Purchasing a tax sale tear down in Baltimore City

[Jessica Howard]

Hello everyone,

I came across some properties on the Baltimore City tax sale list that I considered purchasing but wanted some feedback regarding. There are 3 properties, all on good blocks.  My spouse, who has 4 rentals in Baltimore City drove the blocks and saw the properties.   The city back taxes and other liens (I purchased lien certs on each property to find out the details) are far below the ARVs for each property. Two properties had been recommended for "razing"; which I construe as being demolition. My exit strategy is to pay the taxes and then flip 'as is' to a rehabber. Has anyone had experience using this strategy in Baltimore City? Are there any investors in Baltimore looking for these kinds of deals?

[Mark Cruse]

There are millions of investors all around Baltimore who are looking for good investments. The key is getting an investment that they will want. If the numbers work and its a decent deal you will have zero problems unloading it. However, there could be ten thousand reasons as to why investors bypass it. Suppose those units that are tears downs have an ARV that is lower than what it would take to demo and rebuild? Supposed the others are in such bad condition that the acquisition, renovation and carrying costs all exceed the ARV by hundreds of thousands of dollars? There are multiple scenarios that could make an offer undoable to most investors and that is what you must figure out! On the other hand, it may be a home run. Good Luck!