Every Baltimore rehab I document gets a milestone photo packet at five points — not for the portfolio, for the paperwork. The day a lender asks where the money went, photos answer. Here's the five-pack.

Milestone 1: buy + pre-demo. 40–60 shots at close: every room, four corners, roof, basement walls, meters, panel — geotagged and dated. This is the "before" the appraiser and your partner will ask for.

Milestone 2: rough-in, before drywall closes. The set you can never reshoot: panel schedule, wire runs, plumbing stacks, HVAC lines — 50–80 close shots. Open walls are the cheapest insurance in a rehab. This set answers the draw inspector without a cut-out.

Milestone 3: draw submission — photos plus receipts. Every draw request: one folder, timestamped photos matched line-by-line to invoices. Lenders release on photos, not promises. Same-day photo and receipt — draws clear in days.

Milestone 4: damage and theft, same day. Broken boards, missing copper, smashed windows — shoot it immediately, police report number in the folder name. In Baltimore, document within hours or the claim doesn't exist.

Milestone 5: final closeout. Finished walkthrough, serial plates, meter readings, keys handed off. The closeout set is what lists the house and wins any post-sale argument. This one lives in the cloud, not on a phone.

Comps. Quick look at the numbers around it: Reservoir Hill (21217).

As-is/distressed: 1104 Clendenin St — $46,000, sold Oct 2025 (investor canvas, fixer); 2333 Mcculloh St — $80,000, sold Aug 2025 (as-is, squatter damage, 292 days on market); 2530 Madison Ave — $235,000, sold May 2025 (4-unit auction, total rehab required). That puts as-is value roughly $46K–$235K, most likely $46–80K for a single-family shell here.

Renovated: 2464 Lakeview Ave — $212,900, sold Sep 2025 (fully renovated townhome); 2126 Mount Royal Terrace — $260,000, sold Jul 2025 (updated semi-detached); 2140 Mount Royal Terrace — $315,000, sold Aug 2025 (stunningly renovated) — so a renovated range of $213K–$315K.

Honesty caveat: the renos sit on Reservoir Hill's prime blocks (Lakeview, Mount Royal Terrace); the shells sit a few streets north — location does real lifting here. And 2530 Madison is a 4-unit, not a single-family comp.

At $46K in and $213–$315K out, you're documenting six figures of value creation.

What photo set has saved your rehab money — the draw, the insurance claim, or the post-sale argument?

— Dawon | Baltimore, MD