All Forum Posts by: Ian Barnes

@Gabriela Maradiaga Baltimore City has not gotten any better, water rates are going up another 30% in the next 3 years, population is going down, Crime rate is at an all time high, our last mayor is going to jail, city council is making laws that aren't very landlord friendly, property taxes are still high

Umm, water meters are 10-15 feet away from the main line in most houses in Baltimore City.  Is your main line connected to the water meter?  If your using a licensed General Contractor in Baltimore, and they don't know how to find a water meter, find a new contractor.  Baltimore City almost never shuts off a water meter and I've never seen them take one out of the water meter box.  They charge you even if you don't use water.  Plus, on your next rehab, don't start one until your water and utilities are on.  Who waits until the end of a rehab?  

If its going to take 60-90 days to finish 30k in repairs, you need a much better contractor, like much better,  that's way to slow.

@Tim Stuart If you paid 155k and your getting less than 1550 a month, someone did a good job on taking advantage of you in Baltimore?????? That return is terrible for Baltimore, you can find the same thing on the MLS all day pretty much.

Regretfully, i don't agree with anyone on this thread. The city is a terrible investment. I'm selling my last few houses i bought several years ago. The government is terrible, taxes are high, crime is out of control, credit doesn't exist in tenants, the city looks at you as revenue, you literally can't force someone to pay water, you could only sue them in civil court. You will regret buying anything, and lose a lot of money within 5 years, unless the government miraculously becomes better. The day i sell my last property in the city is the day I get my life back.

New Construction $110-$120 psf, remodeled gut rehabs $50-$60 a sq ft in Baltimore

I just think you did a cheap renovation and it shows, I mean you painted over wood panel, no granite in the kitchen, old cabinets w no knobs, you didn't open up the space between the living room and the dining room, you didn't tile the bathroom shower, who knows what the vanity looks like and its a 2bd/1 bth with a house in a not great area.  With the amount of competition from other investors in Baltimore, why would they pick your place when other places look much nicer for the same amount of rent? Also, those are very bad pics for a rental.

@Wendy Brockman Baltimore gives you all the data you need for free, 

https://data.baltimorecity.gov/

If they spent as much time and money, as they do on their data, there would probably be less crime, but not with the city.

What I want to know is who told you to buy a place on Belmont Ave? not a great area to invest in my opinion  Eviction takes roughly about 80 days start to finish as of this past month(oct) when I scheduled my last eviction in Baltimore City, MD. You PM should have filed for eviction after the 5th of the first month they didn't pay.  You can use clicknotices.com and evict yourself for about 100 bucks and literally do nothing except for pay someone to be there when the sheriff shows up so they can hand the sheriff the paperwork necessary.  Good luck 

Your running your first job by yourself? with a labor only crew?  and no experience in full gut rehabs? no mechanical experience in Baltimore City as far as permits?  Not a good start to your investing career.