It’s a complete waste a time, money, and energy if you don’t talk with them.Don’t over think this.

Their energy is spent trying to work something with them (a bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush).

is it better to wait until the risks of increasing supply and economic slowdown subside? 

The high rents in Baltimore are not economically reasonable. 

There’s a cost to working a 9-5 that is taking away from doing something that can eventually make you a lot more money and more importantly not drain your energy.

@Raymond Hill my sense is that due to the various costs and regulations involved, as @Brandon Ingegneri mentioned in his examples, it just makes more economic sense for builders to focus on single families than multis.I think it's related to the fact that most single family purchases don't make sense from an investment point of view because as an investor who's looking at income and expense #s to determine what you can offer, you're competing with owner-occupants who have very favorable financing and are buying because of the school district and because they like the kitchen and bathroom, not whether the rents vs. expenses & mortgage is profitable.In other words, because of the favorable financing and "use benefit", the buyers of single families almost always pay more per unit than the buyers of multi families.

I am moving most of my money into more conservative investments in the economical environment we are in.

Beyond that, when we do purchase a property we will be able to restore it more economically because of having the business in place. 

I am familiar with the history of the area but not so much the current state of affairs - both economic trends and current local initiatives. 

Considering the current economic environment, real estate market, and international tariffs... is now a good time to buy a rental property?