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Show Summary
In this episode of the Real Estate Pros Podcast, Micah Johnson interviews Victoria Richards, a property management expert in Washington DC. They discuss Victoria’s journey into property management, the challenges posed by the current market conditions, and the creative solutions she has implemented to adapt. Victoria shares insights on tenant screening, the importance of networking, and her plans for expanding her services to include project management. The conversation highlights the significance of building relationships in real estate and the potential for growth in the property management sector.
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Investor Fuel Show Transcript:
Victoria Richards (00:00)
So it’s definitely taught me that in real estate you have to be able to pivot. Everything is not gonna be sunshine and rainbows, right? It’s taught me you know different avenues, what works in DC. So sometimes we have had to change rentals to furnished rentals that were long-term. So we’ve had to do midterm, which is just month by month, you know 30 days at a time to…get the same amount of money or just a little bit more for the client. And you know it’s taught us how to have you know deeper, more candid conversations with our clients when things get hard. And I think that that does build trust between us because you know we’re not running, we’re here. We’re here to help,
Micah Johnson (02:18)
Welcome to the Real Estate Pros Podcast. I’m your host, Micah Johnson. And today I’m joined by somebody who I’ve been looking forward to chatting with, who is making serious moves in the property management space, specifically in the DC area. Victoria, it’s great to have you.Victoria Richards (02:33)
Nice to be here. Thanks for having me.Micah Johnson (02:35)
Absolutely, I think our listeners really gonna take something away from how you’re approaching property management, especially in Washington DC and under some of the market conditions that we’re gonna discuss. So let’s dive in, for people who may not know you yet, what’s your main focus right now?Victoria Richards (02:49)
So my main focus right now is property management. So I own a property management company in Washington, DC. We’re in Southeast DC, east of the river. And you know we are just continuing to grow and add clients, to learn from our clients, and just share the information that we have learned over the years about real estate investing. And we also are taking on renovation oversight. So that’s something that we also do.Micah Johnson (03:14)
okay. We’ll definitely have to dig into that, but let’s start with how’d you get into property management? That’s an interesting space in the real estate world. What led you that way?Victoria Richards (03:23)
Yes, so really what led me to get my license, to get you know my EIN, to get the whole company started the right way, back in 2021, I purchased my duplex. It was my first home purchase. My mom was my mentor through that whole transaction. She’s a real estate investor in Columbus, Ohio. And so she was just like…Begging me basically to buy something because the interest rates were so low and at the time I really didn’t understand the depth of that so I bought my duplex Was very happy about it, but during that time You know when the interest rates were so low the competition was very high so I had waived my inspection and so I Later regretted that and found out that there were a lot of issues with my house
that I had to get fixed and it was very challenging. You know I learned a lot through the process and you know one thing that my mom always encouraged me with was anything that’s wrong with the house can be fixed. Even if it feels like everything is falling down, it’s not. So that sort of grounded me and I’m like, okay, if I can get through these challenges, I can help other people. So I really went at it, adding clients, yeah.
Micah Johnson (04:39)
So what turned out, what felt like a bad decision, waited long enough, turned into a good one again. It led you into a whole new thing. That’s awesome. So you’ve been doing a great job in DC with adjusting with the current market conditions. What’s been the main key to making that work consistently?Victoria Richards (04:48)
Absolutely Yes.So definitely having very candid conversations with clients. In DC right now, you know we were dealing with a government shutdown and we were dealing with the State Department totally wiped out. You got the Department of Education and you know DC is very federal government job heavy. So when people started to lose their job and they started to leave, real estate took a hit.
So we have had to sort of pivot in a lot of, for a lot of our rentals and with a lot of our clients to sort of adjust to this new thing. DC is usually insulated by the federal government where usually people have no problem finding a job, but now there’s a strain. So it’s hitting rentals. Sellers are having a very difficult time selling their homes.
So, you know, the playing field has definitely changed, which has forced us to get really creative in how we service our clients and make sure that they are still, you know, profitable.
