Baltimore | Imamother

amother

Teal

Sun, Jul 07 2024, 4:05 pm

This is really something that you need to discuss with one of the Baltimore real estate agents. I highly recommend renting before you buy for at least a year. Your question requires a lengthy answer, and you really should speak to somebody in person.
(There are easily 100 blocks, I’m sure you don’t want somebody to list all of them)

amother

Azure

Sun, Jul 07 2024, 4:13 pm

amother OP wrote:

Please tell me about the different frum areas. Which blocks should we look at if we want to keep housing costs as low as possible, but still be in the frum community and away from crime?

Away from crime? Crime isn't limited to a specific part of Baltimore. Some areas are less diverse, but that doesn't translate directly to less crime.

amother

DarkViolet

Sun, Jul 07 2024, 4:36 pm

The safer areas are in the county and are more expensive.

Even in the county you will have some crime.

The cheapest housing is the semi detached houses in the city. I think they are in the mid 200s. The most expensive housing is in the county new construction around 1.2 million.

amother

Nemesia

Sun, Jul 07 2024, 7:01 pm

amother Brown wrote:

Where is there new construction in the county? Is it near frum families?

Sounds like she's referring to Beazar, which is definitely in the frum area. But I think some houses in Dumbarton/Lightfoot might be more expensive than Beazar.

amother

Nemesia

Sun, Jul 07 2024, 7:08 pm

amother OP wrote:

Please tell me about the different frum areas. Which blocks should we look at if we want to keep housing costs as low as possible, but still be in the frum community and away from crime?

How small of a house are you willing to buy in order to keep costs down? There are actually some semi-detached homes in the county, if you really want to stay out of the city. Look in Forest Green area.
But like others said, being in the county is not a guarantee against crime. I'm in the county and feel safe enough to walk my block at night, but there are car thefts and burglaries that happen every now and then.
If you need a bigger home, there are areas in the city that are okay, especially if they're on a densley frum block. As a general rule, the further you are from Reisterstown Rd or Northern Parkway, the better.

amother

DarkViolet

Sun, Jul 07 2024, 7:20 pm

amother Nemesia wrote:

Sounds like she's referring to Beazar, which is definitely in the frum area. But I think some houses in Dumbarton/Lightfoot might be more expensive than Beazar.

Yes. I meant Beazer. There is also some houseing near Beth Tefillah that is same style and more expensive I think.

Also, Summit Park/Chase extended their eruv in the last couple years and with the new shul there lots of frum families are moving in. Its not super affordable though.

The standard Summit Park is going for about 500k and the bigger ones for about 1 million (beazer style). The townhomes though might be a good option but you will be paying for HOA costs in certain summit chase homes.

amother

Snowflake

Sun, Jul 07 2024, 7:42 pm

Also figure out where you want to daven. And define reasonable price for a house. What’s cheap for you might be expensive for me. The semis in forest green are going for mid 300s I think. Lots of people are buying houses and either knocking down and building a new house or adding on. It’s happening all over Ranchleigh. Housing prices are coming down but people are still paying over the asking price. A house I know if was on the market for about a day or two and sold for $50,000 over the asking price. Beazer and summit park are hoa communities. So is Bancroft village. Taxes are much higher in the city and houses cost less. Taxes are lower in the county and houses cost more. Water is more expensive in the city, average bill is about $150 a month. In the county you get a bill every three months for about $70. Car insurance used to be more in the city, don’t know if that’s still true. If your kids need services you might want to choose one place over the other. Also remember you will need at least two cars, and there is no bussing.

amother

Daffodil

Tue, Jul 09 2024, 9:48 pm

There is a first time home buyer program in the city only. You can get $10,000 towards purchase and $7,500 towards closing. We got it through Bank of America. You can also get $5,000 from the trolley tour. These were all things we got 3 years ago when we bought. We also qualified for the weatherization program which insulated our home and gave us a new boiler. Plus some other small things like more efficient lights and fans in bathroom. There are services only available in the city such as Title One.
It’s true that our water bill is extremely high ( I also don’t think it correlates to our water usage at all!)

amother

Junglegreen

Tue, Jul 09 2024, 11:12 pm

Quote:

We also qualified for the weatherization program which insulated our home and gave us a new boiler.

Is this only for new home owners or can anyone qualify. How does it work? How much do they cover? Would love more info.

amother

Daffodil

Tue, Jul 09 2024, 11:50 pm

amother Junglegreen wrote:

Quote:

We also qualified for the weatherization program which insulated our home and gave us a new boiler.

Is this only for new home owners or can anyone qualify. How does it work? How much do they cover? Would love more info.

I’m not sure.. I don’t think it’s specific to first time home owners. Maybe google it. We didn’t pay a penny for any of it. We qualified based on income…

amother

Junglegreen

Wed, Jul 10 2024, 12:40 am

Quote:

I’m not sure.. I don’t think it’s specific to first time home owners. Maybe google it. We didn’t pay a penny for any of it. We qualified based on income…

Then we probably won't qualify. Somehow we always earn just a couple dollars over the allowed amount for these income based programs.

amother

Sunflower

Wed, Jul 10 2024, 12:53 am

as far as I know, the cheapest frum neighborhood that is really safe and crime free bH is the neighborhood next to TA. Houses go there for $350-440k approx over there, the houses are not huge but they are usually 3 or 4 bedrooms upstairs and more bedrooms downstairs, or at least space for more downstairs.
It's not really in the main Baltimore eruv though, its a 5-6 minute drive from the edge of the community. I know its only 5 mins from 7-mile market, I once sent my child to a playgroup there and that's how long it took to get there. I have a friend who lives there and is very happy. Only about 40 frum families live there so it's a bit limiting but it's a very cohesive kehilla. Maybe that would work for you OP? It's mostly yeshivish families I think. A lot of the people living there work in TA, but plenty of others don't.

Here are some houses that just sold: https://www.zillow.com/homedet.....zpid/
https://www.trulia.com/home/81.....24692

amother

Smokey

Sat, Jul 13 2024, 11:18 pm

amother Daffodil wrote:

Yes, we used CHAI and ended up not paying anything at closing! The attorney was shocked that we didn't even need a checkbook to close.

Re: water- if you think your bill is higher than your neighbors and you aren't using more than them, first have a plumber check for leaks, then contact city (if none were found). Ours was consistently double our whole block, no leaks, and we had a smaller family (so less showers and baths, etc). No leaks found. City ended up coming out and determining we were paying for both us and our neighbors, somehow (and they were also being charged). They fixed the meter and now it's more consistent (but prices went up).

amother

Lemonlime

Sat, Jul 13 2024, 11:35 pm

Relatively safer will mean more expensive..
There are 2-3 bedroom rentals in most neighborhoods..price will obviously vary with the area.
Summit chase townhouses are relatively affordable, and safe neighborhood. 430-450 but yes have HOA
Greengate is safe as well but has gotten quite expensive (700-800 minimum)
We live in Indian village and love it bh. It’s a wonderful community, there are houses that go on the market but very small ones will go for mid 400s (3 bedroom) people tend to renovate when they outgrow them.