All Forum Posts by: Andy Gross

@Gabrielle E. I have a number of friends doing the Baltimore to DC commute, and it's not THAT bad. You are looking at an hour train ride, plus time on the metro. My best man did it for a few years before he started working from home. Him and his wife were spending gobs of money living in DC, and they were able to buy a palace in Baltimore. Baltimore can be a bit more rough around the edges, but it's a lot easier to get into price-wise. The commute can be a slog, but if you are near Union Station or anywhere else the MARC drops off, it's not that bad. The area around Penn Station in Baltimore is slowly recovering, and if you don't mind living a few blocks away, there are plenty of multi-units in Charles Village or Mt. Vernon. They won't cash flow like some parts of the city, but you can definitely "hack your housing" as they say on the podcast.

Also, it's a fun town for a young professional. I spent some of the best years of my life living in Baltimore. Great restaurants, lots of young people, and you won't spend every last dime on your house. If you are traveling for work (as a consultant), the light rail drops you off right at the terminal at BWI.

I'm biased though. I lived in Shirlington and found it boring, and I am not a fan of the DC crowd. 

Good luck and remember to do a write-up on BP when it goes through!

280 units*

Big story in the Baltimore Sun today. Madison Park North, a housing complex with about 280 unites, is going to be razed. The place is a dump, but it's going to put a bunch of people out of housing. This might present a good opportunity to buy rentals in the surrounding areas for those with vouches.

I've been listening to Michael Blank's podcast after he was a guest on the BP podcast, and he talked about deal syndication. I think I understand the concept of syndicating a deal, but how is that different than forming a REIT? I know a REIT has to have 100+ shareholders, and a syndicator can do a deal with 1 or 2 investors. Is it accurate to say that a REIT operates like a holding company, and that investors have invested in a pool of funds rather than individual properties? Is it possible to make the leap from syndicated deal to REIT? How so? I ask because I am trying to wrap my head around these concepts, and my research hasn't yielded the proper framework yet.

@Jessica H. Great job on the house and congrats. We would love to hear a breakdown of your acquisition strategy and any hurdles you hit along the way.

Dundalk is interesting. It's had some good press recently because the town has been trying to change its image. If you were from Maryland, Dundalk was the butt of a lot of jokes. I think that southeastern Baltimore County may be in for a some long term growth given the movement at Sparrows Point. There is certainly the appeal of buying in the path of progress, but I would be leary about potentially overpaying. From what I am seeing, prices are still reasonable now.

On another note, does anyone know anything about Westport? It was a real war zone about 5-8 years ago. Has it cleaned up at all?

Agreed @Ned Carey . The guy I'm thinking of who lost his shirt radically overestimating his ARV. I think he was banking on selling 2/2 condos in the $299k range. To me and my father, that seemed outrageous then, even with the madness of 2007.

This might not make any sense, but the desire for that neighborhood to come around is far greater than the amount of money actually flowing into the neighborhood. 

The question is, what are you looking to do? 

But, you are correct to say that there is a ton of great architecture to be purchased in that part of town for. To be truthful, I moved out of town a few years back, so I am not up to date on all of my information. Check out reservoirhill.net for the community association. They are big boosters of the neighborhood.

In the 80's and 90's, that area was a war zone. In the early 2000's, some urban pioneers, started staging a comeback, but it suffered a setback in the 2007-2011 crash. A ton of money was poured into the neighborhood in 2005-2007 as investors bought up cheap multis with the idea of doing condo conversions or cheap shells with the idea of turning them into gorgeous 3500+ sq ft single family homes, complete with historical details preserved for under $300k. At that same time, I was about to buy into a block on Linden Ave. About 8 or 9 families bought up shells on Linden with an eye towards renovating them, and some of the renovations were fantastic.  Some never got off the ground. I remember one investor in particular was buying up shells left and right and ended up losing his shirt when the market tanked. Things are picking up again, but I honestly don't know the market in that part of town as it is today.

Historically, I would have called Eutaw the western border. Again, I haven't driven the area in quite some time, so I don't know what its prospects are. I can tell you that right across North Ave in Bolton Hill, brownstone multi units are listed on the MLS for upwards of $700k, but, keep in mind, Baltimore is block to block, and North Ave acts as significant border. Station North, to the south east of Res Hill, has been steadily improving, as has the area between North Ave and Charles Village.

So, in short, I don't know if I have helped, but there is some background. As an investment play, I think flipping may be the best option. If you are looking buy and hold, I don't know if that market works as well as other parts of the city.

@Philip Williams , congrats on your success!