DC is a very transient area.
The military, the government, the lobbyists and the colleges. They all add up to a rental market that lives and works in the DC area for a few months or years and then moves on to other areas of the country and even the world.
But this headline on WTOP got my attention.
DC-area renters paid landlords $14.8B this year
Near the top of the article you will find this:
“D.C.-area renters spent $14.8 billion on housing in 2018, according to apartment listing site HotPads. That’s $502 million, or 3.5 percent, more than in 2017.
Of the region’s 2.2 million households, about 807,000 of them are renters – 15,000 more than a year ago. The median rent in the region rose 1.8 percent this year to $2,180, according to HotPads.”
807 THOUSAND households rent in the DC area.
That is a big, big market.
You can purchase one house at a time, or you can purchase multiple units.
A few of you have come across some of these multi-family properties in the last few months and wondered what you should do with them.
Some people called me wondering if the property was a good “deal’.
I have spent 20 years in this business. Most of that time I have spent as a renovator on single-family and townhomes in the DC area. I do own some commercial property and multi-unit properties.
Owning a few commercial properties doesn’t make me an “expert” on the topic. But I can speak about my limited experience because I have been through the process.
My answer when someone finds a true “good deal” is simple:
Make an offer!
Commercial property, like most multi-family housing, is actually classified at banks, has a number of built-in “escape” clauses that will allow you to take time to more closely analyze the deal. If you find something you don’t like – you can get out of the deal – no problem.
Now, you can throw money, effort and time away if you don’t have a clue what you are doing.
On the other hand, you can make legitimate offers based on your careful analysis and consideration.
If you are even a little curious about this multi-family investing slice of our market you need to come out to WREIA tonight.
Our speaker is a valid expert on the topic. He owns a ton of property all around the country and will be speaking from personal experience.
Join us at WREIA TONIGHT and you can learn from a REAL PERSON having REAL SUCCESS in Real Estate.
See you tonight!
John Peterson
Founder, Washington Real Estate Investors Association
P.S. If you missed the post this morning about making excuses you can still find it posted online here. If you have found yourself making excuses for not accomplishing what you want too – it’s worth a few moments of reading.