All Forum Posts by: Russell Trench

You mention Patterson Park.  I would just be wary that there is an enormous difference between being 2 blocks north of the park vs 2 blocks south of the park.  North of the park can get very rough very quickly.

While things will be much cheaper north of the park, definitely spend sometime driving around to make sure the area is somewhat reasonable.

@Ian Barnes Yeah I see a lot of that...  even if she could get 2,000 a month that still seems like a pretty undesirable return if the house cost ~300k. 

It's one thing for the property to fail due to unexpected costs.  I just don't get why people are making investments that are doomed to fail even if everything goes according to plan.  Maybe she is banking on the house appreciating?  

Anyway thanks for taking the time to read/respond to the post!

@Ned Carey First off thanks for taking the time to reply.  I honestly didn't think a whole lot about the appreciation of the homes, it would make sense if the houses were purchased for way less than what they are worth now.

I've ran some numbers and I think it could work if I got a place in the area, but from strictly an investment standpoint it looks like there are quite a few better options in the general Baltimore area.

I was hoping to buy a 3 bedroom place in Federal Hill/Fells Point/Canton. I would ideally rent out 2 rooms and live in the other one under a FHA loan. I would be willing to trade off a little bit of potential cash flow for having a home in an area I would enjoy living in, but I would still want it to be a somewhat decent investment with decent cash-flow if I choose to move and rent out the entire place.

From what I have seen it looks like the places in that area that cost 190k - 300k (my price range) rent out for 1400-2500 a month. 

My question is why are people consistently buying these rental properties and charging well under 1% of the house's value a month?  Is there something I am missing or is 1% of the home's value in rent just not realistic in this area?  I could understand the lower rent if people were using these as their primary residences and weren't planned investments, but it seems like (from my observations) that most of the homes are being rented out by younger people who do not own the homes.

Is it possible for me make a reasonable investment while living/renting in the Fed/Fells/Canton area?  If anyone has any experience with investments in those areas I would love to hear from you!!