All Forum Posts by: Sara Frank

Hello – My name is Jules anounog . I live in the greater Maryland area. I am new to real estate investing and looking to connect with any local investor. Thank you

Hey Jules! Welcome to BP. What questions do you have that we can help you with?

0 Votes

Columbia, Maryland

Quote from @Sonia Mahop:

Hello everyone!

My name is Sonia and I'm excited to start my real estate adventure starting with buying & holding properties in Maryland.

I plan to purchase a 2-unit+ property as a first-time owner to get all the advantages Maryland offers, and scale from there. I would love to get some advice from locals or any real estate expert with experience in Maryland on the best locations (cities, neighborhoods, etc) to buy this type of property at a fair price.

Thanks in advance!

Sonia

This is a great plan. It all depends on what financing you're using and what you consider a 'fair price'. Baltimore city has the most MF inventory in the DMV, but you can run into issues with crime and quality.

1 Vote

@Kyle Deutschmann hit the nail on the head. I live in Canton and I love it. I bought a 'fauxplex' which is a single family home with a converted walkout basement that acts as a second unit. I decided to do that because there is minimal MF inventory in this area. There are a few neighborhoods in the city (like Canton) that you wont deal with the crime that Baltimore is famous for. Unfortunately, finding a four unit property in those areas is very tough. I recently helped a client buy a triplex in Federal Hill and I want to say it was one of two 3+ unit properties sold that year in one of those great neighborhoods. You can occasionally find 4 unit properties in Charles Village, Bolton Hill, etc. but they will be $1 mil + OR in bad shape. Any other neighborhoods, you'll face challenges with crime. I would consider looking at a duplex (still rare, you have to act fast) in one of the great areas like fed hill, fells, and canton.

1 Vote

Baltimore, Maryland

Quote from @Annette Yim:

Hi Everyone,

My name is Annette Yim and I have a very limited knowledge/background in Real Estate investing. I recently moved out here from Austin, TX, wanting to be closer to my family. I currently work in the pharmaceutical industry as a consultant. I currently own a newly built (2022) townhome in South MD and am hoping to purchase my second home in the next few years, depending on the situation of the market.

Not only do I want to purchase my second home but I am also hoping to begin building my Real Estate portfolio of properties within 100 miles of DC over the next several years. BiggerPockets has played an essential part in my Real Estate education and I am hoping to get some realistic help now. With the understanding that the Northern VA or MD area is the richest metro area in the country thus not many distressed properties are available to explore, I am thinking of looking into some other areas such as Prince William County and Montgomery County.

If possible, I'd love to meet investors, agents, wholesalers, and anyone else who would be gracious enough to pass on their real estate investment knowledge. I hope to hear from you soon!

Thank you!

Annette

Hi Annette! Welcome to BP. Theres a lot of good areas to invest around here. You're right in thinking that there arent too many distressed properties in the high income areas, just focus on the fundamentals (quality location, quality asset) and you'll find success.

0 Votes

Quote from @Kyle Deutschmann:

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment.

My newest house hack in Baltimore City, Maryland! This time in Canton! Details to come..

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

#iBelieveInBaltimore - but seriously, I think Baltimore is ripe to finally 'pop'.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

Off the MLS. Sat for months while interest rates went up. I put an offer in right around the time interest rates peaked at 8%. What an awesome time to buy! Zero competition, price drop, biggest seller credit I've ever negotiated to cover all my closing costs plus $5k in repairs. And now rates are almost 1.5% lower already! #buynowrefilater

How did you finance this deal?

Good old conventional financing - low interest, low rates! (well as low as you can go these days without a bunch of points upfront)

How did you add value to the deal?

Working on it as we speak

What was the outcome?

Hopefully positive.. fingers crossed!

Lessons learned? Challenges?

Challenges: buying a house at the same time as a needy puppy can be challenging and time consuming.

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Worked with a great realtor, lender, insurance broker, awesome title company rep, great inspector, handyman, and contractor. All around all-star team. Not the cheapest, but as with anything... price is what you pay, value is what you get.

I showed this one a few times but no one had the vision to make it happen, it makes sense that you would!! Nice work this location is unreal.

1 Vote

Quote from @Sidney Garcia:

Hello everyone, I'm 20 years old looking to buy my first investment property. I'm interested in house hacking in a multifamily home preferably 2-4 units. My main goal is cash flow with the long term vision of holding and eventually moving out of that property and accumulating more rentals in the same market. What cities would you guys say is the best for this goal? I also plan to use an FHA loan for the 3.5% down payment. Any advice and recommendations would be great! I do have some personal areas of interest such as north carolina, south carolina, and florida. Would these be good choices for my investment strategy?

Hi Sidney! Good for you, thats a big sacrifice but it will pay dividends for your whole life. Consider Baltimore or DC, bought my house hack in Baltimore when I was 23 and still live there (for free, which is so fun). I love living here and have made great friends.

