All Forum Posts by: Tim Jacob

look into Baltimore county.  Anywhere in Maryland has the same legal process.  In  Baltimore city you have to tell the tenants when they are getting tossed in an eviction.  In pg, Baltimore county,and most other places you dont.  In the county Ive heard the sherriff will expedite their part a little.  I havent done an eviction in a while and have never been responsible for bringing a tenant in like that.  A lot of that has to do with sticking with solid C neignborhoods.   Hopkins is great as is Under Armour in the close by neighborhoods where they are.  Thats why Hampden and Locust Point are doing better.  Those areas are less affordable though. 

 Fed Hill you probably do have lead paint  Though many homes might be lead free cause theyve been gutted in a reno.  If you gut in a reno you should be fine and be lead free.  Most parts of Fed Hill youll get very good tenants much more easily than other parts of the city.  If you get a good price that would be a great neighborhood.  Just wonder if you will get a good price down there.  If you go lead free you can Alban home inspection.  They have the lead free nuclear testing device.  Otherwise if the place is old get dustwipes.  You cant have any chipped paint.

these are all good posts.  A couple more things.  Im a pm and will say this about it it.  As has been said you are investing in a D neighborhood area.  Much of Baltimore City is.  The trendy parts that arent are costly.  Here is my recomendation about things.  If you go to  D neighborhood you might as well go section 8.  If you go to a C neighborhood you dont have to.   I know that means the price will be more.  I screen very hard and reccomend to minimize vacancy you upgrade to a C.  There are many neighborhoods within the Baltimore area that are solid C neighborhoods.  Many in the suburbs where the taxes arent sky high.  If you go to C you can get a decent place with no reno for around 80-120k.  In these C neighborhoods closer to a D than a B you will still have to screen hard and you might not get some one with a great credit score but if you have a good pm look into their rental history they should be able to find a good respectful tenant which will sign a multi year lease and not trash your place and the vacancy rate  should be acceptable.   The cash flow will still be there. That should be the goal.  

The problem is when people say ill get a D grade home because its cheap thinking that your vacancy will be low by going section 8 than the people move in and trash the place and have to get evicted.  You can still screen section 8 but in general it isnt as great because most have financial problems.  You cant charge that much more and the minimal amount you get is offset by the problems.   If the area is up and coming and will be the next Hampden then great i know a lot of people could have made a kot of miney if they bought in Shaw or Petworth down there in DC a few years ago because of appreciation but Baltimore doesnt have DC wealth and I dont know if i would rely on that.  

This doesnt even factor in if you are doing a rehab and all the costs which are a wild card.  

My recomendation is really take a good long look at what its really like to own a section 8 property from many landlords on here that do.  Ask someone whose been in those neighborhoods for years and has balanced out the bads and goods how they are rrally doing.   Understand when you go into a D neighborhood what your really getting into.

send me your personal email address or private message me it if you dont want it on this.  I can forward you the emails

C neighborhoods are the best neighborhoods and if you are starting in the Baltimore area thats a great market.  C homes cash flow better than B neighborhoods where the rent is a little more but the home price is huge. 

 If you go to low in D neighborhoods where there are a lot in Baltimore City you cant expect many people with families to feel safe there or want to live there.  The result is you have to go section 8.  Section 8 is great in theory and you'll hear all these people tell you its so great until they dont pay rent.  A lot of the tenants are freeloaders who have no problem taking from you since they already are taking from the government.  When they move out the property damage will be more than the deposit if you double the deposit they wont pay it so its lose lose for you.  Ive heard stories about people using buckets for the toilet because they put hydraulic cement into the sewers just for starters.  Let alone they burn your house down because they forgot to turn off the oven cooktop burners.  Dont go D just because the home prices are so cheap.  There is a reason.  

C neighborhoods are the best.  You can cash flow well in the baltimore area.  I willl say even within C neighborhoods there are those closer to B neighborhoods.  With B neighborhoods think the nicer parts near the harbor.  Those high C neighborhoods wont cash flow as well as the low C neighborhoods.  My recomendation is go closer to D but still in C range.  These places you can still get good tenants through thorough screening.  If you havent screened before hire someone.  You will have to filter a lot and you will probably have to settle with someone who might not have great credit but if you look into their other history and see more acceptable reasons for bad credit you can find the right people.  Screening is most important dont diy that if you don't feel comfortable.  Once they are in for a 2 year lease.  You probably go C- hire a pm and cash flow as well as going c+ and doing it all yourself though screening would be easier.  Proper leasing of a c- property could take 2 full weeks of work and maybe more if you are starting out.  You probably will get good blue collar people who will treat your property with respect and pay the rent on time.

