5 Essential Questions to Ask Before Investing in the Shady Grove Housing Market

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The DC red line is home to some of the best real estate markets in the DMV, from DuPont Circle to Bethesda to Silver Spring. 

But if you’re looking for affordable housing, look no further than Shady Grove. 

5 Essential Questions to Ask Before Investing in the Shady Grove Housing Market 1

You may have heard of it a few times from riding the train, but why is it worth moving out to the end of the red line? Here’s why we think the Shady Grove housing market is worth a closer look. 

1. Where is Shady Grove?

Shady Grove is familiar to frequent red line riders (in name at least) thanks to its status at the end of the red line, which runs from Shady Grove to Glenmont and vice versa. 

This means that Shady Grove is located in Montgomery County, Maryland, the state’s most populous and affluent jurisdiction. It was established in 1779 and named for General Richard Montgomery. It functioned under the County Commission system until residents voted to give the county home-rule. 

2. Why Choose Shady Grove?

Shady Grove is less well-known than its affluent neighbors like Bethesda. It’s also less recognized as a home for professionals than Medical Center, which houses many employees, fellows, and interns of the National Institutes of Health. It’s not a small town like Takoma or a mini-city like Silver Spring. 

What Shady Grove does have? Versatility and affordability in spades. 

The neighborhood offers a pleasantly diverse mix of old townhomes and new condominium developments. You can find luxury housing, you can find historic housing, you can find affordable housing, and you can find just about everything in between. 

5 Essential Questions to Ask Before Investing in the Shady Grove Housing Market 2

There’s plenty to do in Shady Grove, and while it takes a bit longer to get into downtown DC, you’ll find that you don’t miss it–there’s more than enough to occupy your time outside your own front door, with enough of the quiet suburb life to give you some respite. 

3. Is Housing in Shady Grove a Good Investment? 

As an investment, Shady Grove is actually one of the better investments in the greater DMV. If anything, home prices in the area are astonishingly low compared to the rest of the district. 

Montgomery County as a whole has fared better than the rest of the country, between strong employment numbers, a strong school system, and close proximity to the District. In fact, the average days on the market and the months of housing supply are quite low. 

The ratio of the average sale price to asking price (97%) along with the low housing supply help to explain why. 

The housing market in Montgomery County is firmly a seller’s market, with only a limited number of homes available for sale. That’s because most Montgomery County homeowners aren’t moving if they don’t need to, between the high home prices and concerns that they won’t be able to find another house to buy. 

This also means that the housing market is pretty stable in Shady Grove. And with a high demand for affordable housing in the DMV area, Shady Grove appeals to many prospective purchasers who are willing to take a longer commute to pay less for housing. 

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4. What’s the Average List Price for a House in the Area?

Because Shady Grove is further out into the suburbs, it’s limited housing resources (consistent with the whole county) mean that there aren’t a huge number of homes available on the market. 

However, it also means you can buy a home for a price that’s remarkably low, given that it’s in the DC metro area. 

Over the last month, the average sale price for a house in Shady Grove was $105K, a mere quarter of what other homes in the DMV can command. 

Because Shady Grove is decidedly suburban, there aren’t many condos available. Add in the compounded effect of low housing availability in Montgomery County as a whole and the available listings are all but nonexistent. 

That said, Shady Grove offers fantastic value for the DMV, and as more professionals begin to look further afield for affordable housing, Shady Grove will remain a popular housing option because of transit accessibility, which makes it the perfect spot for investors to buy in early.  

In addition, the construction of the purple line means that many commuters without cars will have an easier time accessing Shady Grove, which will make it an even more attractive housing option for young couples and new professionals. 

5. When is the Best Time to Buy?

The reality is that because of the extremely limited housing for sale in Montgomery County as a whole, you’ll have a better than average chance for much of the year. 

However, as a whole, the busiest time for house sellers is from April 1 to April 15, when they can sell a house six days faster and for $3,800 more on average. 

That’s because DC as a whole tends to quiet down when summer hits. Between the killer humidity, Congress going on recess, and school being out of session, a significant chunk of the population leaves DC for at least part of the summer. Plus, most buyers want to be moved and settled before the humidity strikes. 

Autumn is another busy season, though only on election years. Since DC’s biggest industry is government, the area gets an influx of transitory residents in the run-up to November elections.  

Looking Into the Shady Grove Housing Market?

If you’re interested in moving into the Shady Grove housing market, whether you’re a landlord or a homeowner, we’re here to simplify the process of purchasing real estate. 

We have decades of experience representing clients in property management and leasing, and we’re here to leverage that expertise in your favor. Ready to see what life can be like in the DMV? We’re ready to help. Click here to start the conversation. 

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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.