All Forum Posts by: Stephen Kehoe

As Marty said there are a lot of options. One local company you could try are Eastern Savings Bank. A national one to try would be US commercial. They should both do 30 years and ~75% LTV.

All else being equal 3 bedrooms is definitely better than 2. The rent is calculated from the bedroom count. Also I wouldn't be too worried about which is more in demand. Baltimore has a lot of section 8 tenants. The level of renovation will matter more for demand. 

Also when you do a get a section 8 tenant they stay longer on average so you can worry less about demand/vacancy.

i recently had a bust up with the Baltimore housing authority because they called a new 2,700 sq. Ft. 5 bed house of one of my customers a 3 bed. That meant it could only rent for the same as my 1,500 sq. Ft. House in a rougher part of town.

Looks well researched. Insurance looks a little low. 

Welcome and thank you for performing your critical jobs

Renting by the room can definitely make more money. One thing to look out for is Baltimore City only allows 4 unrelated people to live in one house. This only matters if you aren't living with your buddies and need to get a rental license 

I used @Ruth Lyons recently and was happy with her service and honesty. 

Welcome Dan.

Yes, it is standard practice. No, it is not necessary. 

The agent doesn't want you taking up a lot of his/her time looking at houses and then them not getting paid because you used the selling agent to buy. 

As long as the agent is available to let you into houses when necessary, signing this shouldn't be a problem.

FYI if you plan to turn your next place into an investment also it will be worth using an investment friendly agent. PM me if you need a recommendation. 

Some other things to consider.

Who pays for water. Class of neighbourhood. Are the tenants paying right now. What is your cash on cash return. 

You have two things with that property that you wouldn't have with a new investment property. The lower interest rate of an owner occupied mortgage. And a purchase price that hasn't run up in the recent boom market.

Section 8 is a federal program administered by local municipalities. So the state of Pennsylvania won't have much to say. Generally you can gain approval to raise rents to market rates. However your municipality might have raising rent laws. The pandemic has lead to a slew of new ones regarding this. 

The problems are the humps you have to jump through which take time. Make sure your property is up to scratch for the inspection.