Micah Johnson (06:51)
So what has that experience taught you so far?Victoria Richards (06:54)
So it’s definitely taught me that in real estate you have to be able to pivot. Everything is not gonna be sunshine and rainbows, right? It’s taught me you know different avenues, what works in DC. So sometimes we have had to change rentals to furnished rentals that were long-term. So we’ve had to do midterm, which is just month by month, you know 30 days at a time to…get the same amount of money or just a little bit more for the client. ⁓ And you know it’s taught us how to have you know deeper, more candid conversations with our clients when things get hard. And I think that that does build trust between us because you know we’re not running, we’re here. We’re here to help,
yeah.
Micah Johnson (07:43)
Sure. So what were, what are some of those conversations that you’ve had to have? What’s it, what’s it been like to be an investor in DC?Victoria Richards (07:50)
So to be an investor in DC, You know if you have a tenant that has been paying and their lease is not up anytime soon, you’re probably good, right? If they haven’t lost their job, you know just to put it out there. Now I’ve had to have conversations with people whose you know the lease is up, the tenant is moving, and that you know $2,800 a month that they’ve been getting, we have to cut it.to 2600, which, you know, it’s tough. It’s tough when you’ve been getting, some of these buildings, you know you have to pay the water bill, right? So maybe that 200, you were able to cover the water bill with that, but now it’s like, you have to get creative, yeah.
Micah Johnson (08:38)
That’s interesting. like rents haven’t exactly been going down for a while. So their experience in a world where things are kind of on that back burner. So what has that allowed y’all to start focusing on and scaling into next? What kind of opportunities is it providing?Victoria Richards (08:56)
So definitely, you know, beefingup our marketing strategies. Like I said before, getting into furnished rentals and learning about even more about that space. Like we did it before, but even more so now we have to do a lot of research and, you know, just things related to that. We’ve just had to get super creative. Yeah.
Micah Johnson (09:54)
So kind what’s the investor adjusting for? So they’re used to somebody keeping the property for a year, just a typical landlord. And now you’re switching into these midterm rentals. What kind of tenants are coming in on these? what does, if another investor’s out there kind of struggling with these same things, what could they think about, even if it’s a different market, to possibly get more rent? It may be a different process, but if you can charge more, there seems like there could still be a way toget money out of the property. What do they need to be thinking about?
Victoria Richards (10:28)
So they need to just think about and maybe even research,who’s coming in and out of the city. So midterm works really well in DC because it’s very transient. Even with everything going on in the government, the recent government shutdown, it’s still very transient. You’ve got nurses coming in and out. There’s a lot of universities here. There’s a lot of interns coming in and out and then just professionals in general, right?
So things have slowed down, but you know people are more intentional about coming here and finding something temporary before they Dive right into a long-term lease. So having that furnished space for maybe three months six months. It works out well So even if you’re not in DC something that you know, we always Tell our clients if they’re gonna buy a new property or make some sort of mood
Run the numbers, do the research, right? Make sure that there’s a demand in your market for that.
Micah Johnson (11:25)
That’s, it’s interesting because you’re messing with, know, normally short-term rentals a lot of times thought of as vacation spots, right? Like you’re not really, you’re, cause where can they put these, where are y’all finding these kinds of tenants or where could they put the, put their properties out for this kind of tenant?Victoria Richards (11:44)
Right, so Furnish Finder is a good one, right? It’s in the name Furnish Finder, right? And then there’s also Airbnb. So a lot of people don’t know this, but you can actually set your minimum number of nights on Airbnb to 31. And then that’s where you start picking up people who wanna stay for a month, two months, three months. I’ve had people even stay for an entire year, right? Because yes, because you know,There’s so many benefits to it. They don’t have to pay a security deposit if it’s on Airbnb. And you know there’s no credit check, but you know there’s protections there to protect the landlord. So those two things, Facebook Marketplace. Now, particularly with Facebook Marketplace, you wanna make sure that you’re in the specific groups for the city. So it might have like, you know Missouri Sublets or
Columbus, Ohio, temporary stays. You can go on Facebook and look at those groups, post directly in those groups. But also Facebook Marketplace. Craigslist is still a really good place to market furnished rentals and rentals in general, at least in Washington, DC. I know some people are a little apprehensive about it, but it works really well. You just have to do a little screening.
