Do You Have What it Takes to be a Northern Virginia Landlord?

Metropolitan D.C. is known to be a pretty transient area. After all, elections are held every few years which bring in a whole new crop of politicians and staffers. There's a large military presence throughout the D.C. and Northern Virginia area - the military men and women are constantly moved around whether through deployment or transfers. Then there is large amount of global companies which are often sending their employees around the world. Of course, government agencies like the CIA and State Department place their operatives throughout all regions of the globe. Finally, when you factor in the large concentration of universities throughout the D.C. Metro area, you see that people are constantly on the move in and out of the area.

Most people who know they'll be here in the D.C. area for at least a few years often decide to buy instead of renting. However, what happens when a job or the military, or the election results force you to have to move and you have problems trying to get your home sold? You may think about renting it out.

Here's a few questions you should ask yourself before you decide whether you can hack it as a landlord:

1. Do you want to return to the house in the future? If you plan to come back to the D.C. area in the foreseeable future whether for work, to be close to family, or for retirement, renting the home could be a good idea.

2. Can you handle tenants? There's a lot to deal with here. Maintenance, repairs, and calling the tenant whent their rent is late. If you're going to be overseas, it might be hard to manage on your own. You may want to consider hiring a property manager (We do this at RE/MAX Allegiance -- feel free to ask me for details).

3. Do you have enough money to manage the rental home? The home may be vacant for a period of time and you need to budget for that. There may be some out of the ordinary repairs. Think about your cash flow and how much of your mortgage the rent will cover.

4. Is your community "rent-able"? This is not much of a problem throughout most of the D.C. and Northern Virginia area. There's generally a steady stream of renters to choose from since we have so many military installations, colleges and universities. You just want to make sure that you check credit histories and referrals so you'll be assured the renters will pay on time.

5. What's your exit strategy? What will happen to your finances if you can't eventually sell at a profit. Prepare for this investment risk.

6. How's your business sense? As a landlord you'll have to become familiar with tax deductions, leases, accounting, etc. You may be best off hiring an accountant, a lawyer, and a bookkeeper to help you stay on track with the business and investment side of being a landlord.