| It would not be fair to
have a discussion about investing in Northern Virginia single family homes
without covering the negatives also. Every investment has some
drawbacks, no investment is “perfect”. 1.
MANAGEMENT- All real estate
requires management, either by you or a professional management company.
There are more headaches involved with real estate than with simply
putting your money in a money market account or mutual funds.Northern Virginia single family homes are more difficult in some respects
because they are spread out. This makes it harder for showings and
repairs versus an apartment where all the units are in one location.
There is also more paperwork, because each house has its own mortgage,
property taxes, insurance, etc. Management takes some time, but if you
develop a system and stay on top of it, it is not all that hard. 2.
VACANCY - All Northern Virginia
real estate can suffer from vacancy from time to time.
With a single family home, if it’s vacant, the
whole thing is vacant. With a 10 unit apartment, if you have a
vacancy you still have the other 9 units producing rental income. By
purchasing the right properties in the right areas and charging fair
rents, you can minimize the vacancy rate so it isn’t a big problem. 3.
REPAIRS - Any real estate is
going to require repairs occasionally. Single family homes each have
their own furnaces, air conditioners, roofs, etc., unlike an apartment
building. Houses may therefore have more repairs, although they will
generally be less expensive repairs than for a larger building.
Apartments also require things like landscaping maintenance and snow
removal, things that a tenant often does in a single family home. In
addition, tenants in Northern Virginia houses often perform a lot of minor
repairs themselves. |
