I'm also considering Halethorpe because it's a good commuter location.Some people really like supporting the city in which case , northeast Baltimore would seem to the best place to buy a single family, in my opinion given the taxes situation and given that none of those areas are walkable I’d rather just be in the county and pay Lower taxes, and it’s not like northeast Baltimore is much that much cheaper than Baltimore county, hathorpe is mixed, arbutus is nice, I hate the housing stock there, would rather be in Catonsville if I was considering western Baltimore county. 

Is the higher price agent inflating to get the listing or is the lower price agent just not keyed in well enough in the specific neighborhood?

All of this equates to lower returns with turnover costs, being the primary one.  

They get a higher return since they are covering housing cost, have the $250k per spouse primary residence deduction in gains, is a savings account, higher leverage position, lower interest rate possible, will pay more premium for location, etc.House might be overpriced for REITs but not for home owners.  

Should I wait for Spring for greater inventory, or for lower rates to see if cashflow improves?

With the fund I used, they had a month where they had a few defaults, the return was a bit lower, and they sent out an email apologizing for the lower yield. 

Also HELOC's typically have lower interest rates than personal loans since it is secured by your home.

Regarding price, do you have any suggestions on how I can get him to agree to a lower price?

Once we lowered the price to $1 less than everyone in town we filled right up.

Sherman does seem interesting though because of the lower cost and growth potential.