All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

@Sam Frank, that is good news! Do all of the demo first. Then call Neil. I can't post his number but you can pm me if you want it. You need to have a full understanding of the MDE stuff or you could end up in a bad situation. Lead Free is the best way to go- by far. 

Mark

@Uchenna A., that could work out and it could back fire. That is why I asked if the property is vacant or not. If a child had elevated lead then you need to go through a specific process. The Health Dept will send someone out to identify the lead hazards. Those will have to be removed by a certified lead removal company and then paperwork documenting what was done has to be sent to the Health Department.

If no one had elevated lead and the house is vacant- Call Neil Roseman . He will charge $295 and come out and inspect the house with an XRF gun. He will email you a report on where the lead is. When the work is complete he will come back out, at no additional charge, and reinspect. If all of the work is good you will get a lead free cert.

Mark

@Sam Frank- Is this for a vacant property, or has someone had an elevated lead level?

@Erick Chavarria, yes.  We are there every Friday. I am going to be out of town this coming Friday, 5/11/17. If you show up at lunch it looks like a little corner bar. Go in and go to the back. There is another large room in the back to the right that is reserved for us. If you arrive at noon 3 people will be there. If you arrive at 12:30 15-20 people will be there. New people show up every week so please have a seat and introduce yourself. The world famous @Ned Carey even pops in now and then. If you come later in the month I should be there.

Mark

As a Baltimore native and investor I know exactly what you are talking about. When I started 15 years ago I told my agent that I think Res. Hill is going to blow up. His response- "They were saying that 20 years ago and not much has happened." Well, 15 years later... and that is still pretty much true. Pigtown. Now that is some funny stuff. The name was changed 10 years ago because it is hard to sell a 250k house in a place called pigtown. So, they renamed it to Washington Village. After the crash- it went back to Pigtown! lol.  Pigtown will never turn into a Fed Hill or Canton without a night life- the legal kind that is! Yes, Dundalk is hot. Many of my friends are buying there. I think that the area from Dundalk to Greektown is a good bet if you can get in at the right price. Same with Belair-Edison out to Overlea. Yes. the NW part of the city that you mentioned is strong for flipping right now. I also have several friends that are rehabbing some of the large, and once beautiful homes out there and doing well. There are also many other areas of the city to invest in-  but it really depends on your goals. If you want good cash flow or something to brag about. They aren't usually the same thing. You can buy a house in Hampden for 180k and rent it for 1600 or you can buy 3 houses in Mill Hill and get 3300. The investor in Hampden will brag and the investor in Mill Hill will go on a nice vacation. (The first houses that I bought were in Hampden and the last ones that I bought were in Mill Hill)

As far as good deals go. They are all over the place. I could probably find one every day if I put the work into it. Get on every wholesalers list  All of them. Most of them aren't very experienced, but sometimes they will find a diamond in the rough. Have an agent set you up with an auto-search. Send out postcards of your own. Go to meetings and establish relationships. (on of the most effective ways) and- walk around the neighborhood that you want to invest in and talk to everyone. While you are doing that look for notices on doors, etc. I have found many many deals like that.

Mark

@Sahil Ran, I may see you at the event... still waiting on Cecil to call me! You should come to one of our Friday lunches and meet up with Ben and Jonathan Moschel . They are 21, went to TSU- and dropped out to do REI. They are killing it. They can give you some great info on house hacking in the Towson area. As far as what to do goes- it really depends on your goals and what you are willing to do to achieve them

Mark

@Val J. I would definitely recommend that you spend some time here getting to know some of the popular areas for local investors. Most of the people in this business are really decent people but there are a few sharks that would love to deal with an out of town investor- so please move slow until you are able to establish a team of honest and competent people.

Yes. They are one of the 3 major auction companies in Baltimore. They have been around for many many years. They are part of another company called Inner Harbor Realty. I have done business with them many times and it has always been an easy transaction.

Mark

I invest exclusively in Baltimore City. It can be a gold mine- but like any gold mine- it takes work and there is risk. I don't have anything to compare our laws to because it is all that I really know but in general it is like this- if a tenant doesn't pay you can have them evicted in 6-8 weeks. If they break their lease it is about the same. If they are professional tenants and really skilled at working the system it can turn into a nightmare- probably like most places. I NEVER go to rent court. There are companies that will do it all for you. As far as boots on the ground goes- you can say that about anywhere. You need people that you can trust. Sometimes that can be the hardest part of the business. 

No, this meeting is not for just BP members. If they aren't on BP it is probably because they don't know about it. 

Sorry that the lunch schedule won't work for you. There are several other local meetups and REIAs that are good. You will see many of the same people at all of them.

Mark