You've got some homework to do sir.

Looks like I have my homework cut out for me for the next while!

According to http://livebaltimore.com/city-living-essentials/property-taxes/, Current (July 1, 2013 to June 30, 2014) tax rates:Baltimore City: $2.248 for every $100 of assessed property valueMaryland State: $0.112 for every $100 of assessed property valueSo, I'm terrible at math but it seems like I should be able to take an assessed property value, divide by 100, then multiply that times 2.36.But then when I calculate the taxes based on tax assessment, for example, in this listing: http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/322-E-33rd-St-Baltimore-MD-21218/36477903_zpid/, and trying a few years' worth of assessments and taxes, I get a number that is about $50-55 off.

If your going the turn-key route, make sure you do your homework.

Do your homework be sure of the factors that are concrete to your common sense.

**READ ALL QUESTIONS MORE THAN ONCE be clear on what is being asked because you will be given A LOT of superfluous information and you will go into overload trying to plug everything in,*** Math questions       Draw a "T" on paper as soon as you sit down                                     On top of "T" write P (Part)                                      Lower left write R (Rate)                                      Lower right write W (Whole) UNDERSTAND what you are solving for.. plug in what information youre given and solve accordingly.Ex. if numbers are side by side multiply, if above and below TBar divide.KNOW how to compute HUD calculations for both Seller and BuyerKNOW types of estates and agencyGodspeed

Here are the details by my research and math:3/2 1500sq ft townhome in working class neighborhood with below average income; city-data describes it as primarily folks in 30s-40s; 80% with high school diplomas; 40/60 rental/owner-occupant.List price: 37k (foreclosure)Most recent tax assessment was 90kPending info on repairs-needed and expenses, but based on pics it looks to be in good shape.

Disregard my bad math in the example of physical vacancy in my earlier post.

I haven't done any homework on it to know if this case is an anomaly.Andrew

(85% of purchase price is $136,000, so 6% of that would be $8,160) which means out total profit would be right around $20,000 and we would have $64,000 of our own capital in the deal thus making 31% on our invested capital or 93% annualized.Use Private Money at 12% annualized or 4% one time and make a projected $20,000 and make an pretty much infinite return on our own invested capital invested.Do a 50/50 JV deal and give up 14k of the deal (and make 14k) but get an infinite return on our capital and have no capital risk in the deal.We will most likely do one of the first 2 options basically if we have the private money available we will use that if not we will go with the Hard Money.Ok that is a little longer (and more detailed) than I anticipated and hopefully I didn't mess up any of the math :-) But I thought the extra details on some of the options would be helpful for some to learn from.Ok so since we only got one last week that puts us at 35 with 115 to go!