@Haseeb Ahsan, I've been doing a lot of reading on Baltimore because I too am not familiar enough yet. Here's. what I've found, and hopefully more knowledgeable people can jump in to add to or correct what I say.
It seems like the nice places like Fells Point, Charles Village, most of South Baltimore (Locus Point, Fed Hill, etc), Canton, are all expensive and offer poor options for cash-flow. South Baltimore may be a good speculative option due to endevelopment at Port Covington, but that's a long and expensive gamble.
The trendy and gentrifying neighborhoods might include Station North, Reservoir Hill, and Woodberry among others. Hampden and Canton sound like they've already done most of their appreciation. Not sure what else to say besides I haven't found anything on market that makes cash-flow sense. I talked to some Realtos and their suggestions were Dundalk and Washington Village. I wasn't too impressed when I looked at either.
I found some deals that seem to cash flow, but they seem to be in areas with a bad reputation, like Cherry Hill. I did a lot of reading on this neighborhood. They have unbelievably high unemployment, it's a food desert, and high poverty rates, but a 1985 home for $65k renting at $1100 is otherwise tempting. Trulia lists it as a low crime area, but it has such an awful reputation. It's hard to tell if its turning around. Less than a dozen murders in the past 3 years...
I think it was Ned Carey on BP that said the further from the city center also means lower crime. Another poster said to up the 1% rule in Baltimore to 1.25% because of the astronomical property taxes. I am aiming for 1.5% RTP.
So basically I'm still searching for my target neighborhood but am researching north-west Baltimore like Windsor Hills. I'm also open to suggestions for neighborhoods.
