Baltimore City is moving forward with a program that will sell some vacant homes for just $1.Wednesday morning, the Board of Estimates approved the program, but not everyone was on board.City Council President Nick Mosby succeeded in getting the board to defer the item two weeks ago after detailing his concerns. But the spending board passed the new pricing structure in a four-to-one vote with Mosby as the lone “No.”More than 13,000 homes in Baltimore are vacant. The city owns close to 1,000 of them. Individual buyers and community land trusts are eligible to buy the city-owned vacant houses for $1. Small nonprofits can purchase the homes for $1,000. Developers and larger nonprofits would need to pay $3,000.The hope is that area residents will buy the vacant homes or lots, fix them up and live in them. Mosby argued that without specific written protections, city residents won’t be given priority in buying the properties, and they will be pushed out when neighborhoods improve.”I did agree with a lot of the president’s concerns about the problems that we’re facing in terms of affordable housing and in some places, gentrifying of neighborhoods. I think the disagreement here today was, this is not the vehicle that’s going to address a lot of those concerns,” comptroller Bill Henry said.The new pricing structure only applies to city-owned homes that appear on the “Buy Into BMore” website.
Baltimore City is moving forward with a program that will sell some vacant homes for just $1.
Wednesday morning, the Board of Estimates approved the program, but not everyone was on board.
City Council President Nick Mosby succeeded in getting the board to defer the item two weeks ago after detailing his concerns. But the spending board passed the new pricing structure in a four-to-one vote with Mosby as the lone “No.”
More than 13,000 homes in Baltimore are vacant. The city owns close to 1,000 of them. Individual buyers and community land trusts are eligible to buy the city-owned vacant houses for $1. Small nonprofits can purchase the homes for $1,000. Developers and larger nonprofits would need to pay $3,000.
The hope is that area residents will buy the vacant homes or lots, fix them up and live in them. Mosby argued that without specific written protections, city residents won’t be given priority in buying the properties, and they will be pushed out when neighborhoods improve.
“I did agree with a lot of the president’s concerns about the problems that we’re facing in terms of affordable housing and in some places, gentrifying of neighborhoods. I think the disagreement here today was, this is not the vehicle that’s going to address a lot of those concerns,” comptroller Bill Henry said.
The new pricing structure only applies to city-owned homes that appear on the “Buy Into BMore” website.
Ultimately, that attribute led the 44-year-old to a career she never imagined: a real-estate agent and investor.
“All I wanted to be when I grew up was a lawyer,” Casey, who graduated from SUNY Albany in 2001 with criminal justice and psychology degrees, told Business Insider. “I had no other plans.” Until she started her first job as a paralegal at one of the biggest law firms in New York City, that is.
The job was demanding and often required 18-hour work days.
“There were times when I slept in the office,” she recalled. A particularly intense case that went to trial and relocated her to Florida for two months prompted her to reevaluate her career path. “That case just killed me. I gained 20 pounds, I never saw my friends, and when you’re in your early 20s, you want to have a little bit of a life.”
At the end of the case, which her team won, Casey gave her two weeks’ notice and walked away from a comfortable salary.
Draining 6 months’ worth of savings and becoming a real-estate agent
Casey didn’t have another job lined up when she quit, but she had about six months’ worth of expenses set aside.
“Because I worked so much — and when you’re on trial, after a certain time, you get double time — I just saved my money,” she said, but her savings went fast in a city as expensive as New York. “I just needed to really destress, and that’s what I did.”
Additionally, she spent time thinking about what she wanted her days to look like. For starters, she wanted more flexibility: “I wanted something where I wasn’t sitting in an office, and I wanted something where I can control the income that I could make,” she said.
Becoming a real-estate agent satisfied both of those criteria. Plus, she hoped it would set her up to one day invest in properties.
“I grew up in New York City. I’ve seen the changes as far as property values go,” said Casey. “So yes, becoming a real-estate agent was about time freedom, but the major factor was I was going to learn how to be a landlord and do leases and figure out how to get a building.”
