All Forum Posts by: Ray Slack

If you are investing in the city and in areas other than A or B areas Just make sure and do your research on the ground well before buying.. It took my about a year of driving through neighborhoods and streets at different times of the day and night in baltimore city to find areas that were not war zones.   Certain streets are okay and then 1 street over it's a drug zone..  Also make sure and see areas in the spring/summer as opposed to the winter..  The drug street selling trade is much more visible in the spring and summer then in the winter months. 

I agree with wayne. If the house is listed and you come in without an agent the listing agent will just make more money and the seller won't save anything.. You are better off going with a company that refunds a portion of the selling commission to the buyer.. Not going to name any of them but you can google them.

These are your comps.  You are probably looking at $2000  for market rent.. You may be able to get higher for section 8 as there is a closed rental on Morning glory for $2350 and one on day lily for $2,500. Those are newer but similar enough that housing department may use it as a comp.. I would try for $2,495 if going section 8.. You will probably get a tenant without a problem at that price but housing department may bump down your rental price based on the comps.

Keep us updated

Ray

1.0 mi

MDPG576656

RESL

CLS

4200 Day Lily Dr

Bowie

Prince Georges, MD

4

3/1

End of Row/Townhouse

08/31/20

Compass (COMPS7)

$2,500

(39)

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-

0.7 mi

MDPG572420

RESL

CLS

4630 Morning Glory Trl

Bowie

Prince Georges, MD

3

2/1

Interior Row/Townhouse

08/11/20

Wheeler Realty LLC (WHLR1)

$2,350

(3)

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-

0.1 mi

MDPG590306

RESL

ACT

4743 River Valley Way #64

Bowie

Prince Georges, MD

3

2/1

Unit/Flat/Apartment

12/01/20

Silver River Real Estate (SLRR1)

$2,100

(19)

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-

0.1 mi

MDPG574884

RESL

CLS

4747 River Valley Way #63

Bowie

Prince Georges, MD

3

2/1

Interior Row/Townhouse

08/15/20

Choice Properties, Inc. (CHOI1)

$2,000

(5)

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-

0.1 mi

MDPG578126

RESL

CLS

4849 River Valley Way #38

Bowie

Prince Georges, MD

3

2/1

Interior Row/Townhouse

08/26/20

Attorneys Advantage Realty (ATTO1)

$1,995

(16)

-

-

0.3 mi

MDPG573276

RESL

CLS

4508 Running Deer Way #391A

Bowie

Prince Georges, MD

3

2/0

Other

07/10/20

Silver River Real Estate (SLRR1)

$1,775

What is the section of Bowie or the street name? 

Also if you are going section 8 and the floors and ktichen are okay.. I would not renovate them..  Section 8 people are not going to be more money for something brand new like a "Market rent" tenant would.. Also, section 8 tenants have a repuatation for not treating rentals with the care that a homeowner would. (So, your new kitchen and floors may need to be replaced after a few section 8 tenants.)

Yes.. The published rates are the Max including all utilities.   You can get a bit more than "fair Market" when going section 8.. The good news is that not many landlords in Bowie accept section 8 vouchers so it should not be hard to find tenants.   Every time I put one of my Bowie properties on the Market I would say 70% of the inquiries are looking for section 8..  What type of house or townhouse is it that you bought? I can pretty much tell you the rent you will be able to get for it.  Bowie is my market.

You may have a hard time as most banks that do construction loans require that the contractor building the house be licensed.   It might be in your best interest to find a GC that you can just use his license to pull the permits and be the GC of record.  You would actually do all the work.   You can usually find a GC to do this for around $5k to $10k. 

So, you are building a home yourself to live in as your primary residence? 

@ken 

@Account Closed  It really depends on what you are looking for.. I think Bowie is the best balance of return / good tenants and good appreciations.. Crofton High school is going to be one of the top high schools in the state once it's finished and all students are phased into it from South River and Arundel.  Crofton houses run abouta $100,000 more for the exact same home in Bowie due to the better schools.  Although you don't get anywhere near that much of a return in rent between the 2 cities.   My family owns 10 rentals properties in Bowie and get about 8% return on them.. Granted that is based on purchases 2 -3 years ago.. Right now you are probably looking at around a 6% cap rate based on the higher selling prices but that is Cash on Cash return.. With lower mortgage rates it could leverage better.  Don't know anything about Frederick. Annapolis is similar to Crofton in terms of higher prices but rents not really compensating for increase in prices over Bowie. As rentals I would buy in Bowie.. If I was buying a home to raise my family and kids. I would buy in Crofton..  BTW I Grew up in both Bowie and Crofton. (Bowie for elementary school and Crofton for Jr High and High School) 

I'm in #4 Baltimore.. It definitely is not for the faint of heart.. Honestly, I have much more trouble with the government  there than the crime though..  I bought a towhouse there for $13,000 and the tax assessment was $110,000 .. The place was really worth about $20k.. I fought the taxes through 2 appeals and they would not reduce the assessed value.  They only compared my unit to fully renovated flipped properties in better areas.. As a result my annual taxes on my $13,000 rowhouse are about $3,000 per year.    I do still make a respectable 20% return on  my investments there though.. So, I guess it's worth all the trouble.