All Forum Posts by: Ian Barnes

@Ken Chud, I do all voucher tenants too.  Now, since BRHP has implemented there "opportunity areas", all first year applicants can only apply in certain areas in the county(ie Parkville, Towson, Lutherville, Catonsville, etc). So now your only pool of applicants are people moving from one house to another.  A lot of landlords in the city and county are starting to be forced to take market tenants.  Vacancy rates are going up for anyone in the voucher program across the board in Baltimore County.

Come on @Ozzy Sirimsi, Baltimore is not that bad.  All in for 80K-90K, expect $1200-1400 in rents for a voucher tenant, be picky with tenants, taxes 1000-1500 per year, some lower, some higher, C to D class neighborhood, more headaches. Baltimore County, all in for 110K, solid B-C class neighborhood, rents $1400-$1500, less headaches.

Hi Austin, I currently own 14 rentals in the Baltimore Area, and work as a project manager for general contractors that rehab dozens more a year for other investors in the Baltimore area each year. My time is worth a lot more than a cup of coffee, but look at all my posts on biggerpockets, they all focus on Baltimore city specifically. Good Luck

For Baltimore, reach out to Tyrus at www.amsreno.com/ or Gabe at allrealiablecontracting.com both are great property managers in Baltimore.

@Ned Carey never knew you lived a half hour outside the city, now I know why you show up to friday lunch once every two months, lol

I've used clearview title, dulaney title, masters title, premier eagle, and cohen and forman, all specialize and work with investors in Baltimore, and I would recommend them all since i've closed with them personally.

@Miriam Po your not getting returns of 18-22 percent in Remington, not sure what article or guru told you that, maybe half of that if your lucky.

Matt is definitely right about everything.  If inspectors follow code though, anything put in and not inspected plumbing, electrical, or HVAC is in violation, and inspectors can require you to rip it all out whether walls are up or not, and start over permitted. Good luck finding tradesmen to pull permits for you.  Its much harder now, as they have recently changed laws on licenses, which makes it very dangerous for their licenses to pull permits if work wasn't done by them.

@Mark Cruse what other parts of maryland are you investing in besides Baltimore city? Thanks

@Shoshana Shulman I do construction and own properties in Baltimore.  The problems are crime is not getting better, and if your a landlord your looked at as evil vs being good for the city.  Also taxes go up every year, and they just passed a law stating you have to get your property inspected ever 2 years no matter what.  Also, the voucher programs are paying a lot less than they used too. What part of the city are you trying to invest in? I can give you a head up of whether it makes sense or not?