The questions people actually ask me, answered the way I would answer them on a call. If yours is not here, call or text 650.380.3038 and ask it directly.
If you only read one paragraph.
I am a licensed Realtor and an active real estate investor working across Arlington County, Fairfax County, the greater DMV, and West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle. I am licensed in Virginia, Maryland, Washington DC, and West Virginia, with Keller Williams.
Before real estate I spent years as an analyst in national security. It is a strange background for this job and it is also the reason I am good at it. The work was reading incomplete information and figuring out what it actually meant. That is underwriting. I hold a bachelor's and a master's from UC San Diego in business and international relations, and I speak Spanish.
Most agents list your house. I will tell you what to fix first, what is not worth touching, and roughly what each dollar comes back as. When it makes sense I run the renovation myself.
On the investment side I underwrite deals the way an investor does, not the way a salesperson does. Sometimes that means telling you a property does not work. I own investment property myself, so I am putting my own money into the same market I am advising you in.
Arlington County and Fairfax County in Northern Virginia are home base. I also work throughout the greater DMV, including Alexandria, Washington DC, and Maryland, plus West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle around Harpers Ferry and Charles Town.
Yes. Virginia, Maryland, Washington DC, and West Virginia. That is unusual, since most agents hold a single license.
It matters if you are buying in Arlington County and selling in Maryland, or if you are an investor whose buy box crosses a state line. You get one person who knows your whole picture instead of three who each know a third of it.
That is my signature service. Most sellers leave money on the table twice: once by listing as-is, and once by over-renovating things buyers do not actually pay for.
I will walk your house, tell you which projects return more than they cost in your specific submarket, and coordinate the work with vendors I have used before. You are not managing contractors on top of a move.
You are looking at one, and it is a smaller pool than you would expect.
When you are vetting agents, ask three things: do you own investment property, can you build me a proforma, and what would you tell me if the numbers came back bad. Most agents cannot answer the second question and will not like the third.
I do. It is a niche most agents avoid because the administration is fiddly. Rent reasonableness determinations, inspection standards, and payment timing all work differently than a conventional lease, and getting them wrong costs you months of vacancy.
I help landlords underwrite voucher-tenanted properties honestly, including the parts that make them harder than a standard rental. There is a voucher and HCV calculator on this site.
Yes, and the lending piece is where most people get stuck. Depending on the loan product, projected rent from the other unit can offset your debt-to-income ratio, which changes what you qualify for and therefore what you should be shopping for.
That is a conversation to have with a lender before you start touring, not after you have fallen for something. I will run the numbers with you first.
I build the model with you rather than handing you a number and asking you to trust it.
There are free calculators on this site for fix and flip, BRRRR, holistic rental, short-term rental, house hacking, voucher deals, and rental optimization. If you would rather I run one with your real numbers, book a call and we will do it together.
Yes, and it is a habit from my first career rather than a service I sell. I spent years as a national security analyst, and I still follow the federal budget, hiring, and policy environment closely, because in this region those decisions eventually land in the housing market, often harder than people expect.
It is one input into how I underwrite a purchase or price a listing. It is not a forecast, and I will tell you when the honest answer is that nobody knows.
Both, and I do not rank them. First-time buyers get more of my time, not less, because there is more to explain and the stakes feel bigger when it is your first one.
Nothing. The first conversation is fifteen minutes and free, and I will tell you if I am not the right fit for what you are trying to do.
Call or text 650.380.3038, email ListWithLexieDMV@gmail.com, or book a free fifteen-minute call through this site. I reply personally, usually within one business day. You can also find me on LinkedIn.
No. Different people, different states.
I am Lexie De Stefano, based in Arlington, Virginia, serving Northern Virginia, Washington DC, Maryland, and West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle. Alysia De Stefano is a separate agent working in southern New Jersey. If you were looking for the Arlington one, you found her.