Pro advice from seasoned investors on here.

I work in the animation industry and though I really love my job, the work is always contract work so once the season is over I have to find a new job.

Account ClosedThere are a couple reasons I think a slab would be better received here. 1) The housing stock here is generally older.

I rather want to buy an older unit and renovate that itself is a significant appreciation.

The older it is, the more advantage to going that route. 

(buyers are slowly coming back into having a little more advantage, as fall 3q-4quarter season comes upon us)

As for Baltimore,  it does get a bad rap, it's not much like the way it's portrayed,  but our location is a gateway to the Chesapeake Bay, and I'm really thinking of targeting my local and regional market as a venue for weddings,  corporate retreats,  and family functions.As for becoming profitable,  that's the question,  but even if it's a buy and hold, I'd rather just make one lump sum payment after tax season than rustle up a few thousand dollars every month.

I did have to lower the rent significantly on one unit when it came vacant last fall in order to fill it.We're past the prime summer rental season, so even if you closed quickly on the duplex, it would be harder to get a tenant at this time of year, and you might have to offer a lower price to do so.I also think that your figures of 5% for vacancy and 10% for maintenance are low.  

I'm interested in what the seasoned pros think?

Hello Nick,There are a million reasons but the best reason I can think of as a seasoned investor is to recycle down payment funds to reinvest into the next project.