Should I avoid Baltimore?

[Joseph Braun]

My partner and I are just starting out with RE. We are looking to do LTRs in the MD area. Currently every property we are seeing just does not have enough ROI or cashflow, except in Baltimore. We are finding properties in BALT that are cheap enough (100-150k) that we could purchase, do renovations and then rent it to make a pretty good cashflow. But with there being so many options we feel like we are missing something. What are we missing? Why aren't more bigger/experienced investors doing this?

We want to understand this market better before we make a serious mistake. Thank you!

[Tim Jacob]

I really appreciate the post about the lead lawsuit.  I'm sure there are plenty of people here that invest in the east and midwest that have had 1.  Imagine if there had been no risk reduction cert and no acknowledgement of these things on the lease.  I will say this though.  Think about your asset quality and the most likely demographic that will be there.  Do they have young children.  Furthermore as many people unfortunately default to I wouldn't label Baltimore bad entirely.  Being a large city there are good and bad parts.  Also if you have someone testing positive for lead somewhere else I wouldn't expect your jurisdiction to save you.  The law will come down on you hard for that in other places as well.

I would think about how much money it is to go lead free if you are buying a new property though.

[Jay Hinrichs]

Quote from @Tanner Lewis:

The main thing for Baltimore will be financing. A lot of lenders do not do that market due to high foreclosure rates. Just remember a "cheap" deal isn't always a good deal!

 your talking about redlining  .. i have a client there that has over 250 row houses and each one got financed to take me out of my buy rehab loan.  Just need to talk to local lender  Pimlico lending does a ton of these.  But to me scale in that market is critical as well as living there and being hands on with your PM and maintenance .. trying to buy a few rentals there in mymind you need to buy highest price you can afford to make sure your in the best neighborhood and this goes for most all markets as @Nicholas L. mentioned I agree with him and have been preaching the median price points investing method since day one when I got on BP.. 

[Ebony Edwards]

Quote from @Tim Jacob:

I really appreciate the post about the lead lawsuit.  I'm sure there are plenty of people here that invest in the east and midwest that have had 1.  Imagine if there had been no risk reduction cert and no acknowledgement of these things on the lease.  I will say this though.  Think about your asset quality and the most likely demographic that will be there.  Do they have young children.  Furthermore as many people unfortunately default to I wouldn't label Baltimore bad entirely.  Being a large city there are good and bad parts.  Also if you have someone testing positive for lead somewhere else I wouldn't expect your jurisdiction to save you.  The law will come down on you hard for that in other places as well.

I would think about how much money it is to go lead free if you are buying a new property though.

 Good insight. Thanks 

[Yasmin Mughal]

Quote from @Jermaine Lindsay:

Good Day Joseph,

I moved to Baltimore in November of last year and currently doing house hacking. Reading some of the previous post and from my experience being here, it really does change from block to block in Baltimore. One thing to be aware of is the higher property taxes to offset some of the city services. Baltimore is a more affordable market for those like myself that work in Metro DC and don’t mind the commute. Try to look around the major hospitals and universities if you can. Let me know if you would like more information.

Hi Jermaine, I am deciding between House hocking in the city (Lauraville) vs the county (Parkville). Can I Pm you?