My recomendation is the county and not the city.  I like Dundalk.  The county is easier with licensing and if you have to start court. Also the taxes are better than the city.  You can cash flow over 500 plus monthly on the right turn key property with pm.  For a 25 k down payment on a 100k place with good bones  You would go cash flow positive after 4 years.  Thats with pm on a C- property.  

I have leased properties in the county and other parts of Maryland with no evictions for years as a property manager.

baltimore city handles it and they are a nightmare.  I have been put on hold as well.  I finally started emailing people within the city public works and was forwarded to the right person.  It was taken care of there through emails.  Do keep in mind you will need your settlement sheet to do that.  I am a pm and i needed the exclusive agreement signed between me and the owners.  You being the owner you might just need the settlement sheet from closing.  The process was originally supposed to be done through dpw billing. 

 Make sure the pm included sewer and water in the lease.  Right now you the owner are billed it in your taxes along with a water distribution charge.  Unless there leases have you pay the water and sewer.

I will say the screening process is the most important part of the whole thing.  If there is 1 thing to absolutely get right its that.  The right people make things a million times easier.  Take your time.  Dont get the cheapest one.  An easy thing to do is just reject someone with a credit score too low.  This could lead to a longer wait period.  Dont go just on the credit.  Look at the rental history.  That could be the biggest thing.  Ask them if they have ever had rental issues.  If they lie and you find out thats grounds for rejection.  If your not comfortable thats the one thing i would make sure i got right

In regards to the rental license you do need it.  Go to the Baltimore County website.  Its 50 dollars for 3 years.  I have an inspector that will probably charge around 300 for both the rental inspection and lead inspection needed for a rowhome.  Thats assuming dustwipes and not the lead free inspection.  I use Central Inspection.  If you have new drywall and can go lead free call Alban Inspection.  It might be slightly more but then you never have to do another lead inspection.

hi,

Im sorry about your losses.  I work in the baltimore area.  Its a great area with the right people.  I do property management though I do know a few contractors and have had experience in renovations to a duplex.  It came out well and is cash flowing for me.  In the Baltimore area you might try purchasing in the county where the taxes arent outrageous.  The properties are in solid c neighborhoods which means you can cash flow a good amount.  A turnkey property can be in the low 100s and cash flow around 500 with little to no work on a conventional down payment with solid property management and which leads to minimal vacancy.  You dont have to settle for section 8 if you dont want it which leads to less headaches.  Many applicants from these neighborhoods will need to be turned away but if the price is right you can still cash flow effectively with the right people.

Tim

Im a pm I have a slew of contractors I use.  Let me know what sort of contractors you need.  I have a decent amount of reno experience and know roughly what a few things will cost.  Otherwise i would rely on their estimates.  

In regards to the section 8 tenants what neighorhood are you in.  I think unless the neighborhood is really bad you can avoid it.  I go with no section 8 unless the neighborhood is d level.  C levels i always push for no section 8 even if they pay slighly less.  I find 5-10% isnt worth it for the headaches because of destruction  and pain getting rent from.  I do understand Baltimore has plenty of D or even F neighborhoods.

at Annie Li any pm that is too lazy not to lease certain days is bad.   You should accept only accept certain forms of payment for the first payment which should be cash, certified cashiers check, or money order.  After that the pm you should accept maby forms including pay pal, venmo, bank transfer, cash deposit, mobile check deposit, money order,  the tenant shouldnt be restricted and that will cost you people.  The first of the month thing is just stupidly lazy. You have been getting bad pms.  Properties cash flow in other areas if things won't work out this one time.  Dont get bad pms you dont need to settle.  There has to be some good ones in Indy.  If you can find one relocate.

@ Ronn Johnstone if you are working with a realtor or pm ask for their website.  For the listed properties you can find how long theyve been on the market.  A realtor will prioritize a sale more than a rental because they get paid more so look exclusively at their rentals.  It might have been rented before as well.  If its by the same person thats a good sign.   If you look at the tax records for these properties you can find out who the owners are.  Sometimes if you type in the owners name and town you can get a white pages phone number or if they are close to where you live go knock on their door.  You can also ask about them on here.  You can also go to public state records available free online and search their criminal history.  You can find ways to get extra info.  You can ask about them on here as well

I am a pm in maryland.  I understand sometimes they are hard to come by.  I recommend screening the pms thoroughly.  Just because they are from a large company with a nice website does not mean they are good.  If the area is a good area for cash flow it will probably be a c neighborhood or lower.  Screening is absolutely huge.  Make sure whomever you use has a stellar track record with that.  It is easier for someone to just accept the first person who wants to lease the space.  That way its less work for them.  Its harder and more time for them to reject a few bad ones before getting a good 1.  Ask others about the pm's screening disapproval percentage and you can get an accurate idea how good they are.  It can go the other way as well if they dissaprove just based on credit and dont look at other things they could dissaprove to many.  Either way they can hammer your vacancy rate.