5 reasons why I prefer rentals in Baltimore County vs Baltimore City

There are many strategies, sub-markets and real estate plays when it comes to the Baltimore Metro area. There are people doing deals in low income neighborhoods and making a killing and there are folks I know that don't want to touch low income housing and are still crushing it in Baltimore. Personally, Baltimore County and working class neighborhoods have worked just fine for me and here why:

Laws are less tenant friendly. Lets face it, Maryland in general is very tenant friendly. However, have you had to deal with a eviction in Baltimore City? I haven't and hope not to either. Just recently the city was making another push to extend the eviction process and make it even longer. This is aside from some of the horror stories surrounding Baltimore City courts throwing out eviction cases. 

(Side note: If you are a landlord in the city I would highly recommend signing the petition against increasing the eviction timeline on the link below)

http://rentcourtmanager.diyrealty.co/blog/baltimor...

Taxes are significantly lower. Baltimore Co doesn't have the lowest tax rate (~1.1%) but it sure does beat the city with the proud title of highest taxes rate in the state (~2.2%). Don't get me wrong, there are still plenty of deals in the city that cash-flow and cash-flow very well. In my experience though, you have to look at some lower income neighborhoods to get a similar type of return as Baltimore County. Notice I said similar. There are many investors that are making much higher returns in the city but they buy in areas which are a significantly rougher around the edges. This brings me to my next point:

Greater Chance of Appreciation. This is true for the most part of Baltimore County except maybe certain areas such as St. Helena, Lansdowne and maybe certain parts of west Baltimore Co. Frankly, most investors that purchase low income properties in the city purchase them to get one thing. Cash-flow. Rarely will these types of properties appreciate. One thing that I do have to clarify is that this is only applicable to investment properties. If you purchase something in Fells or Canton then it will typically not be a great investment since it won't cash-flow but it most likely appreciate a lot. 

Homes are relatively newer. With a few exceptions in neighborhoods, most of Baltimore County homes are built after the 1940s. Further, some areas that I like to buy in and have healthy returns are built in the 50s. This has typically meant that the homes have updated electrical and plumbing. Some may even have ductwork and a HVAC system. This is a huge difference with some of the early 1900s homes that you see in the city (some may even be from the late 1800s). You are more likely to see cast iron pipes and galvanized steel which can lead to some narley maintenance issues down the road. Most importantly, Baltimore City row homes are infamous for lead paint. What I've noticed in Baltimore County with homes built before 1978 (when lead was banned) is that the exterior may have some lead but the interior is usually lead-free or may have one or two items that need to be removed or encapsulated. 

Neighborhoods are somewhat safer. I say "somewhat" because there are some neighborhoods in the county that are also pretty sketchy. Also, it is good to point out that there are some amazing neighborhoods in the city as well. However, if we compare apples to apples and look at neighborhoods that produce good ROI, then Baltimore Co would usually have a safer and somewhat better neighborhood. This is mostly due to the taxes being so high in the city that to get the same return in the city as in the county, you need to go into these lower income (and sometimes not so great) neighborhoods. 

This is definitely not a all inclusive list and I also want to point out that this does not mean  any property you buy in the county is going to be a home run or that any property in the city is going to be a teardown/warzone. I know a great deal of investors that are crushing it on both sides of the county lines. Lastly, in full disclosure, I own some properties in the city as well. My preference, however, is to keep buying in the county.