Micah Johnson (13:03)
Dive into that for a second. So your property management company, what I love is that you’re going on offense for tenants. You’re not just sitting back waiting and hoping y’all are actively looking for different avenues to get these properties filled. In that mindset, what kind of screening are they looking to do? What should they pay attention to more in that space?Victoria Richards (13:23)
Right, so in that particular space, you really wanna make sure that the person you’re bringing on, you really need to do the credit check, the background check, right? But another layer to that is, you know, like if it’s a nurse, you can look at their documents and see, okay, they’re on assignment from April to August. You know they’re going to leave, right? So that’s something you wanna pay attention to.Is this person actually going to leave? Because when you’re screening, you’re thinking about evictions, right? A lot of times. That’s one of the main things you want to avoid. So people who are staying there temporarily, nine times out of 10, they’re not trying to overstay. Now it does happen. Rarely. Not with my company. But it does happen. And that’s something that you have to think about.
Micah Johnson (14:09)
Yeah.Victoria Richards (14:14)
And so, you know, screening is just as important, but there’s an extra layer. You want to make sure they’re going. And other than that, it’s pretty much the same, having them fill out an application. If it’s not Airbnb, if you do use Airbnb for midterm rentals, what you want to do, you do not want to put it on automatic booking. You want to put it on the setting to where they have to request to book. That way you…are able to do a little bit of an interview before they book. Just to make sure that the listing you know is compatible for what they want.
Micah Johnson (15:32)
Now have you seen that like cut down business at all or have you found that process to be really effective in getting a higher quality tenant?Victoria Richards (15:43)
do think it is effective. And that’s the thing, we’re in Washington DC, it is very tenant friendly. I mean, it rivals California in tenant friendliness. ⁓ you know, thinking about, okay, it’s gonna save you money to do all this screening, because if you don’t, it’s not easy to get a tenant out, it’s not easy for a lot of things here. So it’s definitely worth it. And usually people who…want the space and who are responsible, they don’t mind the extra screening. They don’t mind extra questions. They’re very open and transparent. know, usually those who are trustworthy are transparent. So it doesn’t really hinder.
Micah Johnson (16:25)
Yeah,for that longer term rental, you found that the right people will follow that process. And that stands to reason because they’re thinking it out a little bit more, but that’s a great idea. turn off that, if you’re listening out there, turn off that automatic booking and that way you can qualify those tenants better. ⁓ So what’s the next real goal for you?
Victoria Richards (16:32)
They will.So we really want to just keep expanding. We want to take on more ⁓ project management roles. ⁓ And we want to just continue to get more clients. really, we partner with lot of realtors to do events, speaking engagements, just to educate the community and educate investors who want to invest in the market.
Micah Johnson (16:53)
ThankVictoria Richards (17:19)
There’s a lot of articles and think pieces out there on Washington DC, but Washington DC is a very specific market where having boots on the ground is gonna save you thousands when you’re able to talk to them and really get into the real of what’s happening on a day-to-day basis.Micah Johnson (17:40)
So let’s take a leap into that other side. So you’ve been doing property management, now you’re adding in project management. So what all does that entail and who’s your ideal client there?Victoria Richards (17:50)
So ideal client is just someone who has the funding for the project and who values compliance. DC, the permits that you have to pull, you’ve got to pull them. I’ve had people, oh, I want to do this project. I want to redo the electrical. I don’t want a permit though. Yeah, we need the permit. Compliance is number one.And then, you know, just someone who’s, you know, patient, right? I mean, we can handle different, you know, ⁓ funding restrictions and time constraints, but, you know, having a little bit of patience in DC goes a long way because some of those, you know, the inspections from the city to close out the permit to get to the next stage can take a while. And so, you know,
We recently worked with a client, they’re military, they’re all the way out in Australia. They actually got their house ⁓ through a tax lien. And so it was vacant for 10 years. So we had to, yes, go in there, gut everything, new electrical, plumbing, HVAC, everything. We had to redo it. ⁓ so having a project manager
on the ground when you’re away can help mitigate some of the ⁓ mistakes that can happen. Because a lot of contractors, have a project manager, but it’s not third party. You want someone that understands the lay of the land, that understands what’s going on in DC, and is here checking and making sure that things are going.
