All Forum Posts by: Ian Barnes

@Ned Carey is correct about sub 30K rentals in the city.  If I'm purchasing a property for 30K in the city, then I'm spending about 30K in rehab on the property for a total of 60K spent.  I focus on Section 8 and want to have a quality tenant live at the property that will treat it as there home.  The one thing I've learned about rentals is that quality tenants are very picky.

@Jamal L. said.  We recently bought a rowhouse in Baltimore for rental.  While there are alot of good landlords in Baltimore, there are also some scumbags.  When we went to open a bathroom floor for routine maintenance, we found the whole floor was being held up by 2X4's and the rest of the floor was rotted away, and people had just moved out.  That floor could have collapsed at anytime.  Its the stuff you don't see in these older houses, that kills the deal.

I'm a Realtor® with Douglas Realty as Ned above described.  I only work with my own investments and help a select few other investors on their acquisitions.  There 100% plan is reasonable, and they have been very responsive with helping me out if I have a legitimate question. I would also suggest joining an association that has training courses and events and taking advantage of those, very few do.

I don't care how old you are as a landlord, your not selling a house for 27K that cashflow 950 a month with a tenant that makes 100K in Baltimore and pays unless there's something serious wrong with the house that you can't see which is the case alot of times in Baltimore.  Is it certified lead free, is there mold, etc.  Sounds to good to be true as I own a portfolio of properties in Baltimore, and you never see that scenario.

Benjamin, unless you know Baltimore very well like myself, I would suggest talking to or partnering with someone that does. If your off by just a few blocks, you can end up buying a property that you will lose money on. Also, if your from Reston, VA, you would probably not want to go and see some of the lower end properties (meaning anything that sells for less than 100k) past 5pm, as it gets very dangerous and you will become a target if people don't know you on the block. Its a great business and the cash flow is great in Baltimore, but you do have to be careful.

I like rehabberpro meetups.  They are usually held once a month at an actual flip and its free to attend.

http://www.meetup.com/rehabberprobaltimore/

The land is valued by the City of Baltimore every couple of years.  You can look up the addresses at http://cityservices.baltimorecity.gov/realproperty/ and see what your being taxed at.  I don't buy lots, but I think it could help value them?

looks like you had a great contractor, doing any flip in 2 months is amazing.

Cory, to label everyone in section 8 "drug addicts" is a downright lie and ignorant.  Most of the people I meet are just trying to get out of a bad situation financially and need a little help.  What do you think would happen in this country if people weren't housed and had to live on the street cause they couldn't afford opportunities that most of us had growing up? Take a trip to parts of the country of India where they don't have social welfare systems.  You can't go out at night, and everything outside your property is disgusting. Also, unless your in the top 1% who pay just about 50% of taxes in the country, then your not paying that much, so stop complaining.

I just bought a property for 13K in baltimore and paid over 1K to pay for ongoing taxes.  On Baltimore's Tax website, they assess the property at 86K, clearly with the second floor being burnt out and roof damaged, this is not the case anymore.  Step by step, what's the easiest way to get the assessment changed by the city? thanks