She executed the first part of her plan and got her real-estate license in February 2006. Over the next 15 years, she worked on the leasing side of the business while pursuing various side projects in her spare time, from Amazon FBA to launching a YouTube channel — but she didn’t buy an investment property.
From agent to investor: Buying her first property in her 40s and cash flowing $1,000 a month
Casey spent her 20s and 30s in no rush to become a real-estate investor.
“I’m single, no kids, so I definitely have a different lifestyle and a different timeline than other people,” she noted. Since she plans to adopt, “I have never been on a clock. Being single has really helped me, but also hindered me: I can do whatever I want at any point, and so that’s helped me in leading a very stress-free life, but it has hindered me because I’ve always thought, ‘I’ve got so much time, I got so much time, I’ve got so much time.'”
Her mindset changed when she turned 40.
For Casey, who has been self-employed for most of her career and doesn’t have a traditional 401(k) plan, owning real estate has always been synonymous with retirement. When her 40th birthday rolled around, she realized that taking out a 30-year mortgage would mean she’d be 70 when she paid it off.
“I don’t want to retire at 70; I want to retire at 55, maybe 59,” she said, “So I was like, ‘Wait a minute, now that I’m 40, I need to get it into gear.'”
She decided to pause the serial entrepreneurship and dedicate the next three to five years to buying real estate. Specifically, she aimed to build a $5 million portfolio.
It was a number that felt like “enough,” she said. “As long as I have my retirement set, that will allow me to feel more comfortable jumping around from thing to thing.”
Her first step was to find an affordable market. New York City, where Casey has lived her entire life, was out of the question. She had about $40,000 in savings. While that wouldn’t go far in her home city, it was enough to get started in Baltimore.
Casey settled on Maryland’s largest city after researching various markets online. One of her strategies was to follow real-estate content creators on social media and pay attention to where they were investing and their returns. After selecting her market, she contacted a Baltimore-based investor she followed on YouTube, Charles Blair, and asked for a consultation.
At the time, she’d never set foot in the city she intended to invest in.
Blair put her in touch with his agent, and Casey was off to the races. She bussed back and forth between New York and Baltimore for about six weeks before finding her first property. It was an off-market deal she found on a real-estate wholesale website.
“I put in an offer, and that was that,” recalled Casey, who used a hard money lender and personal funds to close on a $105,000 single-family home in December 2021. “When I make a decision, it’s go time. What are we waiting for? Does this look good? Do the numbers make sense? That’s it.”
The purchase nearly wiped out all of her savings, she said: “Because I was a first-time investor, I had to put down 20%, three points to the lender. Including all closing costs, it was around $37,000, almost every dime I had.”
The property also required renovations.
“When you get a hard money loan, they give you 80% of the purchase price and 100% of the renovation. But it’s in draws, so you have to front the money first, and then they refund you,” explained Casey, who used business credit cards to start the renovation project. It ended up taking three months and cost her $45,000.
“I definitely made quite a few mistakes,” she said, noting that the renovation could have been done in three weeks on a $36,000 budget. But at the end of the process, she’d converted a four-bed, one-bath into a five-bed, two-bath with a fully finished basement in an emerging Baltimore neighborhood.
A tenant placement company helped her fill the rental with a Section 8 tenant. Casey started bringing in $2,350 a month, which the government covered for her tenant. Her mortgage was $1,433 at the time, she said, meaning she started profiting nearly $1,000 a month. Insider verified her property ownership by looking at a copy of her mortgage statement and confirmed the rental price by looking at a letter from the Housing Authority of Baltimore City. She profits even more now, as rent has increased and her mortgage has decreased.
Using creative financing to expand her portfolio and focusing on appreciation over cash flow
After draining her savings to acquire her first property, Casey decided: “I don’t want to spend my money on properties anymore. It’s not really scalable using your own money.”
She started researching creative financing strategies and how investors buy properties without tapping into their own savings.