Micah Johnson (19:19)
Mm-hmm.So it’s not just the vexers you work with, it’s the end buyer as well. That’s cool.
Victoria Richards (19:33)
Absolutely, yes.Micah Johnson (19:36)
Okay, so for listeners who are earlier in the process or trying to level up, what’s made the biggest difference for you when it comes to building relationships and growing your network?Victoria Richards (19:48)
Definitely ⁓ just getting out there to different networking events. People are actually nicer than what you would think. ⁓ And then, know, particularly for property management, building trust with people is a huge thing, right? People are trusting us with their biggest investment. So ⁓ we really have to come to them with, you know, honesty and transparency. then, you know, starting off, I really didn’t understandthe power of networking, but that’s just the number one thing because you find that one person that is willing to just take you and lead you and advise you and just give you real honest feedback, it’s invaluable.
Micah Johnson (20:35)
I completely agree. Real estate is a relationship business for sure. It benefits you to know the right people. I would say if your problem’s just a phone call away from being solved, you don’t really have a problem. You’re in a good spot when you can reach out there and connect with those. And what’s funny in real estate too is it’s a big term, but the more niche down you get, the less people that like to talk about what you like to talk about.Victoria Richards (20:39)
It is.Micah Johnson (21:04)
And getting into those, going to those events and being around people who geek out on it just as much as you, one, it makes you feel seen. Like you get off your island, you make friends inside your industry and those connections start to grow. And then it has a tremendous effect on your bottom line. It, it from keeping you from making mistakes that someone’s willing to share and say, Hey, this is what I went through and this is how you can avoid that. It’s, it’s life-changing for your business and for yourself really.Victoria Richards (21:10)
evening.Absolutely.
Yes.
Yeah, I totally agree. I mean, luckily, I had my mom to sort of be my first advisor in real estate, but I’ve met realtors that I’ve become best friends with that have taught me some of these terms, some of these lending terms and lending options that I don’t really deal with lending too often. having…
relationships with lenders, relationships with realtors in different areas. They teach me a lot, you know, and they’re willing to talk about it. Like you said, like when you niche down, people, they kind of, they kind of get nerdy about it. And, you know, it’s amazing to just talk to them. And, you know, a lot of times, like I said, people are, you’d be surprised. A lot of people are nicer than what you would think.
Micah Johnson (22:11)
Yeah.I agree. Especially the ones that are really good at doing it, they seem to have the abundance mindset. The ones that are good at it and they show up each day and they’re going to do their job no matter what. You’re not their competition. They’re not worried about you. They want you to succeed just as much as they have because they’ve seen one what it takes. They can see that it’s in you and that always makes you feel good when you’re working with folks like that because there’s nothing like, even if it’s just your mom.
Victoria Richards (22:27)
Yes.Micah Johnson (22:48)
Someone that sees in you, you can do this. Look at what fixing this house will do. So one lesson just keeps leading to these opportunity after opportunity. And that’s another thing I love about real estate. Like if you keep your nose down and keep going, you’ll find your way in it. The part that likes you, the part you like back, right? There’s all these niches that you can get into. So it’s, I find it fascinating. I geek out on it for sure. Okay, so.Victoria Richards (22:49)
Right.Right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Micah Johnson (23:16)
You’re killing it in the property management game in Washington, DC. You’re going on offense, which I love, make going out and finding those tenants and really leveling up the whole game there in that particular niche. So if someone wanted to connect with you, collaborate, or learn more about what you’re doing, what’s the best way to reach you?Victoria Richards (23:36)
So the best way to reach me, you can follow me on Instagram, Greenway Management DC. That is our username, which is connected to our website. Um you know we have all our company information on our website. Our website is greenwaymgmt.com. So you can find us there as well.Micah Johnson (23:55)
Well, I really appreciate your time and being here. Appreciate your story, your perspective. I think we need more people in the space doing it like you’re doing it. So thanks again for being here. And for those tuning in, if you got value from this, please make sure you’re subscribed, like this episode. And we’ve got more conversations coming up with operators just like Victoria, who are out there creating real businesses. Thanks so much. We’ll see you on the next episode.Victoria Richards (24:19)
All right, thank you.
