All Forum Posts by: David Hathaway

@Rashidat T Ijadunola

Are you trying to invest in Baltimore, MD or another location? There are a couple lenders we have used that offer DSCR I can send you?

I love the transparency and have experienced everything you laid out for newer investors building our 50 unit portfolio. I agree it is definitely not all cash flow and sunshine and often the numbers don't tell the whole story with a lot of hidden fee's, high utilities, that you end up finding out later. Some things investors can do to be proactive and mitigate risks of investing in the city are

- Have a great local team

- During rehabs place curtains up, do leave trash outside as it attracts criminals and more trash

- 7.) For eviction - check out mdrentcourt.com we have been finding it takes 3 months

-3.) MDtaxappeals might be able to help you bring down your tax bill if you appeal. It is about a 10 month process though

- Walk and drive the streets prior to purchase to really get a feel of what is going on around the property

Sorry you have dealt with the stress and glad you have shared your experience with others

Dave

@Miseker Wingate and@London Hanson There is a ongoing Friday lunch @ noon at Spirits West where investors, wholesalers, and anyone in real estate meets. It's a good place to start along with some of the local REI meetups.

Quote from @Joe Norman:

Quote from @David Hathaway:

Hey @Cariza Abinguna, we currently said manage our 50 unit portfolio in Baltimore with a mix of section 8 and market tenants. Both have pros and cons but it will depend on the areas you invest which might be the best fit etc. What we have found recently is section 8 take a long time to process tenants like 3 months for the inspection, rent offer, and placement and they are normally asking for repairs even if the property is in great shape. Once the tenant is in the property they normally stay for a long time but your yearly inspection is usually filled with repair items no matter what you do it's almost like a guaranteed months vacancy each year. However you do have guaranteed government money ACH'd into your bank account so there are some trade offs as you can see.

Hope that gives you a bit of perspective happy to chat more about our experience feel free to message me

 These annual inspections are killer, inspectors will note the most nit-picky stuff. 

Yes, I believe it is the way Section 8 inspectors are being trained. If they don't pick out a repair item its like they are not doing their job, instead of focusing on is this property safe and a good home or not. It's also a huge deal of which inspector you get. Depending on the inspector your repair list could 2 items or 15 items, which is sad. A new thing they recently had us do is tie hand rails into the wall instead of just being straight, citing it to be a safety issue. I just makes you really think about is it worth it to rent section 8 in the City

Great question @Gustavo R., @Ned Carey is right. Baltimore is a special city and blanketing zip codes doesn't work there. Baltimore is often block by block not zip code by zip code. If you are looking to invest there it's very important to have great boots on the ground including a solid RE agent, property manager/leasing team, and contractor. Without those trustworthy local players Baltimore's great lower entry cost can turn great capital returns into a nightmare. Hope that helps. Let me know if I can help with any other questions as we actively invest in Baltimore City in both section 8 and market properties

Hey @Cariza Abinguna, we currently said manage our 50 unit portfolio in Baltimore with a mix of section 8 and market tenants. Both have pros and cons but it will depend on the areas you invest which might be the best fit etc. What we have found recently is section 8 take a long time to process tenants like 3 months for the inspection, rent offer, and placement and they are normally asking for repairs even if the property is in great shape. Once the tenant is in the property they normally stay for a long time but your yearly inspection is usually filled with repair items no matter what you do it's almost like a guaranteed months vacancy each year. However you do have guaranteed government money ACH'd into your bank account so there are some trade offs as you can see.

Hope that gives you a bit of perspective happy to chat more about our experience feel free to message me