All Forum Posts by: Nancy Roth

@Shaniqua Dupree

Help me understand why this is obviously too high for the area. That is in a very nice neighborhood, did you drive by? 

In any case you are going at this backwards. What do YOU want? What do YOU need? What would you need to do to make money on this? How much money could you put in, how much could you finance, what do you need to get from it?

A rule of thumb some people use is to aim for a monthly rent that is roughly 2% in of what you pay for the unit. So if you are paying 75K/unit you'd want to aim for a rent of roughly $1500 per unit/month. 

How much rent are the tenants currently paying? Are these market tenants? Voucher tenants? How regularly and promptly have they paid their rent? Will the seller show you a rent roll? Have you looked up what the units would fetch on the Go Section 8 Baltimore website? What are the property taxes on these units? How much will insurance cost you? 

The answer to what makes a good deal is found in the answers to questions like these. If the tenants are paying the right amount of rent and have a history of on-time payment this may be a good deal, even if you can't afford it.

I would like to encourage you to start going to some landlord meetings so you can learn how to work out problems like this. I strongly recommend the Baltimore REIA landlord group the last Monday of each month at the Dockside Restaurant in Canton. Also the Savvy Women's investment group on the first Wednesday of each month. Go to the BREIA website for the calendar.

Good luck,

Nancy Roth

@Dawn Anastasia

Thanks for putting up the article. I missed the link somehow. I like your point about getting information firsthand from people who live and work in the cities being cited here. 

I also suggest looking at city-data.com for current information on any neighborhood. Here is their link about zip code 21213 in Baltimore:

http://www.city-data.com/zips/21213.html

Nancy Roth

@Dawn Ananstasi

As many of the participants here have indicated, it's best to take lists like this with a grain of salt. We don't know the nature or date of the crime statistics they are basing their list on. Crime stats from a year ago may be completely out of date. To me this looks like the authors wrote the headline first and spun out the article to support it. Would you consider posting a link so we can judge for ourselves?

I work and own in Baltimore, and so naturally that is what I focused on in this list. I don't know everything about Baltimore, but Belair and North Ave. would not necessarily come to mind as the scariest neighborhood in town. Maybe I'm missing something? I do know that parts of 21213 are primo for rentals, and many of my colleagues invest there quite profitably. Mayfield, which is in that zip code, has beautiful old detached homes sandwiched between two parks.  

Any BP Baltimore-ites--@Ned Carey, @Christina Ramirez, @Seth Sherman, @Tyrus Shivers, @Anil Samuel, @Mark Owens, @Denise Uhrin, @J Scott etc.--care to jump in? 

Nancy Roth

@Dawn Anastasi

What do they mean by dangerous? 

@Brandon Williams

What do you want to know, Brandon?

@Brandon Rosenblatt

@David Shapiro

For the sake of argument I'd like to put out something about the step that comes before the Housing Authority assigns the rent: the tenant has to designate your property as the place where he or she wants to live. Thus the name Housing Choice Voucher Program (HCVP). And yes, I'm told they can be picky, although I have not personally had a problem. Perhaps landlords in higher end neighborhoods may not want voucher holders but in the working class communities that dominate Baltimore, many landlords actually market to voucher holders.

For this reason some of my colleagues make their houses as attractive as possible (within the norms of a rental property)--even going to granite (indestructible) counters at times. Their units do not tend to stay empty for long.

I'm agnostic on the question of AC units vs. CAC, although I do think the Baltimore summers require some sort of AC. I have AC window units in one rental and the other unit came to me with central air already in place. Both take maintenance. Both use a lot of electricity. David, I did like your point about not installing AC ducts unless you are already opening the ceiling for something else. 

Laundry appliances, yes absolutely. So important for families with small children! 

Best,

Nancy Roth

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    .

@Andrew Bertram: You should not remediate but coat it with a very secure and thick paint that seals in all the asbestos fibers, which are the source of the problem. Taking down the siding is dangerous for the workers and the community around the property because of the potential for breakage and the release of the fibers into the air.

Sounds like a great deal, BTW. Mind mentioning where it is? 

Good luck,

Nancy Roth

A big group of folks are active in Baltimore doing buy-and-hold, as well as rehab/resell. Maybe get a bunch together for a Baltimore group shot? I would help with that, if you can tell me when you'd be there.

Also, if you want to see the nation's capital, I live in DC and have a large empty bedroom to accommodate you and Heather. Would love to see you.

Nancy Roth

@Stephanie Lella

One more thing: ONLY ONE cat. No more than one because cats tend to take over the environment (with shed fur, litter box, etc.) and it's very hard to take it back. Gets unhealthy really quickly unless cats are well-cared for--and unfortunately you don't get to tell your tenants how to take care of their animals.

Nancy Roth

@Stephanie Lella

I have a "no pets" clause in the lease. If the tenant obtains a pet after signing my lease, that is a breach of the lease, which could be subject to fine and/or eviction. I think you have to make that clear (or have your property manager make that clear) at the time the tenant signs the lease. Then follow up as needed.

It gets a little more complicated if you are buying a rental with a good-paying tenant in place who already owns an animal. If the animal is an aggressive or destructive dog, you do not buy the property. Safety, potential liability and maintenance concerns weigh too heavily against the acquisition. 

I did acquire a good cash-flow property where the tenant owned a cat. Cats can also be destructive--this one had chewed the quarter-round on the baseboard, for example. But I allowed the tenant to keep the cat (I wanted to keep the tenant) but made it clear that she, not I, would be responsible for repairs of cat-induced damage. 

But cats also keep rodents at bay, and unlike pit bulls (a pair of which mauled a child in my neighborhood last year), a cat usually does not present a major safety or liability problem. 

Use your common sense. Protect your tenants and protect yourself.

Good luck,

Nancy Roth