Baltimore Sex Offenders

[Marc M.]

....now that I've got your attention, no, I'm not looking to make new friends. Well, not the sex offender kind. :-)

 I'm considering purchasing a home in a supposedly up and coming area in Baltimore (I say supposedly since I'm still learning the market) and when I run crime reports for the area, I come back with very little except for a high number of sex offenders in the immediate neighborhood. Something along the lines of 10-15 within a 5 block radius. Given the low criminal activity of other sorts, would this deter anyone from buying in this area?

[Ariel O.]

I would take those reports with a huge grain of salt. If you mapped out where felons/ex-cons lived in the US you'd be shocked. I would concern myself more with the actual crime committed.

[Marc M.]

Solid point.  I guess my only concern was that if I decide to rent to a family, I wonder how many people that might scare off.  Anybody been in a similar situation?

[Nicole A.]

Are we required to tell them that a sex offender lives in the area? If we are, then oops.... 

There are tons of nice neighborhoods with registered offenders living in or nearby. I wouldn't worry much about that.

[Marc M.]

@Nicole A. I don't know about having to disclose that info but since it's public info, I figured it wouldn't be too hard to find.  I know I'd research an area before moving there but I might be giving people too much credit.  Ha