Those of you who have worked with me know that I like to help Northern Virginia real estate investors pick out subdivisions that have great potential for investment property income. Today, I’d like to focus on Reston, and in particular, on condos in Bristol House, which is a very popular subdivision. Currently, there is only one active condo listing in Bristol house, and it is a 2 bedroom 2 bath unit.
Keep in mind that if you buy a condo in Bristol house, you have to pay not only condo dues, but also HOA dues as well. Factoring in the rate of current dues for 2 BR, 2 BA condos in Bristol House, you should plan on paying around $300-$350 per month. At first glance, this might intimidate some investors because it instantly eats more into your cash flow margins. However, even though you’re paying a little more for the condo and HOA dues, this complex consistently has strong rental comparables - in the last six months, there have been six closed rental transactions of 2 bedroom condos in Bristol House:
- 2221 Lovedale Ln #H closed at $1,475
- 11713 Karbon Hill Ct. #710A closed at $1,545
- 2233D Lovedale Ln. #407-A closed at $1,600
- 2241I Lovedale Ln. #405C closed at $1,700
- 11709 Karbon Hill Ct. #601A closed $1,775
The average rent from these comps was $1,619 per month. Also, all of the recent rental comps here went at full listing price, which is another indication of the high demand for Bristol House condos.
For the sake of analyzing the rental potential of Bristol House condos, let’s assume a hypothetical purchase scenario. The currently active condo listing in Bristol House is a 2BR 2BA priced at $235,000. Assuming you put 25% down and pay a 5% interest rate (a current ballbark figure for the non-owner occupancy interest rate), your mortgage payments would be around $950 per month. Combined with your condo dues, your monthly payments would be around $1,300. You’d be looking at monthly cash flow of over $300 before expenses. Not bad at all, but it gets better.
Condo inventory here is usually very low - as I mentioned earlier, there is currently only one active condo listing in Bristol House. Resale potential is strong here as well, as there is generally a lot of demand. There are only two other comparable sales of condos in Bristol House in the past six months. They had more square footage than the one currently for sale, but they were both 2BR 2 BA condos as well:
- 2217L Lovedale Ln. #211A closed at $290,000 (with a $10,000 subsidy)
- 11705K Karbon Hill Ct. #512B closed at $275,000
Due to the strong resale and cash flow potential, condos in Bristol House are a great investment. If you’re in the market for a condo here, call me on my cell phone at 703-462-0700 so I can go to work for you and help you get the best deal possible. I’m an experienced buyer agent who great up in Northern Virginia and knows the real estate market in Reston very well.