All Forum Posts by: Sam Sharata

You might want to check the LBP certification here:

 https://securemde.mde.state.md.us/_layouts/OLRR/Pu...

@Ned Carey Couldn't agree with you more. There are too many unknowns to determine if this is a good or a loser deal. Have you contacted a Realtor to do comps? It doesn't matter what city you're in, ignoring the zoning restrictions is a bad idea especially if you run into altercations with your tenants or neighbors. From what little I've learned about Baltimore, it can be difficult to change the zoning on a property. 

One question comes to mind; why are they liquidating?

Good luck! 

There are a number of forum postings out there on the subject of hiring Property Managers (PM) for rental properties; especially from out of state investors. While most postings are geared towards asking for referrals to sharing nightmare stories of dishonest or incompetent PMs, I have yet to find a discussion about the qualities one should look for, or what questions to ask a PM. How does one go about interviewing and choosing a good PM? Is it their fees? Number of years in the business? The number of properties managed? Clearly a mix of these, but there must be more to it. Would definitely be interested in hearing what you all think.

There are a number of posts on BP on the subject of finding a good PM, and it would be a good idea to get a few estimates. One recurring recommendation I have found has been NARPM. I haven't used them yet because I presently don't have any property to manage, but I will definitely get one or two referrals from them in addition to any word of mouth referrals before making a decision. Good luck with your search and let us all know how it goes. 

Forgive me if I sound glib, but you are renting a home in a C class neighborhood and from my own experience, no amount of due diligence will guarantee that your tenants will treat your property like a temple. Suspicious or not, if you're seriously considering renting to this prospect, ask to see her current residence so you may get an idea of how she presently lives. Try to do this with very short notice so she won't have time to clean up, or shoo an unwanted live-in boyfriend, etc. You want to see her in her "native habitat". If you're satisfied by what you find, then there's your answer. If you've received 430 applications for your place, odds are you probably have a number of quality prospects that you shouldn't ignore. Good luck, and may the farce be with you!

Hi Sharon,

Sounds like you have your hands full! Perhaps instead of a PM, you can purchase an annual homeowner's warranty and insert a clause in your lease at renewal time assigning the tenant with the responsibility of paying deductible for any service call to the apartment. In order for this work, you should ensure that your appliances, plumbing, electrical, and fixtures are all in good working order and have them inspected annually by a trusted and competent (licensed) contractor. While you may never fully break the bad habits, you can at least rest assured that you're providing a safe place for your elderly tenant and (hopefully) minimizing the waste of your time and expenditures. 

One other suggestion would be to prepare an "Owner's manual" for your place. This may sound goofy, but if you provided something which contains pictures of the apartment before move-in, model numbers of appliances and links to user manuals online, information on how to use the thermostat, locking doors & windows, operating faucets, garbage collection guidelines, contacting the HOA or property management company, what brand and color paint you use in each room, etc. Then your tenant(s) will have most, if not all, of the answers to their questions before finding a need to call you. If nothing else, you'll have a valuable reference in case you need to place a call for service yourself.

As @Nathan Miller says, this is a business, not a charity. If you want to succeed, you must learn and adapt from your mistakes and experiences as you go along. I hope you find this advice helpful, and wish you the best of luck!

@Matt M. Hubzu is SCUM.

I couldn't have said more eloquently. These online auction sites are simply gaming with the bidding in order to get buyers at or above to the bank's price. You can even see it by reviewing the bid history on some of the auctions, the numbers and (where available) dates just don't make sense. The best strategy is to set your price, place your bid 5 minutes before auction closing, then log out so they see that you're no longer online and willing to play their game. The fact that they came back to you after the auction closed tells you that you were outbid by the bank. You were the only real person bidding for that property in the first place.

Consider yourself lucky.  

@Russell Brazil You should have really saw the property before you bid on it.

Due diligence is essential if you decide to buy a property through these online auction sites. I know of 2 properties that keep coming up on Homesearch where the online photos are truly deceptive. One of the properties shows a nice home that appears to be recently updated, but when you drive by, it's a burned out shell without a roof. The other listing similarly shows a nice, recently constructed home from the outside that needs to be completely gutted to the rafters to remediate the extreme mold on the inside (bring your breathing mask!). In both cases (and this is a telltale), they only show a couple of photos of the exterior. Even when they show the interior, they may be showing old photos, or using photos taken at angles that don't show the true condition of the home.

Other things to be aware of:

When you are bidding on a property with a reserve, you are going to be competing with an automated counter bidder that gooses up the price. Auctions are notorious for exploiting people's desire to "win"... do your homework, set your price, and stick to it. Other deals will come along.

In 9 out of the 10 cases, properties where the auction closes below the reserve go back to the bank and almost inevitably show up on the site again. 

Finally, if you're buying in a judicial foreclosure state, you should check the tax record to make sure the property really does belong to the bank. I have had to back out of a couple of deals because after several extension addenda I was finally informed that settlement could possibly be delayed by several months while they "sorted out the title". 

Best of luck! 

Hi Jamal, is this property still available? 

First, let me thank all of you for your responses. It's truly encouraging to know that there are other investors and individuals out there who share the same vision. While my initial goal was to find a way out of the 9 to 5 rat race and continue supporting my family, an equally important objective was to demonstrate to my children that it's possible to earn a living by adding value and serving the community.

I attended college in Baltimore over 30 years ago, and now my son is attending college there. When I took him up for his freshman semester, I was really sad to see how much the city has deteriorated over the years, and I knew then that I want to do something to help (in my own small way). 

Clearly, there is money to be made purchasing distressed properties, making minimal repairs, and renting them out to Section 8 and VA voucher recipients, but this doesn't necessarily help stabilize a community because the residents have no skin in the game. Furthermore, the city views people who engage in such practices as opportunists who simply propagate the problems faced by so many residents.

IMHO, a more effective and longer term approach is to work with local trades and businesses to hire and train local youth to rehabilitate distressed properties and reintroduce them back to the community at affordable prices. The community benefits by restoring blighted properties, making them available to families who would otherwise be unable to afford a home, teaching local youths a valuable and marketable skill that can help get them off the streets, and thereby reduce the potential for crime. I'm sure the city will support such efforts, because they would rather have owner occupied homes and issue fewer vouchers. 

I am just one person, but I know that if individual investors took the initiative of rehabbing just one or two properties in this manner per year, they will steadily drive demand for more profitable investments over time. 

Perhaps this may sound altruistic and naive to those more seasoned investors already working in Baltimore, but I personally am open to suggestions. I want to grow my business in Baltimore, and I know my prospects will only improve if the crime rate drops along with an improvement in the employment outlook. Once they see these changes, I am confident that residents from surrounding cities and suburbs will look to Baltimore as a viable option for their housing needs.  

Many thanks for the warm greetings Andrew, Angelia, and Carson. I am presently working with a fellow investor and we're primarily focusing on flipping properties in Virginia and PG County. Although the market can be lucrative, finding good deals in these areas has been increasingly difficult. 

I began looking further north to Baltimore, and it's evident that Charm City needs a helping hand. I believe a lot of investors steer clear because of the high unemployment and crime, I think investing in Baltimore provides employment opportunities for local businesses and making affordable homes available to families helps stabilize communities and hopefully drives demand. 

I believe Baltimore can be an attractive option for people who work in DC that want a better value for their housing dollar and don't mind commuting by train. It takes about the same amount of time as driving from the suburbs, and certainly a lot more convenient.

I presently am not participating in any of the local meet-ups in the area.