Baltimore Real Estate Investing Blog

Tweet Motivational speaker Jim Rohn says “Rich people have large libraries, poor people have large TVs.” Reading is one of the best ways of improving oneself and your real estate knowledge. On the various real estate forums I go to, a common question is “What are the best real estate books?” One of my goals […]

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Tweet The mainstream media has regularly reported the weakness of the real estate market. The statement is often made that it will take some time to move through the backlog of unsold homes. As you know all real estate is local. What is happening to that backlog of unsold homes here in our Baltimore market? According to […]

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Tweet I recently received an unexpected check from Canton Title Company. I had done a settlement with them back in 2004. Their records showed that I was due an amount back for recording fees. They were reviewing old files and sent me a letter saying:  “Upon this review, Canton Title Company has come across your […]

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Tweet I found a very good article about what affects property values. Joe Manausa of the Tallahassee Real Estate Blog wrote a great post called How Home Values Are Determined. While this is aimed at sellers it has value for investors too. In today’s market you are likely to run into sellers that are just unrealistic about what […]

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Tweet Well more information is in and the new waiver of seasoning regulations (see previous post)only applies to homes that were foreclosed by the lender. Here is the ruling from HUD.  The key language is: This waiver is limited to a sale within the 90-day period if the property is acquired through foreclosure, and is […]

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Tweet Inman news is reporting that FHA has temporarily removed the 90 day seasoning requirement for properties that they finance. I agree with the article, this won’t really help the backlog of foreclosed homes. Of course I didn’t think the original rule did much to address the real issue with “Flipping”. Seasoning requirements are a […]

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Tweet The Baltimore Sun is reporting that Steven Berman has pleaded guilty on charges he conspired to fix bids at a number of Tax lien auctions in Maryland over a several year period. Mr Berman is the husband of Heidi Kenny, the attorney that I had reported won so many bids at the recent Baltimore […]

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Tweet You’ve heard that saying before. Sadly many small business people don’t know much about the laws they are expected to obey. If you want to learn more about the laws that apply to Real Estate Investing, I will be teaching a class at the Mid Atlantic Real Estate Investors Association. Local Regulations and Ethics, […]

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Tweet If you read my previous posts My Day in Court   and What is a Receiver? You know the city is trying to take one of my properties and auction it off. The last time I was in court, the case was delayed for a month and a half to give me time to take action. Well […]

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Tweet What is a Tax Sale? After writing the previous post, Tax Sale Results part 1 I realized that some readers may not know what a tax sale is, so I will give a brief description and then the results. The bulk of the income for most municipalities is property taxes. To encourage people to […]

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Tweet In my last post I mentioned how there were two empty lots scheduled to go to tax sale. They were assessed at upwards of $100k although the neighborhood was worth double that. I wondered if anyone would bid without inspecting the properties to see that they were actually empty lots.  Yes, American Lien Fund is […]

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Tweet It’s been a little while since I last posted because this is a busy time of year for me. One of the things I do is buy tax liens at the Baltimore tax sale. This is not really a direct investment in real estate but it is a way to get passive interest. In […]

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Tweet As real estate investors we often hear about how we need a “team”. You know, the contractors, lawyers, accountants, real estate agents etc. that we need to do this business. How do you find good team members? The best way is referrals from other successful real estate investors. This is the age old problem […]

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Tweet Today I was in court for a receiver action; or as the city calls it a “Show Cause Hearing”. I have to show cause why a receiver (see What is a Receiver?)  should NOT be appointed to auction off my property. I had a tax lien on 526 N Arlington Ave 21223. The city […]

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Tweet In the fight against blight, former Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley instituted project 5000, where the goal was to acquire 5000 houses and sell them to investors and home owners. Most of these properties were acquired through tax foreclosures. These houses were sometimes sold as packages to developers or as SCOPE properties (Selling City Owned Properties […]

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