A Trio of Blight: 932, 934, and 936 E Preston Street
2January 14, 2013 by Baltimore Slumlord Watch
Property Address: 932, 934, and 936 E Preston Street, Baltimore, MD 21202
Property Owner (932): Hyacinth Ingram, 137-12 223rd Street, Laurelton, NY 11413
Property Owner (934): James and Mae Matthews, same address
Property Owner (936): William and Yoma Howard, 8552 Stevenswood Road, Baltimore, MD 21224
City Council District and Contact: District 12, Carl Stokes
State Senator: Verna Jones Rodwell
State Delegates: Keith Haynes, Keiffer Mitchell Jr, Melvin Stukes


Looks like a $700,000+ rehab for the three buildings, on a block with a good walk score – 72 – but a lot of traffic. Assuming they could be made into 4 BRs, the only selling point would be the price, meaning $1000 per month rent for each. Potential 4% rate of return does not cover the cost of financing.
That’s the part I don’t understand. I’m assuming you know the neighborhood and surrounding area, so why would someone buy a house here and expect to receive a large return on their investment? It’s not the kind of neighborhood that’s ever going to see $2500+ monthly market rate rents. $1000 is the most someone would probably pay, and the idea is to get more homeowners onto these blocks — but what homeowner wants to live in the middle of a bunch of blighted homes?