All Forum Posts by: Sam Lewis

Hey Stephen, looks good. Are your mortgage interest numbers different due to interest rates being slightly higher across the board in Ohio?

I have a solid roofing contractor in mind. Definitely get a couple other quotes though. Can you pm me? 

Hey Valerie, welcome to BP. I know of a Frederick agent from BP who may be able to point you in the right direction. Is there anything in particular you are hoping to learn? I would definitely consider joining or starting a local meet up group

Hey Mary, I currently have a tenant under the Baltimore County Housing Choices Voucher Program (Section 8). The tenant payment is dependent on their income. Typically the tenant payment plus the housing assistance payment (HAP) is about $100-200 more than market rent for a 3 bedroom. 

You screen your tenant like any other tenant, and then you go about the Section 8 inspection process to ensure your home meets standards set by HUD.

If you plan to consider Section 8 tenants, check out the Go Section 8 website.

Let me know if you have any questions!

My apologies he must be an inspection service, not a contractor. Thanks for sharing this 

Fellow househacker in Towson, MD. It all boils down to attracting great 20 and 30-something year old tenants (the typical room by room age group). 

My criteria for clients is as following (using Towson as an example): 

• One mile from a public university or satellite campus (Towson U)
• One mile from a private university (Goucher College)
• One mile from a major corporation office (Stanley Black and Decker)
• One mile from a hospital (St. Joseph's Medical Center)

If you can get a bare minimum 2 of the above you should be in a good area for a househack. Always check Craigslist, Facebook marketplace, and other rental websites for comparable room listings. If you don't see any activity across multiple websites. Welp - you better consider another area, lower your rents, or make sure your rooms have a private bathroom at the bare minimum : )

The brutal truth is very few people will tell you who their favorite contractor is, especially on a public forum.

I'm in the same boat as you - I have a great handyman but a tried and true contractor is TBD. Join or start a local group that meets once a week (anywhere from 5-15 people). Everything changed when I joined a small group of 10 or so investors where we meet weekly and share our network with each other

...unicorn contractor TBD!

Hey Jeremy, welcome to BP man.

Question for you - would you say one of your close friends "seems legit"? 

I wouldn't invest with anyone unless I already had a working relationship with them and/or was currently in the same social group (i.e. smaller REI meet up, church group, sports team, etc.) as them where there are obvious social repercussions if they were to screw me over.

I would definitely do some research online for solid lead abatement contractors in Baltimore. I have one guy in my contacts named Neil Roseman who does lead abatement - his company is LeadProbe.

I actually did my latest rehab's lead abatement myself, but only after watching several youtube videos and wearing the appropriate hazmat gear. 

I like to go by the % rule (gross rent compared to purchase price). So a 100K property that rents for $1,000 / mo would be 1%. 

For Baltimore City in a C class or better neighborhood, I would pursue a turnkey deal if it met the 2% rule.