All Forum Posts by: Jennifer Bryant

Do you currently live in Baltimore City? If you move forward with the Vacants to Value program make sure you know the neighborhood and the exact block the home is on intimately. Also, be mindful about rehabbing a vacant on a block where the remaining homes are still vacant. I've seen rehabbed homes in Baltimore with vacants on both sides. It may be difficult for you to find tenants for your house hack if that is the case.

@Eric Ippolito Thanks! This is my first time buying a home in the $100k range so I'm not sure. I didn't shop around to compare interest rates and closing costs as I should have. I've read that closing costs should be 2%-5% of the purchase price. My closing costs were 10%. 

@Denzel Ray Yes, my tenant paid the security deposit and rent through Cozy. I'm loving it so far. It's seamless, easy to set-up and free. I will say though that most of the prospective tenants that reached out to me to view the home found it on Zillow or Craigslist. So I'd recommend listing the rental on multiple websites. I thought about doing the background/credit check/accepting payments through Zillow too, but I think Cozy is more robust. 

It does take a few days for them to transfer the money into your account. This has not been an issue for me. I recommend keeping 1-2 months of reserves in your account so waiting a few days won't matter. 

@John D. A friend of mine just rehabbed a property in Baltimore with the intention of using it for short term rentals. I'm not personally interested in that strategy but I'm curious to see how it turns out for her. Thanks for the info.

I’m also interested! 

@Manraj Singh thanks! I’m glad you found it helpful

@Tim Youse Thanks for that recommendation, this is my first time hearing about that group. 

This home is renting for $1,250. There was a character limit on my intial post, but its worth noting that this a 1000 sq ft 2 bedroom/1 bath house. So, its a bit smaller than some of the other homes in the neighborhood which can go for more. 

What were the prices like when you first moved there? 

@Solomon Morris yes, there were lender specific charges that made the closing costs high. The home was $110,000 and the closing costs were around $11,000 which I think is high. I had so many other things on my plate earlier this year that I didn’t really shop around for loans like I should have. 

@Uchenna A. thanks for the reminder, forgot to mention that. The monthly mortgage is $911, i’m renting it for $1,250. In hindsight, i think it could have easily rented for $1,300 or $1,350. Another lesson learned. 

@Theresa Ortez Thank you! I definitely learned a lot and feel more confident now to take on my next project