.$17,000  roughly in expenses (minus your CapEx because I'm including that as upfront capital and using you're numbers)$39,160 in NOI.If you're mortgage numbers are right than it's $16,668 in Debt Service a year$39,160 - $16,668 = $22,492Now let's figure out rough equity neededFigure 30% of purchase (70% LTV): $274,500 x 0.3 = $82,350$82,350 + $84,000 (CapEx) = $166,350 in equity neededCash on Cash Return: $22,492 / $166,350 = 13.52% a yearRough Sale Price: $39,160 / .10 (10% Cap Rate) = $391,600$39,160 / .08 = $489,500$39,160 / .06  = $652.666.66So what do I take away from all this.

These screenshots show the number of houses for sale at less than $150,000 in each city, and between $150,000 and $300,000 in each city:So Baltimore has 1,455 homes for sale at less than $150,000, while DC has 12 homes for sale in that price range:In the $150,000 to $300,000 range, we see a similar contrast:Baltimore has 734 homes for sale in the $150-$300,000 range, while DC has 41 for sale:These visual comparisons illustrate that Baltimore is oversupplied with inexpensive homes, while DC essentially has no affordable homes for sale (many of the less than $300,000 listings are auctions or very small houses in disrepair).It's currently a buyer's market for low priced homes in Baltimore, but with so many vacant homes and so many homes for sale, it looks like it will be a buyer's market for several years. 

They are asking 550k. it brings in $58,399 income  $9,372 in expenses.

Given a family and my own personal mortgage, none of the various banks I've been to have been friendly to the idea of offering me a loan, even on a relatively inexpensive property.

I can't imagine that a higher-end new construction would be that inexpensive... of course, I've been in Chicago for a few years now so maybe my concept of pricing for just about everything has skewed up.

Durable, nice looking, and relatively inexpensive (in my area you can pick it up less that $1 a sq ft). 

I suppose another possibility is that some investors are ok with renting a property in that condition and don't plan to improve it unless something drastic happens, so don't factor in expenses the same way I do?

Be weary of gurus but there are some relatively inexpensive template type courses that have video instructions, scripts and contracts you can find online.

*I always get an inexpensive, colorful doormat for the front door and a small rug for in front of the kitchen sink that matches whatever I've got going on in there. 

In the meantime, you can rent a car pretty inexpensively on Turo.com for a day or a weekend, if you have that in your area.