New to Investing $ considering Baltimore Md

[Jasmin Mcduffie]

Hi I'm new to real estate investing and haven't purchased my first property yet. I live in DC and the prices here are expensive for buy and hold property so I've started looking at Baltimore. It's close to me and seem to have a number of less expensive properties. I'm not familiar with the city and have started to research areas and visiting on the weekends Is there anyone investing in Baltimore that has recommendations for areas to focus on / areas to avoid? Any recommendations for real estate agents familiar with residential investment properties? Thank you Jasmin

[Nicole A.]

Yes, in most of Baltimore City and even Baltimore County, you're going to see plenty of crime stats. Driving by day and night is a great idea. If you don't feel safe there, then it's probably not great, but also don't expect things to be pristine or up to your personal living standards! These are rentals, and quite likely rentals for a different class of people than you might be used to. 

As others said, the City can be very block by block and difficult to assess. As Ned said, many of the good areas such as Fed Hill are too pricey to cash flow (or cash flow well). You could take a peek into Baltimore County. It tends to be a more consistent area and there are plenty of $100K or less properties....many which are 2 or 3 unit buildings (which will bring great cash flow)! The trick is when you become a landlord to not move in a tenant that is full of red flags.