The DC Metropolitan Area Orange Line Investments

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The DC Metropolitan Area Orange Line Investments 1

Living and working in the area of Washington, D.C. can get expensive, but the quality of life makes it worthwhile. As a property investor, you may be interested in expanding your assets in the DC orange line area.

You're not alone in valuing the ownership of real estate as a financial asset. In 2019 alone, the real estate investment industry generated $213 billion in revenue.

If you aren't sure which part of the city to invest in, consider buying property along one of the city's public transit routes. The city of Washington, D.C. has five lines of public transportation, one of them being the Orange Line. Detailed below is everything you need to know about the best investment opportunities in that area.

It's time for you to join the booming real estate industry in the nation's capital. Keep reading to start investing in DC.

Foggy Bottom is an Extremely Stable Rental Market

The first neighborhood to note is one of Washington, D.C.'s most popular ones. Foggy Bottom is named such because of the natural fog that occurs there regularly.

The cultural and historical presence of this neighborhood gives the area its value and notoriety. For one thing, the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts is there, which attracts tourists from all over the world. If you want to be a part of a thriving and colorful arts community, Foggy Bottom is the ideal place for your property investment.

Consider Investing in the Southwest Waterfront Area

This is another neighborhood well-known for its historical monuments and memorials. Plus, it's home to the world's longest continually running open-air fish market.

The activities and places to visit in the Southwest Waterfront make this area appealing to many young families. It could be the perfect place for you to buy some property to rent out.

Don't Forget About Downtown Washington, D.C. Itself

If you're wanting to make a splash in the DC real estate market, consider investing downtown. After all, this is the hub and center of the entire country. That makes it expensive, by the way.

If you're prepared to lay down some capital investments for property in this area, though, it can be very valuable. Downtown Washington, D.C. is an attractive location for a variety of sophisticated young professionals, for instance. Many of these professionals are environmentally conscious and choose public transit over car ownership, so they're more likely to live on a transit route like the orange line.

Residents in this area would have access to all of the latest hot spots and up-and-coming restaurants. That makes it ideal for all of the movers and shakers of the country. Take the time to consider whether this real estate move would be ideal for your interests.

The DC Orange Line Stops at the Courthouse, Too

It's no secret that a ton of legal professionals works in the area of Washington, D.C. Many of those professionals have to visit the courthouse for all kinds of work-related reasons.

That's one of the fortunate things about living near access to the Orange Line. On the western side of this public transportation route, passengers can get off at the station right in front of the nation's courthouse. This can be of particular convenience for lawyers who work in the area.

It's reasonable to use this feature of the Orange Line as an attractive characteristic of your eventual property investment. These potential renters would love the idea of an easy commute to work. Make sure you invest in the marketing resources to ensure you're reaching this target audience.

Hire the Best Property Management Company

Of course, you're going to want to hire a property management company to maintain the security of your investments. The duties of a landlord, after all, can be quite the responsibility. Leave those tasks to a qualified company that has your financial interests in mind.

Don't underestimate the importance of making the right choice when hiring a property management company, by the way. They're not all worth your time or money. For more detailed guidance, check out this article on critical questions to ask your property management company.

Keep Yourself Well-Informed of Modern Real Estate Trends

One key thing to remember as a property investor is to continue to keep yourself well-educated. You should know exactly what's going on in the real estate industry of Washington, D.C. That way, you can make wise investment decisions throughout the future.

The fortunate thing is that real estate in and around the area of Washington, D.C. is doing well. The median cost of homes in the surrounding areas, like Virginia and Maryland, has continued to grow over recent years.

In other words, you might expect more financially successful renters to rent from your properties as time goes on. While that may be intimidating, it can be a profitable return on investment in the long run.

Start Looking for Property in the DC Orange Line Area

At this point, you have a thorough understanding of what to expect from property investments in the DC Orange Line area. It's no secret that living or renting in Washington, D.C. can get expensive.

There's no need to cut corners when it comes to making the most of your financial investments. That's why you'll take the above guidelines seriously. It's also in your best interest to keep yourself well-informed of real estate news in that area.

That's where this website can come into play. Not only do we prioritize bringing you the current events and real estate news in the Washington, D.C. area, but we also do our best to connect clients like you with the ideal properties they're looking for.

For that reason, we encourage you to browse through the rest of our website today. On our blog, you'll find the latest and greatest trends in Washington, D.C. real estate. To start, check out more details about our real estate brokerage services available to find your new property investment in no time.

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Enhanced Reporting

Your portal includes a selection of extremely useful reports. Reports are available in the “Reports” section, and are distinct from the financial statements. Unlike financial statements which are static records, Reports are dynamic real-time records that will update with current data every time you view them. 

Scroll down to learn more about Reports:

Navigate to the "Reports" module in your portal:

Owner Portal Reports
  • Keep in mind, these reports are dynamic records. They will refresh to display current information every time you view them. 

Enhanced Rent Roll Report:

Enhanced Rent Roll Report
  • The Enhanced Rent Roll Report will show the rent amount, last payment date, move-in date, lease expiration date, and security deposit amount for each of your tenants. 
  • It will also show a portfolio summary with occupancy percentage, vacancy loss, and more!

