Investor · Bel Air, MD · Member since 2015 · 4 posts · 1 vote
Hi. I am interested in doing my first flip and need to stay at $75K or less all in. Does anyone have any advice on which safe areas in Baltimore City or County to focus my efforts?
Investor · Parkville, MD · Member since 2012 · 10 posts · 9 votes
9y
I would agree with Chuck Masters. If you are already in Harford County, I would invest there. There are several reasons for this. First, flipping from 30+ miles away can be tough if you have a full time job, especially if this your first flip. Second, Baltimore City property is older and there are a lot of costs on items that you won't encounter in newer Harford County properties, ie plumbing, electric. Replacing galvanized pipe or older electric gets really expensive real quick. I would minimize risk and look for an 80's construction home in Harford count and limit your improvements to generally cosmetic projects.
Baltimore , MD · Member since 2017 · 8 posts · 1 vote
9y
Hey Terry, it's difficult to give you some locations without some more info. Are you asking for "safe" places for a good return or safe place as in low crime?
Investor · San Francisco, CA · Member since 2016 · 77 posts · 41 votes
9y
@Terry O'Brien in my opinion it's going to be very difficult to do a flip for all in less than $75k. You've got to assume that you'll have around $5k in closing costs to purchase the property. Many of the houses in Baltimore are older 1900-1920 stock, which means that there's always standard work that needs to be done mechanically/code wise. Are you doing the work yourself? If not, this formula means that IF you were able to find something that did work within $75k, you're going to be in a pretty rough area.
Halethorpe, MD · Member since 2016 · 77 posts · 21 votes
9y
@Terry O'Brien Nothing is impossible but I will say when doing flips you want to be in a solid neighborhood where people are buying homes. So needing to be in a solid neighborhood, being all in on a flip no more than 75k would be VERY difficult. I'd suggest trying to come upwith additional funding somehow. Now a days you can't really do low-end rehab work on flips at least to an extent. Everyones watching HGTV and they want the granite countertops, fresh hardwood, crown molding etc.
Now if you were looking to buy and hold, being all in 75k or less is very doable as you can do so in less desirable neighborhoods.
Real Estate Agent · Baltimore, MD · Member since 2014 · 215 posts · 123 votes
9y
@Terry O'Brien is $75K what you have as working capital? If so, I would suggest leveraging that with a hard money lender or some sort of loan/line of credit. 75K is really not gonna get you many great areas here but if you leverage that then you can start playing in some areas that are safer and offer some more reasonable returns.
Investor · Baltimore, MD · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 688 votes
9y
75k all in = rowhome/townhouse = purchase around 30k. Sell around 125. Where to find? Baltimore city. Maybe not the worst of baltimore, but forget "safe"
Investor · Bel Air, MD · Member since 2015 · 95 posts · 57 votes
9y
@Terry O'Brien Have you thought of looking at the Aberdeen, Have De Grace areas or sections of Edgewood and Joppa Town ? These areas may have some lower entry deals rather having to go to Baltimore.
Investor · Parkville, MD · Member since 2012 · 10 posts · 9 votes
9y
I would agree with Chuck Masters. If you are already in Harford County, I would invest there. There are several reasons for this. First, flipping from 30+ miles away can be tough if you have a full time job, especially if this your first flip. Second, Baltimore City property is older and there are a lot of costs on items that you won't encounter in newer Harford County properties, ie plumbing, electric. Replacing galvanized pipe or older electric gets really expensive real quick. I would minimize risk and look for an 80's construction home in Harford count and limit your improvements to generally cosmetic projects.
Investor · Baltimore, MD · Member since 2015 · 71 posts · 24 votes
9y
Hey terry , it's amazing that you posted this cause I'm going thru the same thing I'm a Baltimore native so it's a little easier for me to identify arrears in Baltimore city and county vs other areas in md but I'd suggest in the city belair edison ( I'm currently working on a flip there with very similar numbers purchased price 52k Reno 17k and listing price for 139k) and Essex/ middle river and possibly halethrope. Those are the areas I've had some nice success with.I'm a pretty new investor I've only done 10 deals but these seem like safe consistent areas in my opinion. Just always make sure you numbers are good in those areas