So you want to be a Baltimore Landlord ?

Question

Here is some info I found in the Baltimore Sun

In 2017, Baltimore landlords filed 142,195 “failure to pay rent” actions against tenants in district court, leading to 67,000 eviction notices and 7,427 actual evictions.

advocates for Baltimore tenants have long blamed substandard living conditions on lax judicial and government oversight of landlords. Fifty-three percent of homes in Baltimore are rentals, far above the national average of nearly 37 percent.

https://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bs-bz-renter...

The rental information website found that 52.5 percent of Baltimoreans — 310,945 people — lived in rented property in 2016, up from 45.5 percent a decade earlier in 2006. Meanwhile, the home ownership population fell to 281,290.

So approx 1/5 of the tenant base has been evicted , and a bit less than 1/4 have had a failure to pay rent served on them .  now with home inspections , high property tax , high water bills , higher crime . Is it worth the hassle ?

M Marie M. · Answer

Urban areas are more likely to have more renters than homeowners as there tends to be more moving around. Even the January 2018 article you cited mentions other cities such as New York, another tenant friendly landlord hostile municipality with horrid taxes, that has 65.1% renters vs homeowners. According to the RentCafe press thing the Baltimore Sun article was about, Newark, NJ has the highest of large cities at 74.3%, and I've heard the taxes in NJ are stupid crazy. Suburban America, small town America, the boonies, are different.

So compared to other urban areas run by people who engage in helping-the-poor theatre, not really checking if their policies and efforts are actually effective, Baltimore is normal. Boston has high taxes, Baltimore has high taxes. Crime, depends on the area.

Maybe for you, the answer is no. It is not worth the hassle. Other municipalities have their own quirks. College Towns have turnover and inexperienced tenants. Rural areas don't have a lot of takers. Like stocks, assess your tolerance for risk and yadda yadda yadda.

Matthew Paul · Answer

Yes ,but newby investors want to flock to Baltimore due to the perceived low entry prices . Not realizing that all the other expenses eat at any potential profit . Plus the headache of dealing with lower income tenants . Dealing with city government .

About 3 years ago my doctor and I were comparing properties , we both paid the same $400K , he was in Canton , I was in Severna Park . I had good schools , he had to pay for private schools , my taxes were $3k , his were over $5K . Homeowners , I was half what he paid . My water and sewer bills were 1/3 of his . My car insurance was 1/2 his . I had a driveway to park in , he had the street .

Balto works well for some but not all