All Forum Posts by: Tony Vicente

@Samuel Pavlovcik  Baltimore City, MD. The street is West Baltimore Street.

Oh my bad @Alan C. , I said "foundation" but I meant the wooden frames, joists, etc. Not sure what the right term for it is. The "structure" ?

I'm looking at a home that's zoned "R8", contains a single family home that I'd like to convert to multi-family.

R8 includes both single family and multi-family. Does that mean I'm all set and can break it up in to separate units, or do I need to get a permit or rezone or other things?

Also, if I do need to request it, is there a risk that it would get rejected for reasons other than the place being unfit for it? Like if the neighborhood already has too many MFH, then they stop allowing it?

Baltimore city has a convenient site to look up if a property got some code violations.

https://cels.baltimorehousing.I...

However, it looks like the violation notices there don't show exactly what the issue was. Is there a way to find out?

Also, is there a way to figure out if the violation was rectified? Many violations issued years ago say "you must rehab or raze within 30 days" but the building is still there, so I would assume they resolved? How to find out?

I looked at a bunch of crumbling row-houses in Baltimore today, and many of them had crumbling and cracked brick, rotted foundation, water damage and squishy floors about to give in, and signs at the door saying the place needs to be rehabbed or boarded within 30 days because of code violation.

For a typical row-house that's 12 feet wide and 3 floors in Baltimore city, how would it typically cost

1A. Gut demolish the walls and floors and plumbing and electric, but keep the foundation untouched?

1B. Put in new wall, floors, plumbing and electric, basic stuff nothing fancy, around the existing foundation?

2A. Demolish everything including the foundation but obviously leave the facade and exterior walls?

2B. Put together a new foundation, new stairs, new everything rehab, basic stuff nothing fancy?

I know there's likely to be lazy answers like "it depends, could be anywhere from $20k up to $200k" but please, I'm looking for serious, experienced opinions on what the appropriate price should be. I'm not looking to do granite countertops, just a standard rehab for a place that's appropriate for a lower income neighborhood, so a luxury rehab is inappropriate.

Thanks!

I called the section 8 office in Baltimore and they said that section 8 is not taking any new applicants.

I'm curious, is it because there aren't enough landlords to take on new applicants? Or is it because the program itself doesn't have the funding to take on new tenants?

In general, is the bottleneck basically the funding, and so both landlords and tenants have to wait for funding to become available? Is the program funded by the federal government? Or by states?

Where can I find a comprehensive listing of requirements for section 8 units? For example, does the unit have to have a minimum square footage to qualify as a studio, 1 bedroom, etc? Is it different for every city?

Has your home or investment been broken into? How worried are you about it?

How do you protect your properties in the rougher neighborhoods? Metal bars, security systems, cameras,...? Or just don't worry about it, if you're gonna get robbed, you're gonna get robbed either way.

I also noticed that most houses have BS locks on them that any kiddie can lockpick in 30 seconds, whereas in other countries people use slightly more serious locks. Any point in upgrading locks and doors?

@Connor Corkrin That's pretty clever, thanks for the idea!

Does anyone know of a good strategy to purchase multiple adjacent vacant row-houses for rehab/investment? Maybe 4-5 houses up to a half block or so?

Do some agents specialize in that? Do you reach out to the city? What's a good way to source multiple adjacent houses?