Casey bought three more properties in Baltimore over the next year and a half, including one flip, using subject to financing (when the buyer takes over the existing financing) and seller financing (when the seller acts as the lender and provides a loan).
She considers her first deal a “slam dunk,” she said. “To get $1,100 right now in gross cash flow on your first deal in a low market is really, really good, especially in Baltimore where the average is $300.”
But cash flow has never been her main objective. For her, real estate is a retirement plan. She’d rather focus on long-term appreciation.
Her latest deal, which she purchased for $250,000, was purely an “appreciation play,” she said. She had to convert it into a rooming house just to cover the mortgage, but she’s bullish on the neighborhood: “I took the chance because I’ve seen the property values just in the last two years go from $300,000 to $500,000, $600,000. The property around the corner sold for $570,000.”
The way she sees it, going for big appreciation will help her get to her $5 million goal faster.
“I don’t need the cash flow. It’s nice, but that’s what working is for,” said Casey, who documents her real estate journey on YouTube and is aiming to buy her first multi-family property in 2024. “Also, I’m the type of person that, when I have a lot of money, I’m less motivated to do things, so I try to keep myself as poor as possible.”
Baltimore is the largest city in Maryland and the center of a metropolitan area of 1.5 million people. It is located on the Chesapeake Bay and is known for its Inner Harbor. The city offers cultural opportunities, professional sports, outdoor activities, and much more. If you enjoy the surf and sand, Baltimore is within driving distance of beaches and ocean resorts. Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and New York are also an easy drive or train ride away.
However, renting an apartment or buying a home in Baltimore isn’t going to be for everyone. Fortunately, there are countless cities near Baltimore that may meet your budget and needs while keeping you within commuting distance. Redfin has gathered 11 cities near Baltimore to consider buying a house or renting an apartment this year. Check them out – you may end up deciding to call one of them home.
#1: Dundalk, MD
Miles from Baltimore: 10
Population: 64,000
Median home sale price: $199,000
Average 1-bed rent: $1,187
Walk Score: 49
Bike Score: 31
Transit Score: 43
Dundalk, MD, comprises more than 20 small town-like neighborhoods, all with easy access to Baltimore. Its 43 miles of waterfront, great restaurants, and expansive parks make it a desirable place to live. A fun fact about the city is that it was named after Dundalk, Ireland.
There are a variety of things to do in Dundalk. There are several parks and recreation areas, including the Patapsco Valley State Park, which offers hiking, biking, and camping. There are also some historical sites, such as the Thomas Viaduct and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Museum. There’s something for everyone living in Dundalk.
Homes for sale in Dundalk, MD
Apartments for rent in Dundalk, MD
#2: Towson, MD
Miles from Baltimore: 10
Population: 58,000
Median home sale price: $408,345
Average 1-bed rent: $1,807
Walk Score: 50
Bike Score: 37
Transit Score: 36
Towson is located just north of Baltimore’s city center. It is best known as the home of Towson University, Maryland’s second-largest university. Towson might be a college town, but has all the benefits of living in a major metropolitan area, including shopping, entertainment, and family activities.
There are plenty of things to do for those living in Towson. Residents can visit the Towson Town Center mall, dine at one of the many restaurants, or catch a movie at the AMC Towson Town Center 16 movie theater. For those looking for something more active, residents can check out the Towson Sports Complex, which offers a variety of sports facilities and programs. There are also several parks in the area, and perfect for a picnic or a game of fetch with a furry friend.
Homes for sale in Towson, MD
Apartments for rent in Towson, MD
#3: Ellicott City, MD
Miles from Baltimore: 13
Population: 73,500
Median home sale price: $690,000
Average 1-bed rent: $1,760
Walk Score: 23
Bike Score: 11
Transit Score: 23
Ellicott City, MD, is recognized for Centennial Park, which has won awards for its natural design and sensitivity to nature. The city is home to 73,000 residents and provides a welcoming and small-town feel. An interesting fact about the city is that its home to the oldest surviving railroad station in the U.S.
