All Forum Posts by: Sandra Holt

Typically, I wouldn't ever ask the listing agent to also represent me unless I see the house with my own eyes first.  That way, I know exactly what I'm getting into.  

What you could do though, since I've seen this particular listing agent's name a lot, is ask BPers in the area if they know of this realtor and if he's on the up and up.  If so, I'd feel better about getting him to represent you, if that's what you want to do.  

Ha, good thing you asked about the rents!  I did a quick calculation and didn't include one of the rents on the property in question, so you're right, I was off.  So with your rents at near $3K, the numbers do make a lot more sense.  

With that said, I'd follow the recommendation of other investors and see the property yourself.  The neighborhoods in Baltimore vary street by street and although Hampden is typically a nicer part of the city, "nicer" is subjective.  

Another idea if you don't want to go through a realtor or come down earlier than you planned, is to pay someone (maybe someone from BP) to go to the house and take a lot of pics for you so that you "virtually" see it.  Or you could pay an inspector or contractor to take the pics and also check out the property for what repairs need to be done.

Are you sure this is a good deal?  I looked at the numbers and unless you get this for a lot less than the asking price, I don't see the value.  The comp on Calvert that is closest in price and square footage to this property has rents for $1,000 more than you would be getting and it also went for $300K.  With rents for this property at less than $2K, I'd pass on this..  

I agree with Brian Gibbons , granted seeing as though I'm a woman, I'm a little biased...

I bought my first rental property using seller financing and house hacking. My husband and I were renting a townhouse where there was already another tenant living in the basement so he became our roommate. When the landlord wanted to sell the property we offered to buy it but could only do so using seller financing since my husband and I were students and could not qualify for a typical mortgage. The roommate in the basement stayed on and became our first tenant. We lived in that arrangement for a total of 10 years and the roommate turned tenant stayed on the entire time. Although we have since moved out of that house, we still maintain it as a rental.

Maryland- Title company for both.

I thought I'd chime in to get you off the "unanswered" posts so that someone more knowledgable that me can answer since I'd also like to know more about partnerships.  

Welcome @David Tolson !  I am from Howard County and invest solely (for now) in HoCo.  If you have any good deals in my area, I'd love to know.  Thanks and if I can do anything to help you learn about buy and hold investing, let me know.

I have a similar dilemma and was offered this suggestion from fellow BPers. One way is to use other people's money as was suggested by Arlan, but if you're adverse to doing that (as I am at this stage), you could refinance your townhouse properties and cash out the portion that you used for a downpayment (the HELOC portion) then you can use that money for your next down payment. There are a couple ways to do this. One is to wait 6 months if you are with a conventional mortgage broker or bank. You must wait that long according to Fannie Mae regulations (as was told to me be my broker just last week). The other way, if you don't want to wait that long, is to use a portfolio lender in your area. Those are lenders who are with a smallish bank that keep their mortgages in-house and don't sell them off to secondary markets. They have more flexibility to offer you products that don't have to fit within the strict guidelines that typical lenders follow. Good luck!

Gotcha.  Thanks again for the help.