erties in Baltimore County had a foreclosure filing during the year. The median sales price in the city was $103,000 in 2018 down 6 percent from 2017 compared to $225,000 in the county where the price was up 5 percent from the year before. To realtor, investor, mentor and author Ian Parrish whose family has been in Baltimore real estate for decades, real estate is not about location but about cash flow, equity and controlling property. “You don’t have to buy real estate, you just have to control it. In any market, you're going to have the opportunity to go under the rocks and get out of the mainstream,” said Parrish, who is also president of the Investors United School of Real Estate Investing. “I want to make my equity when I buy and realize it when I sell. There are still people underwater who just want the property out of their name. The most important thing is to realize it’s there.” AHIGHER POINT OF ENTRY Home to a population of more than 1 million people, Mont- gomery County is the most populous county in the state. It is also one of the more costly places to live in the state. So for investors looking for investment properties there, the point of entry into the market is going to be higher. With an unemployment rate that averaged 3.3 percent in 2018, investors are not only competing with each other for
That’s not to say that flipping is not happening in Montgomery County. ATTOM reported for the third quar- ter of 2018 that 104 flips were done, representing 2.9 percent of all home sales in that quarter and down 28 percent from the same quarter a year ago. 69 percent of all flipped properties were bought all cash, at a median purchase price of $240,500. Investors saw a gross return on investment of 49.7 percent, a 13 percent increase in ROI from a year ago. One in every 265 properties in Montgomery County had a foreclosure filing in 2018. The county ended 2018 with a median sales price of $430,000, a 4 percent in- crease from 2017. While Saenger’s is almost exclusively a referral busi- ness, when it comes to new investors he recommends they look to a seasoned investor to advise them on how to pencil out a deal that makes sense. “People get a false understanding of what it takes to do this stuff and then are disappointed when they don’t make what they think they should,” he said. “You don’t want to have the most expensive house in the neighbor- hood. Nobody will pay for it.”
You don’t have to buy real estate, you just have to control it. In any market your going to have the opportunity to go under the rocks and get out of the mainstream. I want to make my equity when I buy and realize it when I sell. There are still people underwater who just want the property out of their name. The most important thing is to realize it’s there.”
IAN PARRISH
available assets, but also with traditional buyers including parents looking to buy condos near well-known universi- ties for their kids. “People who are investing in Montgomery County are people who have money, live here or are bringing in money from overseas,” said Alex Saenger, president of the Saenger Group LLC with the Rockville office of Keller Williams. “Our area is a big area for wholesalers. If you can afford it, buy and hold is the best strategy long term for investors.”
People who are investing in Montgomery County are people who have money, live here or are bringing in money from overseas.”
MEDIAN HOME PRICE COMPARISON
ALEX SAENGER
BALTIMORE
BALTIMORE CITY
$250,000
$225,000
$215,000
ADECADE OF CHANGE To O’Ranti J. Robinson, a broker with RE/MAX Pro- fessionals in College Park, the last 10 years have seen significant change in Prince George’s County, particularly in the real estate sector. “There’s a lot of things in the works that will push the economy in the area and housing is a big part of it,” Robinson said. “When investors do come in there has been significant change in terms of the neighborhoods because investors are taking chances and being support- ive of local government.”
$205,000
$199,900
$199,500
$200,000
$198,000
$190,000
$150,000
$110,000
$103,000
$102,000
$100,000
$96,335
$90,000
$90,000
$88,079
> Continued on :: PG 65
$50,000
Joel Cone is a freelance business writer based in Southern California. His articles have appeared in California Real Estate magazine, Real Estate Southern California, OC Metro, GlobeSt.com, Foreclosure News Report, the Los Angeles Daily Journal and the Smarter Investor blog for U.S. News &World Report, as well as many other print and online publica-
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tions. Contact him at snocone1030@gmail.com.
58 | think realty housing news report :: april / may 2019
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