All Forum Posts by: Samuel Mallery

I am looking at purchasing a home in Baltimore -- Federal Hill Area (Open to other areas that would be good for commuters, if there are any suggestions)

I was wondering if anyone who has experience in this market can help me understand some of the expenses I should be accounting for when running the numbers. There is obviously the 5-15% of the monthly rent to account for and I know this would vary greatly depending on the house I purchase and how recently it was renovated, new roof replaced, etc. 

However, I was wondering if there might be something I am not thinking of when making these estimate that could be unique to the Baltimore market or just any advice or experience others have when estimating these expenses vs. what they actually incurred over the course of owning a rental. One of my friends who owns a home in Baltimore has mentioned about old wiring in the house that is expensive to fix and replace, so I wanted to better understand if there is anything I should pay extra attention to when screening properties.

Thanks in advance!

@Sam Lewis that's a great point. The numbers I have been running would include me paying "rent" so I wouldn't be living for free but the numbers would at least make sense once I moved out.

The point about the basement is a great one. I have seen some houses that have large basements that are considered playrooms etc. with their own bathroom. These would probably be ideal for adding another bedroom and some kind of forced appreciation.

Thanks for the tip!

@Cori Foreman hey there, I'm interested in this if it's still happening

@Jamie Mason thanks for the reply!

All helpful info and I still plan to buy in Baltimore even if it was not a home run deal just to get my feet wet. I'll take a look at some properties in those areas

@Sam Lewis hey Sam, thanks for the response!

The issue I'm having is finding anything that would cash flow in the area. I'm working with a local real estate agent so only using the MLS for my first property.

It's possible I just need to look harder or at more deals, but with rents only 700-900 per room I don't think I could get positive cash flow on a 2k - 2.3k mortgage.

Would you agree with this or could there be something I'm missing? I also would assume I might want to assign slightly higher than 5% for capex given the age of the houses, although this could totally depend on the specific houses themselves.

I've currently been looking at 2-3b and 2-3ba row homes and am finding only a few deals that barely squeeze out cash flow or just about break even. For a first property I think that's totally fine, better to get started than wait for the perfect deal. But I also could just be running the numbers poorly.

What are your thoughts here. Most of these houses come in around 270-350k from what I've seen

Hey there!

New to BP and to Real Estate investing but was looking to move into Baltimore, MD and start my journey with a house hack.

My plan is to move once my lease is up at the start of 2021 and buy a single family home and rent out the remaining rooms.

My long term goal is to get into section 8 housing to help others (primary goal) while still getting a good return (benefit of primary goal), but that's or much later down the road since I still need my first property!

I was looking for some insight into the general Baltimore market, I'm since I will be living in the house I was targeting more recent college graduate neighborhoods such as federal hill or canton.

After doing some more research on the area I have found some information saying how the population growth of Baltimore is negative while the state is positive, and the population is the lowest it's been in about a century. This along with low rents ~2100-200 for a 3bd 3ba, makes me a little hesitant to invest here.

Even if I didn't invest I think I would still move since the rents are cheap. But I really would like to purchase a property and start building equity.

My main reason for posting is to create a paper trail of "hey I'm actually starting this", but I also wanted to see if I could connect with any other investors in the Baltimore area and talk more about the market and what to be aware of (especially since a majority of these homes were built in 1880-1900)

Thanks in advance, and I look forward to being more involved in both the BP and Baltimore community in the future!