Unit Comparison Report:

Unit Comparison Report
  • If you own multiple units (or buildings) with Nomadic, you’ll get access to the Unit Comparison Report. 
  • This report enables you to quickly compare financial performance between your units at a glance without toggling between individual reports. 

Income Statement Month-Over-Month:

Income Statement by Month Report
  • The Income Statement Detail – Monthly Report serves as a month-over-month record of portfolio performance. You’ll see itemized income and expense categories and can track monthly. This report will update with fresh data every time you view it. 

Financial Statements

Financial statements will be published to your portal on a monthly basis. The statements are found in your Documents library, and provide a historical record of all financial performance. The statements serve as a snapshot of financial performance over a given period, and are static documents (unlike Reports, the statements do not update/change in real-time). 

Scroll down for more info about the Financial Statements in your Documents library:

The Documents area contains monthly financial statements:

Owner Portal Documents
  • The statements in the Documents are are static documents. They are posted to the portal once a month to serve as a historical record of financial performance. 

Download a statement to see month and YTD financials:

Owner Portal Property Statement

You'll also find a month-over-month operating statement:

Month over Month Statement

Portal Communication Tool

You can use your owner portal to communicate with our team. Any messages you send through the portal will go straight to your Account Manager. When we reply, you’ll get an email notification and you’ll also see the message in your portal next time you log in. 

Here’s an overview of using the communication platform:

Click "Communications" and navigate to "Conversations":

Commincation Dashboard Screenshot
  • The communications module will contain a record of all messages that you create through the portal. 

Click the "New Message" button and send your message:

Owner Portal New Message Screenshot

Responses will show up in the conversation ticket:

Portal Conversation Response Screenshot
  • You’ll get an email notification whenever you get a response, and you’ll also see the message in your portal next time you log in. 

You can reply in-line using the comment box:

Owner Portal Comment

Each conversation will be logged in its entirety:

Portal Conversation Snapshot

Understanding the Ledger

Your portal includes a ledger with all transactions. The ledger is populated with data in real-time as transactions flow through our accounting software. Much of this information is also available in the Reports area, as well as the Statements in your Documents library, but the ledger is the most comprehensive resource for diving into the details. 

Please scroll through the sections below to get a better understanding of how to interpret the ledger. 

By default, transactions are sorted chronologically:

Owner Ledger Dates
  • The date reflected in the lefthand column is the actual transaction date, not the “bill date”. This is the date the transaction was actually processed. 

If you have multiple properties with Nomadic, you'll see the address for each transaction in the "Location" column:

Ledger Property Column
  • You can filter the ledger to look at just one property, all properties, or specific sets of properties. 
  • If you only have one property with us, you’ll just see the ledger for that property. 

The Description column displays the transaction type:

Owner Ledger Description Column
  • BILL: this is an expense transaction, such as for repair costs or management fees.
  • CHARGE: this is a transaction  billed to the tenant, most typically a rent payment. 
  • NACHA EXPORT: this is a credit we processed to your distribution account. This type of transaction is how you get paid! 

The Amount column shows the dollar value of each transaction:

Owner Ledger Amount Column
  • Positive Amounts: if an amount is positive, it reflects a transaction that is payable to you. Typically, this will be a rent payment that we collected from your tenants. On occasion, a positive number could also signify a journal entry or credit adjustment. 
  • Negative Amounts:  if an amount is negative, this is a transaction that is either payable to Nomadic or is an amount that has already been paid to you. Typically this will be for repair costs or management/leasing fees. Owner draws (net distributions into your checking/savings account) also reflect as negative amounts, since they have already been paid to you. 

The Account Balance column shows a sum of positive/negative transactions at a given point in time:

Owner Ledger Account Balance Column
  • Account Balance should always equal zero after a net distribution has been processed. When the balance is zero, this means that all expenses have been paid and you’ve received the remainder as net operating income, leaving a balance of zero (meaning: no one is due any money, as all funds have been distributed appropriately). 

Navigating the Propertyware Owner Portal

Your portal includes some extremely useful features that help you understand your property’s financial performance at a new level, with real-time transparency into every transaction.

Scroll through the snapshots below for an overview of portal navigation! If you need more help or have specific questions about using the portal, you can reach out to your Account Manager any time for a screen share. 

You can filter all info by date range or property:

PW Portal Filters

View a snapshot of income and expenses on your dashboard:

PW Owner Dashboard View

See every transaction in real-time on your ledger:

Owner Portal Ledger View

Statements and forms will be posted to your documents library:

Owner Portal Document Library

View a suite of real-time financial reports:

Portal Reports View

See a running list of all bills, and drill down for more detail:

Owner Portal Bills View

Under Bill Details, you'll find dates/descriptions/amounts and more:

Portal Bill Details

You can also communicate with your Account Manager through the portal:

Owner Portal Communication Tools

How do net distributions work?

Net distributions keep your accounting clean and simple. Each month we’ll collect rent from the tenants, deduct any repair expenses for the previous month and any management/leasing fees for the current month, and credit the remaining net operating income to your account. 

Net Distribution

You’ll receive a statement via email each time a net distribution is processed, and can view all transaction details in your Propertyware owner portal.