Baltimore Investment Property

[Steve D.]

Evening Bigger Pockets,

I am a new investor looking to purchase my first rental property.  I have done a fair amount of research and intend to buy in the Baltimore area (potentially Dundalk or the Northwest portion of the city).  With this being my first property I don't think I want to buy a rehab, although I know the returns on these properties are larger, and I had primarily been looking at a renovated or fairly nice rowhouse.  I want to buy something which will hopefully rent fairly easily before I move on to something more challenging.

I have run the numbers and found a few properties that I believe are a good deal in a fairly safe neighborhood, although I plan to visit these before buying as I know Baltimore varies on a block-by-block basis.  My question is: a couple of the houses I found are close to $125K which I believe will rent between $1,300-$1,400; has anyone else bought a rental in this range/does this seem reasonable?  With these numbers, does this seem profitable or would you recommend against it?  (I have included some costs for cap ex & vacancy and still have the monthly profit for cash coming in at around $450).

I appreciate any feedback or recommendations for the first property.

Thanks

[Jeff K.]

 Will you be re-financing? Add that payment as a monthly charge. I would also make sure to add the taxes ( for 125,000 you're looking at close to $3000-3500 or more per year for a typical row house). If you are not managing the property yourself add 10% to the gross income for that. And don't forget to add insurance costs and a yearly repair allowance that is not cap-ex. Are you paying for grass cutting?

If your strategy is strictly cash flow, with all these variables, you can do much better in Baltimore than 1300-1400 at a 125000 purchase price.