All Forum Posts by: Patrick G.

In regards to the Certificate of Substaintial Repair (CSR) according to Ms. Morgan in the Department of Housing & Community Development (DHCD), the DHCD will now notify the Tax Sale Division of the CSR application to ensure the $100 application fee is collected upon redemption. I also confirmed this information with the Tax Sale Division.

This must be relatively new, becuase the CSR instruction sheet produced by DHCD that you forwarded to me clearly states that the lien purchaser is responsible for notifying the Tax Sale Division.

I'm still a little paranoid about it, becuase it would put me in the negative on this deal.

That is something I have spent a lot of time thinking about as I enter the market. I am hoping to own my first Baltimore City Row home in a neighborhood that is not so great. The way I see it, it's definitely best for me to take it slow and try to acquire the house debt free, rather than take out a $40k loan. That way I have no pressure to keep it rented and if something like a roach infestation comes up, I can get it cleaned up properly.

I 100% agree. I took a different way to work today (water main bust in Canton) passed a wonderful old warehouse (PIER ONE) on S Clinton Ave. The architecture on the building is really interesting. But it hasn't been maintained, all the windows are busted out. I would love to see the building get renovated, but for now the owner has installed an 8' chain link fence around the building. It's really not that hard to keep drug dealers and vagrants out of a property. On the other end of the spectrum, it's nearly impossible to keep out a thief who really wants to get in.

There is definitely a middle ground to this story. While absentee owners of vacant properties don't cause crime and blight, they can do a lot avoid it by properly boarding up vacant properties.

I just read the story, but I haven't actually read her blog yet. The article seems really one sided. Should owners of properties keep thier buildings up to date. Are the owners the cause of rampant crime, rodent and insect infestations and blight. No. But really there is no need for so many owners to just sit on thier vacant properties for years. If you know you can't keep it up, then put it on the market.

Perhaps her blog would be a good source for a fix and flipper to find motivated sellers!

I completely understand where your coming from. My wife and I purchased our first house in the sticks when we first got married. We were 40 minutes away from everything. It's not just the commute to work that kills you. It's the commute to the grocery store, church, gym, friends, relatives, pretty much anywhere you want to go.

We look back now and realize it was what we needed at the time. (cheap)

You may take a loss on the house. You just bought at the wrong time. It's just the way it is, it's not anyone's fault really. You just have to decide whether you want to take the loss and move on, or continue to live out there.

Or you could delay the loss and try renting it out for a while. The market may recover (it may not).

Welcome to the boards.

Another new guy from Maryland, there must be something in the water.

Ned Carey that is a real shame because according to my calculations, tomorrow is 60 days from the Auction. Which means you want to get started on those SRC's right away.

Have you ever been charged the $100 SRC fee but for some reason never received it back if the tax lien redeems?

That is my biggest fear for the small tax lien I have, to either have to eat the $500 lawyer retainer or the $100 SRC fee.

2 Months can make a big difference. What if you had already mailed your retainer check to the lawyer. Do lawyers typically check for redemption before working on a case?

*disclaimer* I do not wholesale.

But I think if I were in your shoes I would try to spin what is basically a negative question into a positive. Tell them you were so interested in their property that you had to research there name and number, it was difficult but you eventually dug it up in public records, and you are happy to be able to talk to them.

Your Inspector should be YOUR inspector. He shouldn't have any reason not to be honest. The more he finds legitimately wrong with the house, the better he has inspected it.

It all comes down to experience for the inspector. All you can really do is make sure he looks at EVERYTHING. They generally go through a house w/ a huge checklist to remind them of everypart of the house.

Just ask him a "What did you think of ________?" for anything you want to confirm.

A good inspector will make it feel like a learning experience.

Welcome aboard Ethan Zweig