Ask Eli: Will Rental Income Return To Rosslyn and Courthouse Owners?

This regularly-scheduled sponsored Q&A column is written by Eli Tucker, Arlington-based Realtor and Rosslyn resident. Please submit your questions to him via email for response in future columns. Enjoy!

Question: I’ve been renting my unit at the 1800 Wilson condos in the Rosslyn/Courthouse area for the last five years and am wondering why I used to get more rent five years ago than I do today, despite keeping the unit in great condition for each renter. Any ideas?

Answer: You may have heard that over the last five to six years, the rental market has hit all-time highs across the country, so it makes sense that you’d expect your rental income to increase. However, the increased rental demand and previously undersupplied luxury rental market in Rosslyn got the attention of some major developers, who recently built larger luxury rental buildings nearby.

Developer vs. Landlord

Landlords at 1800 Wilson and the neighboring Rosslyn/Courthouse condo buildings took a hit on rental income starting in 2013 as luxury apartment buildings Slate|Sedona, 19Nineteen Clarendon, and 2001 Clarendon added nearly 850 units to an undersupplied Rosslyn/Courthouse rental market, while offering deep discounts to new tenants in the range of one to two free months of rent (standard for new apartment buildings).

In the last year or two, each of the buildings have finished their initial leasing cycle and the incentives have expired at all three, so 1800 Wilson and other landlords in Rosslyn and Courthouse should see a small increase in rental rates.

Don’t expect a huge jump because rental supply is substantially higher now and Central Place, above the Rosslyn Metro station, just started leasing 377 luxury units. However, many of these apartments are in the ultra-luxury market and cater to a different renter than those looking at 1800 Wilson and similar buildings in the area.

Rental Trends

I built a table of rental trends in condo buildings in Rosslyn & Courthouse with comparable 1BR/1BA and 2BR/2BA units. I limited data to 1BR units w/ 650-850sqft and 2BR units w/ 900-1,350sqft to reflect the majority of 1BR and 2BR units at 1800 Wilson. “Avg Discount From Ask” is the average difference between final rental rate and original asking rental asking price.

If you’d like a question answered in my weekly column, please send an email to [email protected]. To read any of my older posts, visit the blog section of my website at http://www.RealtyDCMetro.com.

Eli Tucker is a licensed Realtor in Virginia, Washington DC, and Maryland with Real Living At Home, 2420 Wilson Blvd #101 Arlington, VA 22201, (202) 518-8781.