FHA is a good route - but if you have enough saved I would consider the new 5% conventional product for house hacking. You wont have to deal with an FHA self sufficiency test and presumably lower PMI number.

1 Vote

New York City, New York

Quote from @Kenneth Cheston:

Hi everyone,

I'm looking to flip my next property to get some more cash. I've been snooping around MLS and direct mailing for a bit. I usually stay away from condos and HOAs but recently I took a look and it seems like there could be something there. Seems like you have to call the association head of time to make sure renovations are OK, make sure there's no assessments on the horizon, and that the condo fee isn't too high for buyers. Any other things I should know? Love to hear any experience. Thanks!

I recently sold a condo flip for an investor in fells point (https://www.redfin.com/MD/Baltimore/960-Fell-St-21231/unit-5...) He had bought it at short sale for 225 the previous year, renovated and sold for 345k. He made some money but not a killing. Lessons learned: he was able to do any renos he wanted except for things that impact common area, for example he couldn't replace the sliding glass door because that has to be done all at once with other units (special assessment). There was also a half bath that could have been a full bath, but the permitting process would have been a mess. I think it would have sold for 15-30k more with the second full bath. The other pain point was getting crews in and out since it's controlled access. Luckily condo fee was only the lower end, it was still around $500 but included two parking spaces which is crucial in that area, so we didnt get any negative feedback on the fee. He chose very high end finishes which looked great but some materials could have been swapped out for lower cost alternatives to pad the margins a little bit. We got a lot of traffic on the property in general, lots of doctors, nurses etc. at Hopkins who want the location but with the safety of controlled access.

Overall it was a positive experience but as you said you want to get involved early with the condo board to make sure you wont run into any issues.

5 Votes

Baltimore, Maryland

Quote from @Amber Masterson:

One of my units needs to be repainted and have some updating done in the kitchen and bathroom. My PM has a rehab company that can do the work. I've looked over the bid and the pricing is ok. The problem is, he said "let me know when you are ready to fund it and we can get it on the schedule within a few days of that." Everything I've heard from investors is that it's a bad idea to pay a contractor up front for the work, especially when it hasn't been done yet. I don't want to fork out $7k without the work being done first. Any suggestions on how to respond to my PM?

On a smaller job like $7k, I definitely wouldnt pay more than 1/2 up front. Bigger jobs I wouldnt pay more than 1/3

1 Vote

Quote from @Rodney Ferguson:

Hey All!

New to the world of real estate. I read a book (The Multifamily Millionaire), and am getting started. I'm educating myself and building a team to close on a multifamily property in the next six months. I have access to the VA loan, a decent amount of capital reserved, and live and work internationally (Active duty Mil). I'm eager to connect, learn more about this process, and take action.

I strive to support senior members of my extended family and various communities while funding education, philanthropic, and recreational travel.

I need help developing a plan and criteria for property search, building a solid team, and narrowing my locations of interest.

Facts About Me:

Immigrant: Bahamas (American Citizen)

AD Military and Diplomat (Combat Veteran)

Bachelors - The Citadel / Masters - Yale University

Multi-lingual ( Fluent in English and Spanish) (Working on Portuguese)

**I need a seasoned mentor!!

***Please connect with me if you're in FL, DC, IL, near a military base, or if you'd like to connect.

**** I don't know what I don't know. Please, turn on the fire hose of information!

Hey Rodney, welcome to BP! Mentorships (non formal) come with time as you show up for meetups, engage in the forums, etc. You can also pay for mentorships but make sure you do your research and speak to people who have done the program before to make sure it's money well placed. I would do research about potentially using your VA loan even though you are overseas currently. Are there ever any long stretches that you are in the states?

1 Vote

Tampa, Florida

Quote from @Gabrielle Larson:

Hey,

Im new here and made it a goal to start investing in multifamily units next year and am looking for a mentor and/or suggestions

Thanks in advance!

Gabby

You will have a tough time finding a multifamily property where you live in VA, the majority of MF inventory would be in DC (2-4 units) and Baltimore (2+ units). You'll be targeting 2-4 units if you plan to owner occupy. What is your timeline for making this happen? And what is your approximate budget? That can help us advise you a little better.

0 Votes

Fairfax, Virginia

All Forum Posts by: Sara Frank

Sara Frank has started 15 posts and replied 248 times.

Post: new member from MD

Post: New in Real Estate Investment Looking for Property in Maryland

Post: Should We Do It? House Hack in Baltimore

Post: Newbie from VA/MD/DC Area

Post: My newest house hack in Baltimore City, Maryland!

Post: Leaving NYC to purchase my first multifamily investment property. Where should I go?

Post: Anyone on here had experience flipping or owning Condos in Baltimore?

Post: My PM wants me to pay for the entire work bid before the work is done. What do I do?

Post: New Rental Property Investor!

Post: Looking for a mentor for multi unit investing