inquiry about owning a rowhome in baltimore (rent, insurance)

[thealfa]

This rowhome i'm looking into needs rehab. It needs to be paid off in cash. Anyway, so the yearly payment I'd have to worry about is: annual property tax and home insurance. Correct? This rowhome I'm looking into does not have a yard, therefore no outside maintenance (like mowing the lawn/gardening). I'm curious about trash collection. Is that included in the annual property tax? Here in Montgomery County I think there is a trash collection fee every 3 months or so (maybe for recycles not regular trash). Not sure how Baltimore works. Then there's monthly HOME utilities: water, electric, gas. What else did I miss? I just want to make sure that there's no surprises!

[jonjj]

Trash collection is included with you tax. No special fee.

[KLynch10]

Taxes, insurance, electric, water, cable, and possibly a ground rent like $50 a year.

[sl0622]

oooh - yes. Don't forget ground rent. Not all houses have ground rent - - go to the MDSDAT website, look up your property, and if there are links to "ground rent redemption" and/or "ground rent registration" you likely have to pay some amount of ground rent. It's not much.

Some areas of Bmore have special "benefits district" taxes, too - again, not much - although if you're looking to buy in West Bmore I don't think any exist over there. Midtown, Charles Village are the two areas I can think of off the top of my head.

[rudy_d]

You should be careful when considering the property tax. If the previous owner lived there for a while and benefited from the homestead property tax credit, you might end up having a much larger annual payment than they did if the house has appreciated in value, especially if you do renovations that improve the property. I know people who found that they had a higher tax bill than anticipated after closing.

An alarm system fee, if you think it's warranted, and a residential parking permit (which is only about $30 per year, if applicable) are the only other fees I can think of.

[thealfa]

No gas?

I'm not a TV person so no cable. LOL. Ground rent is? Does that mean I'd be paying for the ground the house sits on? Is that what it is for?

Originally Posted by KLynch10

Taxes, insurance, electric, water, cable, and possibly a ground rent like $50 a year.

[thealfa]

I think I was told the annual property tax is under $300, is this about right for certain parts of the city? How is the property tax determined anyway, by how much the house cost or by zip code? The homestead property tax credit was never mentioned anywhere so I'm not sure it applies.

Alarm system I could consider so are iron bars. Are there any rules regarding iron bars for doors and windows? I've seen these on some homes but not all. How do I know if I need residential parking permit?

Originally Posted by rudy_d

You should be careful when considering the property tax. If the previous owner lived there for a while and benefited from the homestead property tax credit, you might end up having a much larger annual payment than they did if the house has appreciated in value, especially if you do renovations that improve the property. I know people who found that they had a higher tax bill than anticipated after closing.

An alarm system fee, if you think it's warranted, and a residential parking permit (which is only about $30 per year, if applicable) are the only other fees I can think of.

[KLynch10]

Ground rents are stupid. I have one and it's like $60 a year. It means someone else owns the land. The only reason people own them is so they can seize properties if people default on the payments. Just make sure you pay it if you have one. Find the tax record on the house to gett all this info. Look out for liens as well, you don't want to buy a house and find there is a 20k lien on the property. A good title company can go figure all of this out.

The taxes should be 2.26 per $100 of assessed value. So 300k would have an annual tax of $6,780. The big game is, what does the city think your homes is worth? Buy low because they can only raise it 4% a year. At $300, the city thinks the home is worth $13,274. If it's worth much more, it's a great deal for taxes.

[KLynch10]

If you get an alarm system you also need a phone line. So you are looking at $70 extra bucks a month. I've never found it worth it. I live in fed hill and a home burglary would be nearly impossible with the all the neighbors and pedestrians around all the time. In a good rowhome block, people really keep an eye on your house.

[jonjj]

Originally Posted by KLynch10

If you get an alarm system you also need a phone line. So you are looking at $70 extra bucks a month. I've never found it worth it. I live in fed hill and a home burglary would be nearly impossible with the all the neighbors and pedestrians around all the time. In a good rowhome block, people really keep an eye on your house.

A phone line is not required for an alarm system.