If you’re moving to Ellicott City, you won’t be disappointed by the wealth of things to do in the area. The area is known for its museums, like the Ellicott City B&O Railroad Station Museum and the Ellicott City Firehouse Museum, as well as the Howard County Historical Society. You can also catch a show at the Blackbox Theatre or browse the local galleries, like the Howard County Arts Council. And when you need to get some fresh air, you can explore one of the many parks, such as Centennial Park, Patapsco Valley State Park, and or Patapsco State Park.
Homes for sale in Ellicott City, MD
Apartments for rent in Ellicott City, MD
#4: Glen Burnie, MD
Miles from Baltimore: 13
Population: 70,000
Median home sale price: $360,000
Average 1-bed rent: $1,457
Walk Score: 36
Bike Score: 22
Transit Score: 41
Glen Burnie, Maryland, is located in Anne Arundel County. The city has more than a dozen neighborhoods, each with its own local flavor.
There are plenty of things to do in Glen Burnie, Maryland. For outdoor enthusiasts, there are hiking and biking trails at the nearby Patuxent River Park. History buffs can explore the Glen Burnie House, a historic home dating back to the 18th century. The Maryland Maritime Museum is also worth a visit, as is the Anne Arundel County Fairgrounds. For shoppers, the Arundel Mills Mall is a popular destination. And for those looking for a bite to eat, there are plenty of restaurants, cafes, and bars to choose from.
Homes for sale in Glen Burnie, MD
Apartments for rent in Glen Burnie, MD
#5: Severn, MD
Miles from Baltimore: 16
Population: 53,500
Median home sale price: $470,000
Average 1-bed rent: $2
Walk Score: 17
Bike Score: 16
Transit Score: 30
Severn, MD, is known for its industrial past, rich natural resources, and suburban feel. With a population of just 51, 000, it offers the benefit of small-city living with the perks of being located near many large cities, including Washington, D.C., and Baltimore.
Severn is a great place to move to, with plenty of places to visit. The downtown area has a vibrant art and culture scene, and you’ll never get tired of it. The city is also home to Jessup-Provinces Park, Lake Village Park, and Quail Run Dog Park – perfect for a relaxing day out. For a taste of what Severn has to offer, make sure to grab a bite to eat at China Sea Restaurant.
Homes for sale in Severn, MD
Apartments for rent in Severn, MD
#6: Columbia, MD
Miles from Baltimore: 20
Population: 105,500
Median home sale price: $425,000
Average 1-bed rent: $1,751
Walk Score: 33
Bike Score: 28
Transit Score: 32
Columbia is known for being comprised of 10 self-contained villages. The village concept gives Columbia a small-town feel even though its population is 105, 500.
Living in Columbia means you’ll have access to a vibrant town center featuring Lake Kittamaqundi, a promenade, restaurants, a mall with a variety of shops, department stores, and a multiplex movie theater. Other popular attractions include the Columbia Museum of Art, the National Aquarium, and the Maryland Zoo.
Homes for sale in Columbia, MD
Apartments for rent in Columbia, MD
#7: Annapolis, MD
Miles from Baltimore: 30
Population: 39,500
Median home sale price: $550,000
Average 1-bed rent: $2,360
Walk Score: 48
Bike Score: 35
Transit Score: 58
Annapolis, MD, is a beautiful city located on the water. It’s known as the Sailing Capital of the U.S. and home to the U.S. Naval Academy. Annapolis is also home to Romanesque-style buildings, such as St. Anne’s Episcopal Church, which features Tiffany glass windows.
There are a variety of things to do while living in Annapolis. Some popular attractions include visiting the United States Naval Academy, strolling through the historic district, and enjoying the waterfront. Restaurants and top-rated eateries are found in Annapolis, so you don’t want to skip over these local favorites. For a quick taste of the town, stop by Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurants, Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant, and Chevy’s Fresh Mex Restaurants.
