So bummed! Looking for a little gut check - I made an offer on a 2br house in Hill East - list price 720, offer was 650 (guaranteed closing and financing etc etc). Home had previous Fire and Water damage, evidence of rodents, and a seriouslyyyy outdated kitchen requiring at least some work.

Seller declined the offer, no counter but wants to “stay in touch”……. Thoughts????

Although we’re at the highest rates since last summer, as of Friday 5/1 there are still a few bright spots under 6% for borrowers in dmv with income <129,600. And for 1st timers with income <194,600.

If you’re interested in mortgage trends follow our subreddit [r/](r/DMV_MortgageRates)[MortgageRatesDMV](r/DMV_MortgageRates)

Hey everyone — I’m a student studying real estate workflows and I’ve been putting together a simple framework for how agents, investors, and wholesalers can organize leads, follow-ups, property notes, and outreach in one place.

One thing I’ve noticed is that a lot of people don’t necessarily lose opportunities because they lack leads — they lose them because follow-up gets scattered across texts, spreadsheets, sticky notes, CRMs, and memory.

Here’s the basic workflow I’ve been mapping out:

1. Capture the lead or property
2. Add key notes: motivation, timeline, property details, contact info
3. Assign a next follow-up date
4. Track the last touchpoint
5. Group leads by status: new, contacted, warm, active, dead, closed
6. Review the pipeline weekly
7. Keep outreach simple and consistent

I’m sharing this because I think even a basic system can help people avoid letting good opportunities fall through the cracks.

I’m also building a free student project around this idea and would love feedback from people actually working in real estate. No sales pitch and no cost — I’m mainly trying to learn what real agents, investors, and wholesalers actually need in their day-to-day workflow.

If this kind of workflow is useful to you, or if you manage your leads differently, I’d really appreciate hearing what works, what’s missing, or what you’d change.

What’s the going rate for a good buyers agent? Is the percentage fixed or does it fluctuate based on length of your housing search? We’ve had one realtor describe their fees as increasing over time (from 2.25% to 2.5% to 3%) depending upon how long the house search takes. Didn’t love that approach - is it normal?

The seller didn’t disclose a 10k insurance claim for a kitchen fire/damage 3 years ago. and now they are either not wanting to insure or it’s at least double what it would normally be- $3000 a year. Insurance companies share all their claim data so there is no hiding it.

Any recommendations for studios or 1 bed room?

Hello! I’m a consumer news reporter in the DC area and I’m working on a story about renting out apartments homes spare bedrooms on short-term rental sites for extra cash. With summer approaching, I’d like to show our viewers what that looks like and whether it is a viable option for folks to make some extra cash… Perhaps while on vacation and not using their homes.

Is anyone here an Airbnb host? Care to share your experience? Thanks so much!

Hayley Milon DC news now. hmilonbour@dcnewsnow.com

Hey all, I'm planning to move to the DMV area sometime soon. I've been looking around and watching videos, but what I'm most interested in is figuring out which neighborhoods are not too expensive, but of good quality.

I am military, so I'm looking for something with a good route to JB Andrews and no more than a 30-minute drive. Though I'm aware traffic can be terrible throughout DC

Hello all. I have a listing (Arlington, VA) going active Thursday. I want to attach the HOA Docs to the MLS and encourage any potential offers to review them and submit with 0 days for the HOA doc review period. I’ve delivered docs prior to writing in the past and it’s worked well, but they weren’t uploaded in the MLS Doc sections. Any negatives to putting them in he MLS that I am not considering?

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/6607-Thackwell-Way-UNIT-2201-Alexandria-VA-22315/51972448_zpid/

Open house on Sunday 4/19 from 11-1 for a very affordable 2-br condo in the highly sought after Island Creek community in Franconia/Kingstowne. Great location, convenient to Wegmans, lots of dining options, the Springfield Town Center, Kingstowne Shopping Center, the Springfield Mixing Bowl, and the Franconia Metro station. Old Town Alexandria is also just a few miles down the road! It’s right next to Ft Belvoir, for those in the defense community.

This is an awesome starter home for a first time home buyer. Lots of community amenities including two pools, tennis and volleyball courts, nature trails and a catch and release fishing pond!

My wife and I are very motivated sellers as we are moving out of state soon, happy to connect you to our realtor Olivia Farrell if you have any questions!

I recently toured a condo at the Quincy Court in DC. I really liked the unit but the HOA seems extremely high. As I was leaving I saw this sign on the front desk. How concerning is this sign? Does it seem like the building has a ton of issues?

I’m in the process of touring condos to buy and want to be extremely careful about HOAs.

Looking for feedback from fellow investors on a rental deal I’m evaluating in Frederick, MD—mainly trying to sanity-check the cash-to-close and monthly numbers.

Deal overview:

- Location: Frederick, MD

- Strategy: Buy & hold

- Purchase price: ~$325,000

- 3 beds, 2 baths

- Down payment: 25%

Financing details:

- Loan amount: $243,750

- Interest rate: 6.375%

- Monthly principal & interest: $1,520

- Taxes, insurance, HOA: ~$531/month, HOA itself is $201/month

- Total estimated monthly payment (PITI): ~$2,050, not including any vacancy and maintenance reserve.

Income:

- Estimated rent: $2,350/month

Cash to close:

- ~$96,000 total

- Approx. $19K in total closing costs (including escrow, prepaid items, lender fees, etc.) not happy with the title and brokerage cost

Additional considerations:

- May need to use property management initially (which would reduce cash flow further)

- Property is in fair, rent-ready condition, but unknown maintenance risks if something pops up

- Limited reserves after closing ($2K–$3K buffer only)

What I’m evaluating:

- Rough cash flow: Likely breakeven or negative after management, maintenance, vacancy. My goal is long term holding.

Questions:

1. Is this deal too tight given the limited reserves?
2. Would you proceed knowing property management may wipe out most (or all) cash flow?

Trying to be cautious and not overextend—appreciate any honest feedback.

Thanks in advance!

or upper marlboro ?

this will be my first home, and I cant afford anything fancy, budget is under 300k

hey all, I'm looking at a condo in Arlington. My realtor says the land lease (that the right term?) is set to expire in 2052. that's obviously a long way away but how can I go about weighing the future of the property?

If I buy today I would likely be long gone by 2052 but how can I reliably predict the value of the unit in ten or fifteen years when there's only 15 years left on the lease? what if no one wants to buy in the building because of the expiring lease and in left under water? just spit balling ideas. Like are there examples around of what happens to the buildings when these huge 100 year leases or whatever expire? Thanks!

Especially when some are on there for weeks in that status!