All Forum Posts by: Kurtis Green

Are there any benefits to owning a primary residence prior to investing in real estate? I am currently renting a place that I love (great location, great house, and rent way below market) and I was planning on investing in some buy and hold properties while still renting, but I was wondering if there is any advantages to owning a primary residence before starting investing. Specifically, I am curious if it is beneficial when trying to secure financing (and more specifically, securing commercial loans for a newly formed LLC/corporation).

I would appreciate any feed back on this topic. Thanks!

@Shawn Luger Thanks for the response. I do have some experience working with BRHP, and they do seem to be easier to work with (tenant/landlord neutral). Would you mind sharing the rents you are receiving and the unit size?

I have been thinking that I would like to start off with a turn key rental for at least my first couple investments and have handled through a PM as you did. 

@Shawn Luger for your properties with voucher tenants, I am guessing they are through Baltimore County Section 8? You mentioned that you have someone managing those properties for you but do you have any feedback on how dealing with the County has been with your rentals. I used to work for a property management company in Baltimore City and am very aware of the difficulties of dealing with the city's program but am interested in learning more about what other people's experience have been in other areas.

@Nicole A. for your properties in Dundalk are the tenants voucher holders or market tenants? I have been looking into getting my feet wet in SFR and have been targeting Dundalk/ Essex/ Middle River. I have been researching the areas and like to hear from landlords that are currently in those areas.

@Ned Carey Looking to get into REI and have being trying to learn as much as I can about all the different strategies out there. I am mostly interesting in buy and hold but wanted to learn more about tax lien investing to either build capital or acquire property.

I have done some research but am still a little fuzzy on how the process works in Baltimore City/County and just in general (have read some conflicting information). I am mostly unclear on the bidding process. I have read and reviewed bid results from 2015, for example:

Full cash value: $148,700 -- Tax Sale Amount: $3,433.77 -- Bid: $92,684.30 -- HBP: $6,640.86 -- Total: $10,074.63 

Are you bidding an actual figure (in this case $92,684.30) or are you bidding for the lowest interest rate (you mentioned on your last post "They bid the interest rate down to about 2%")?  Any information you might be able to share would be appreciated. Thanks!

@Ned Carey Thanks for your input! 

A couple of follow up questions:

1) Are inspections completed by a city inspector or a 3rd party and are there any expenses associated with that? or is that basically tied into the rental registration fee?

2) Do you happen to have a ball park idea of what it costs to have a house inspected and Lead Certificate issued (pending there is no lead abatement required)?

@Emery Green I believe Ned is referring to the general rule of thumb when it comes to operating expenses for rental properties regardless of location. This is pulled straight from BP:

The 50% rule is nothing more than the fact that throughout the United States, operating expenses run 45% to 50% of the gross rents for rental properties. Operating expenses include all the expenses that are associated with operating your rental business, but DO NOT include the mortgage payment (Principal and Interest).

So outside of the mortgage you have to consider property tax, insurance, ground rent, misc repair, etc...

Good Afternoon BP,

I have begun the process to learn and develop real estate investment strategies, and am interested in starting with rental properties in the Baltimore area. I was hoping that anyone that has become a landlord in Baltimore would be able to share their experiences with the process. Mostly interested in costs and processes of registering a rental property, obtaining/maintaining lead certs,  or any other cost or challenges that an inexperienced potential landlord may overlook before jumping in.

Any information that could be provided would be greatly appreciated. Thanks and looking forward to your responses.