condo in Montgomery county? You are delusional.

because of a lot of reasons - some people don't have downpayment or credit or consistent income or may be they don't want to live in the area for that long.