All Forum Posts by: Ben White

Welcome sir!  Atlanta and Baltimore are fine choices for fix and flip.  I'm a fan of flip and hold in Baltimore as well.  Especially with plans to revitalize the harbor finally getting traction and more importantly, The Orioles and Ravens looking to be powerhouses for years to come lol.  I'm taking a trip up to Baltimore this weekend to view a few boarded up row homes my client and friend are looking to renovate and turn into long term rentals.  As my colleague, @Savannah Yingling,here at District Invest Group just stated, we have some local experts and clients making a living in Baltimore projects and agency as well.  Be sure to to take a good look at the foundation and structure on any old place though, as I'm sure you know.  No matter what the location!  I am not a fan of buying sight unseen, but others take the risk.  I wouldn't do that personally until I was in a place to lose money on an investment now and then!

Hey Matthew.  Not sure what your local state, county, and municipality laws are, but the first step is to see if you're even allowed to reject based upon the applicants voucher.  The Fair Housing Act doesn't bar landlords from discriminating based on Section 8, but some states and municipalities do!  Classified under "source of income".  I find state by state information here on https://www.hud.gov/states to be a great place to keep up on all that.  Here in Maryland, after more than 20 years of failure, lawmakers made it illegal in 2020.  It is illegal in DC as well.  This doesn't mean you cant reject an applicant for other reasons you typically would such as income, poor credit, or criminal background.  Just always be consistent with everyone you speak to and every applicant!

All that said, and to answer your question, I think a guaranteed check for 66% of the rent offers some peace of mind and limits potential loss.  A conventional income applicant, so to speak, could lose their job and pay you nothing.  And as others said, section 8 tenants are often the most quiet and reliable because they don't want to lose this aid and they are grateful to have housing.  I would screen as you always do and if everything else is clear, take the tenant!  I think the risk is exactly the same as all tenants.  Maybe even less for reasons I just touched on.

I'll spare some of the moral and ethical opinions on this, but I do feel we as real estate professionals, investors, and landlords also have an obligation to help provide housing to everyone.  Even the less fortunate.  Housing costs and rents are through the roof while incomes have mostly remained stagnant. There are going to be more and more people using vouchers as time goes on and we certainly shouldn't stigmatize them or view them as more risky.  

Good luck and I hope everything works out.  Please do report back to the post.  Would love to klnow how it turns out!

Hey @Tracy Reaves.  Welcome to BP and the investment venture.  I'm going to defer to my colleague and Bmore expert @Sara Frank

@Marcelle Thong

Welcome!  I'm located in Germantown as well!

Hey @Yoni Perlysky.  I'm in Germantown as well and work with Russell Brazil and the District Invest Group.  If you wanted to use all of that for a down payment on a buy and hold you could look for something around $300-325k.  You might have a little better luck in Frederick with that price point in order to make a positive cash flow.  Frederick keeps growing as more people are pushed north with rising prices.  Of course you would refi eventually and increase any cash flow as well.  Marry the property, date the rate!

@Amy Lindblad My business partner owns 5 detached properties and bought one of them with a hot tub.  He removed it immediately because it WILL break and WILL become a bigger issue once it's expected as an amenity.  Agree with Tom to move it to your primary residence if possible or sell it if not.  Some might argue you could keep it at the property depending on the type of tenant you get.  ie NOT for a college roommates situation. Of course, if it's a vacation/short term rental, you'd want to offer that amenity regardless.  As for the landscaping, I would only expect them to mow the grass and I wouldn't pay the regular fees of a landscaping service.  I'd prefer to pay the one time fee in between tenants.  Some neighbors may not prefer this decision, but you can't make everyone happy when investing in real estate.

Thanks for hosting and the invite Ryan!  Will try to make it!

I'm green, just getting started entirely.  Been in real estate for 17years and just started working with The District Invest Group @Russell Brazil @Sara Frank.  One of the reasons I did this was to learn from them and everyone in this group.  Like @Michael Blank said, capital is typically critical,  so its very interesting to hear how he got started and looking forward to hearing from others.  

Hey Chung, I recently joined @Russell Brazil and The District Invest Group.  We have some great investor meetups and a podcast you could learn from as well.  Montgomery County is a location we discuss often.