Investing in Baltimore

[Boaz Rozen]

hi everybody 

As a real estate investor I am looking for properties in Baltimore. I am looking for properties to improve and sell them afterwards.

I would be happy to get an opinion on which areas to buy and invest in, as well as proposals for cooperative properties

[Ian Barnes]

I'm a flipper, landlord, and run a construction company in Baltimore City, MD, by no means are people just plucking mls deals everyday and making a fortune.  Most of the 70K+ houses you are talking about have serious structural issues, mechanicals have to be fully redone, and permits take time and money.  Most of the time if someone is buying something for 70K it needs 80K+ work done to it, then you have to include closing costs 11%-12% in Baltimore City do to high tranfer taxes, and a 3% subsidy(seller help, its almost guaranteed in Baltimore), and 5% commission, then you have lending costs, property taxes, etc.  Then you have to deal with the work from most GCs which is crap, unless you pay up for a good GC, which never happens as investors always go for the cheapest.  I get calls almost everyday from out of state investors who are stuck cause GCs ripped them off.  Everyone I know, looks at out of staters as the suckers that buy everything no one else wants.  If you don't have a great, honest team on the ground you are screwed.