Homes for sale in Annapolis, MD
Apartments for rent in Annapolis, MD
#8: Bowie, MD
Miles from Baltimore: 30
Population: 58,000
Median home sale price: $490,000
Average 1-bed rent: $2,052
Walk Score: 25
Bike Score: 24
Transit Score: 38
The city of Bowie, Maryland, has a rich and diverse historic and cultural heritage. The city was incorporated in 1874 as Huntington but changed its name in honor of local resident Governor Oden Bowie. Bowie has since become a dynamic community and rivaling the most prosperous cities in the region.
If you’re looking for things to do in Bowie, Maryland, there are plenty of options available. You could visit the Bowie Train Museum, take a walk or hike through one of Bowie’s many parks, or check out the historic Bowie Town Center. Or, if you’re looking for something more active, you could play a round of golf at one of Bowie’s several golf courses or attend a concert or event at the Bowie Center for the Performing Arts. And, of course, you could always shop at one of Bowie’s many retail stores and outlets. Whatever you choose to do, you’re sure to have a great time living in Bowie.
Homes for sale in Bowie, MD
Apartments for rent in Bowie, MD
#9: Silver Spring, MD
Miles from Baltimore: 35
Population: 81,000
Median home sale price: $540,000
Average 1-bed rent: $1,852
Walk Score: 63
Bike Score: 63
Transit Score: 58
Silver Spring, Maryland, is a city located on the northern border of Washington, D.C. This city is a great place to live if you’re looking for all the entertainment and arts of a major city without the congestion and other issues that usually come with city living. Silver Spring is made up of many different neighborhoods, each of which feels more like the suburbs, and with quiet streets and plenty of space.
There is a lot to do in Silver Spring. There are plenty of great restaurants, bars, shops, and parks to explore. The American Film Institute Silver Theatre and the National Museum of African Art are both located in Silver Spring. Several great events take place in Silver Spring throughout the year, such as the Silver Spring Jazz Festival and the Silver Spring Blues Festival.
Homes for sale in Silver Spring, MD
Apartments for rent in Silver Spring, MD
#10: Germantown, MD
Miles from Baltimore: 48
Population: 90,000
Median home sale price: $391,000
Average 1-bed rent: $1,743
Walk Score: 36
Bike Score: 37
Transit Score: 45
Germantown, MD, is a city with a lot to offer. Not only is it home to beautiful national parks, but it also has a rich history dating back to the Civil War. The city gets its name from the German settlers who opened shops along the main road during the 1800s. Today, Germantown is a welcoming and small-town feel city with various outdoor venues to visit, including peach orchards and farmers’ markets.
There are plenty of things to do for those living in Germantown. There are plenty of shops and restaurants to explore in the historic downtown area, and the community is home to several parks, including the Seneca Creek State Park. There are also several events and festivals held throughout the year, such as the Germantown Oktoberfest and the Germantown Day Celebration.
Homes for sale in Germantown, MD
Apartments for rent in Germantown, MD
#11: Frederick, MD
Miles from Baltimore: 50
Population: 72,000
Median home sale price: $392,600
Average 1-bed rent: $1,767
Walk Score: 47
Transit Score: 47
Frederick, MD, which is home to 72, 000 people, has a 50-block historic district with a lot of Civil War history. It’s a small city, so you’ll get that small-town feel. An interesting detail is that Frederick served as a major hospital center during the Civil War for wounded soldiers. Another fun piece of information is that Frederick was home to Francis Scott Key and the author of the Star-Spangled Banner.
There are many things to do in Frederick, Maryland. The National Museum of Civil War Medicine, downtown Frederick with its shops and restaurants, the historic buildings, Gambrill State Park, the Monocacy National Battlefield, and the Weinberg Center for the Arts are just some of the attractions.
Homes for sale in Frederick, MD
Apartments for rent in Frederick, MD
Methodology: All cities must have a population of more than 50,000 and be less than 50 miles away from Baltimore. Median home sale price data from the Redfin Data Center during August 2022. Average rental data from Rent.com during August 2022. Walk Score, Bike Score, and Transit Score from Walkscore.com during August 2022. Population data sourced from the United States Census Bureau.