All Forum Posts by: John Stoeber

Thank you for the references Ned Carey . I'm interested in building my rental portfolio and wholesaling any deals that don't meet my criteria. I'd like to build a relationship with someone who can help me grow my business. Specifically the attorney would be able to help set up a proper llc (not interested in one from legalzoom), offer contract guidance, handle evictions, offer guidance on landlord tenant laws.

Can anyone suggest a good real estate attorney in Maryland? Bonus if they're familiar with Baltimore city/county.

A lot of discussion about how much leverage you should have during a downcycle, but my question is how can an overleveraged real estate portfolio bury you during a recession?  The idea of leverage is that if I can earn a 13% return with just a 10% cost of capital than I can use leverage to earn an additional 3% spread on something I can't buy myself.  Conversely, if the market tanks and now I'm only earning a 7% return my losses are also much larger than they would be without leverage. However, lets assume we're dealing with B class investment properties here. During a recession people are forced to sell their house or move out of an A class rental in order to put some additional money in the bank, and where do you think they're going to move?  Into the B and C class properties.  If you're the owner of these B class properties and you're not forced to substantially lower your rents than you should still be able to cover your expenses (cheaper during a recession), and the existing mortgage payment.  While the value of the property might drop if it's residential, shouldn't you be able to weather the storm until it goes back up?

@Eric Smith I'd love to hear how that goes and the steps you take to become successful.  What out of state markets are you looking into?

Thanks for all the awesome information everyone.  My questions are:

1) How easy is it to get rid of section 8 if market rents increase beyond what the HA allows?

2) Are there any people you need on your team that you wouldn't need if you were investing in non section 8 properties?

3) Does the government pay for the application fee/credit check?

4) Is section 8 a viable strategy for new investors?

@Russell Brazil what do you recommend looking for as an investment property in this area? In one of the neighborhoods close to where I work (outside of Baltimore) there looks like there are a bunch of triplexes that have some potential as section 8 rentals, granted they would probably need some rehab to meet the regulations. And thank you for the link, I've been looking for a local REIA so this is awesome!

And thank you for the warm welcome  @Upen Patel and @Mark Nolan.  See you around the forums!

Hi everyone! I’m from Gaithersburg Maryland and am looking to build up my real estate network and learn as much as I can for the next 12-18 months before investing in residential multi-family properties. I’ve also just started my first job out of college so this will give me time to build up some capital. Based on the research I’ve done I think parts of Baltimore and Frederick would be good markets to start in that are also close to my home. Any advice you professional investors can impart on me will be much appreciated!