Will the Purple Line Metro Impact the DMV Housing Market?

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Will the Purple Line Metro Impact the DMV Housing Market? 1

If you live in the D.C. area, you may have heard rumors of a new Metro line being built. The Purple Line Metro is currently in progress, though it was halted by some nasty winter weather. But the project continues to move forward and should be ready for passengers in the coming years.

Construction of a new transportation method always impacts the area around it. Read on to learn how the Purple Line Metro will impact the housing market in the Maryland area.

What Is the Purple Line Metro?

The Purple Line Metro is a new light rail system that will run between Bethesda in Montgomery County, Maryland, and New Carrollton in Prince George County, Maryland. It will be sixteen miles long and will include 21 stops, including connections with Metro lines, Amtrack stations, and bus routes. The system is currently under construction and is projected to be finished by 2022.

The light rail system will be able to operate as a passenger train in between cities and as a tram within cities. This will give commuters easier access to the cities and their public transport networks than ever before. By 2030, the Purple Line is anticipated to transport more than 70,000 people a day.

Rising Property Values

One of the biggest impacts the Purple Line will have on the housing market is the way it will grow property values. In general, homes that are located close to public transport in cities are more valuable. When you’re fighting traffic and trying to get to work on time, being able to catch a bus or train without walking five miles to get to the stop is a wonderful thing.

The more people have access to the city from Bethesda, New Carrollton, and all the towns in between, the more people will be able to move there and commute to their jobs. This will increase demand for the houses on the market there, which will drive up prices. And homes that aren’t on the market will increase in value, too, as the neighborhoods around them become more in demand.

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Easier City Access

That easier city access will also benefit the people already living in the cities along the Purple Line. For one thing, they’ll be able to get to the amenities of the larger cities more often. This means easier access to museums, shows, restaurants, and athletic events.

This improved access may also help suburban residents to get into better jobs. Cities have more job market options and opportunities for advancement, but if the commute is too long, it may not be practical for many people. Easier commutes could open up jobs to people in the suburbs looking for opportunities to advance their careers.

Environmental Impact

It’s no secret that America’s addiction to personal gas-powered cars is killing the environment. One passenger vehicle emits about 4.6 metric tons of carbon dioxide into the environment every year. There are a little over 272 million cars in the U.S., so that more than a billion metric tons of greenhouse gases being poured into the atmosphere from cars in the U.S. alone.

The more public transport systems we have available, the fewer cars have to make the daily trek into the city. This can help cut back our fossil fuel emissions, a goal that’s becoming more and more important as we continue to use up our carbon budget. These trains can be an important step in slowing climate change and preserving our species.

Displacement

The new Purple Line isn’t being hailed as a wonderful thing by everyone, though. It does have a lot of benefits, but for some people, it may mean losing their homes. Those property value increases we mentioned earlier can swing both ways, depending on your financial situation. 

If you own a home, the rise in property values is a great thing. But if you rent, you may be facing rent rates that climb higher and higher until you’re forced to move out of the area. This sort of displacement could lead to people losing their jobs or even becoming homeless.

Noise Pollution 

Another group that may not be so enthusiastic about the new Purple Line is the people who live right next to the tracks. If you’ve ever lived next to a train track, you’ll know trains are not quiet things. They go rattling by at all hours of the day and night and use screaming horns and screeching brakes.

Although light rails are somewhat quieter than cargo trains, being designed to move around in cities, they do still come with a fair amount of noise pollution. Mostly this will be during the day since the line will have certain starting and ending times. But for people working the night shift, working from home, or trying to enjoy their retirement, the noise pollution can get old.

Safety Concerns 

There are also some mild safety concerns with the installation of the new Purple Line. In general, trains are a very safe form of travel, both for passengers and other vehicles around them. But every now and then, a car gets cocky, and the great disadvantage of trains is that they cannot stop quickly.

Incidence of train-related car accidents may go up in the Maryland area over the next few years. There are also some concerns about people falling onto the tracks. But truth be told, these concerns are relatively minor; you’re far more likely to be killed in a car accident.

Learn More About the Purple Line Metro

The new Purple Line Metro is an exciting addition that will be coming to the Maryland area in the next few years. This train will raise property values, make life easier for people living in the suburbs, and decrease our fossil fuel output. So keep an eye on the construction; you’ll want to get a ticket when the trains start running!

If you’d like to get in on the property value rise in the DC Maryland area, check out the rest of our site at Nomadic Real Estate. We can help you with leasing, management, sales, and peace of mind. Contact us today to find your dream home along the new Purple Line Metro route.

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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.