Buy low. Sell high. It’s the mantra of any investor.
But how does one accomplish this? Where are the opportunities?
In terms of real estate, you have to watch the trends. Where are property values rising? What are the emerging areas? Where do people really want to live?
This weekend, I spent the better part of a 60-degree(!) January afternoon in Baltimore showing property in the city’s Patterson Park neighborhood. Things are happening there.
It’s a trend I’ve witnessed first-hand in nearby Washington D.C. in recent years. In 2001, my nephew bought a run-down rowhouse on the edge of D.C’s Georgia Ave.-Petworth neighborhood. Still ravaged from the late-1960s riots that burned large swaths of the city, Petworth a decade ago epitomized urban blight: scores of boarded-up buildings, rampant crime and poverty.
But my nephew had his fingers on the pulse of the city and he saw that D.C.’s Metro subway system would turn Petworth into a coveted neighborhood. He bought his rowhouse there for $135,000 and 10 years later sold it for $580,000 – and this was AFTER the big real estate market crash of 2007. He spent nearly $250,000 improving the property, but still walked away with a profit of $200,000.
Patterson Park in Baltimore now appears ripe for such home value appreciation. Depending on condition and proximity to the park, two-bedroom, two-bathroom rowhouses, for example, can be purchased for as little as $50,000. Some interior remodeling work and an exterior facelift later, the same basic homes are currently fetching $250,000 and more.
When you tour the neighborhood, you see the transformation, house by house, block by block. Young working professionals and small families can be seen chatting on street corners, jogging and playing the in the park and tackling all sorts of handyman projects on their homes.
The historic Patterson Park area is tucked between Baltimore’s Canton neighborhood and John's Hopkins Medical Center, just east of Fells Point and Little Italy. The emerging enclave is within walking distance of a variety of the city's best restaurants, nightlife and cultural activities.
http://www.livebaltimore.com/neighborhoods/list/pattersonpark/
But the real gem of the area is the park itself, a 137-acre oasis with a boat lake (where people can fish, if they have a license), sports fields, tennis courts, playgrounds, a swimming pool and an ice skating rink. There also are several monuments and a well-known Pagoda.
During the summer and early autumn, several festivals are hosted in the park. But most important from a real estate investment perspective, the park and its surrounding environs are the center of an innovative urban renewal campaign by city and neighborhood leaders.
It’s a great place to consider investing in. If you’d like more information on current real estate investment opportunities in the Patterson Park community, please contact me at (443) 924-7418 or JerryKline@kw.com. I’d be happy to provide you with a list of available properties, including foreclosures, as well as any other financing and market data you might need.
