All Forum Posts by: Brentin Trent

Have a third party inspect the meter if possible. I had a similar situation I had paid someone 600 to dig up and check my water line on my side of the meter. Turned out the elbow on the bottom side of the water meter (which is part of the city's responsibility) had corroded. They eventually came and fixed and gave me  some arbitrary credit, but of course, I was out for the 600 bucks I had paid to check the line that the city tried to convince me was leaking. If I suspected a leak on the meter and called them, they should've checked but the City is notoriously bad at pretty much everything.... Eventually got them out and got them to acknowledge the issue after much headache and back and forth. Of course since the city is super irresponsible you should probably be present whenever they do come out to do your own dilligence :( .

Thanks for all the responses, everyone. Decided to pass on this tenant!

In Baltimore City and County, Baltimore City charges the property owner for water consumption. I would like my tenant to be responsible for their water usage. What is the best way to structure this / what have others done?

Options that I have thought of:

I have considered charging the tenant some fixed (reasonable) monthly fee for water, and including that in the lease. IF the tenant uses much more water, then I might be stuck paying the difference. I wonder if there is an issue if this fixed fee exceeds the actual usage for any given month out quarter.

Considered invoicing the tenant (quarterly when the bill comes?) for the amount, and stating such in the lease.

Any other Options?

The other interesting thing in Baltimore County is the Sewer Fee, which is a tax that appears to be linked to the total amount of water usage. I haven't heard anyone talk about this.... So, it seems like that County tax would also increase based on the amount of city water my tenants are utilizing. Should I somehow bill the tenant for this. Ultimately I would like the tenant to be responsible for the amount of water they use a directly as possible. My thinking is this will incentive then to report leaky/runny toilets etc. and would also avoid wasting water.

Has anyone noticed the fact that the city bills the water, but the county bills you a sewer and water distribution fee on your county taxes, presumably based on the amount of water usage? Any way to reconcile all this in order to bill the tenant?

congrats. I have been looking at the area. I didn't realize it could support flips. Very nice. We are traveling to Cumberland the weekend of Feb 14-16. Hopefully we can get a feel for any neighborhoods we might like

I got the below message from a prospective tenant, stating her credit is not good but she can front money to offset this fact. I’m in Maryland and I think the most the law will allow is 2x rent for a security deposit. What would you do in this scenario assuming stable employment, which is not a given as I have not sent the pre screen. Would you ever consider easing credit score restrictions to fill a unit? I wonder how much credit score really matters versus history. I’d think. A low credit score from no credit is much better than bad credit.

“Thank you for responding. The 28th works for me or the 1st. The sooner the better for me. If it will help speed the process up once I view the property I would absolutely welcome a call to discuss the qualifications. To be fair I do not know how strict the credit requirements are, but I am a recently coming out of a difficult divorce and my credit reflects that. However, I am in the position to pay a minimum of four months rent in advance. Anyway, we can discuss the details when we speak. I look forward to hearing from you. I can be reached at”

I believe Baltimore County's tax sale is on the 10th @Ryan Bounds

I would be particularly interested in acquiring a list of delinquencies before the tax sale lists come out, which, for Balt County I think is about a Month before the sale. Not sure if the county provides this data in an easy to digest format, but I am looking into online options.

@Eddie Gonnella I wound up going conventional 20% down, but acquired a property in better condition (to satisfy the conventional lender). Would love to hear any other experiences folks have had with this loan product.

So, is the OP's original assumption that these lists aren't necessarily available (through the courthouse or otherwise) true? Is there a requirement for the county to provide a list of tax delinquent properties? Interested in Baltimore County and AA county. I will keep digging.

Congrats Gabriel!

What part of Baltimore are you investing in?