Who pays that 17000 dollars? I would rather see Hopkins pay property taxes, not only are they Baltimore's biggest employer, but they are also the most arrogant and cheapest in way of paying their employees. How about contributing to Baltimore's financial well being Johns Hopkins?

they also employ and pay a good share of health benefits to a lot of people that would otherwise probably be on public assistance, so consider that before you go blasting Hopkins!

Your health care dollars pay for those grants. cost always gets past on.

university of maryland and hospital should offer this program on the west side around the BIO PARK. The housing stock in west baltimore is far better than east baltimore. You can find very large town houses for good prices, and if you get the homestead tax credit on top of purchasing a home at low price, you will have many years of low taxes. East baltimore, those taxes are already thru the roof in many areas. i had a friend buy a home for 125,000 and his taxes are almost 5000$ a year and he's got little chance of getting them lessened because the property was recently appraised much higher even though if he sold it tomarrow he wouldn't get what he paid for it. think people, those grants could be eaten up fast with higher taxes. you are still better off buying outside the city considering taxes, but if you do buy consider around the bio park in west baltimore your taxes will probably be much lower for many years to come. i bought a house for 140,000, and my taxes are 240$ because it was rehab.

The area around the B&O railroal roundhouse has improved quite a bit in the last 3 years.

Wow, some Hopkins folks could get some GREAT properties at a discount, since the top-tier boundaries near the university (as drawn on the realtors site, anyway) include at least some blocks that are very close to the Hopkins shuttle route on St. Paul and would be eligible for $17,000.

Hey, I'm wondering if multi-family properties are eligible? the search seems to default on single family and mobile homes ...

This is quick response to Dave (above): your friend who bought for $125K, and is being assessed at almost twice that, should APPEAL. If you search here you'll see that Jamie has a number of posts on this topic, and that the Baltimore tax board (I don't know the official name) is actually very fair. If you pay fair market value for a home and appeal based on your sales price, they will lower the assessment.

In my case they lowered the assessment by 45% after my appeal.

I guess it's cheaper to help them buy houses than to get them parking. The campus is going to lose another 1000 employee parking spots in the next year so it's probably smart to try to fill the surrounding neighborhoods with employees.

that Dave guy is either lying or his friend is kind of dumb. a 125k house would have property taxes of around 2,700/yr. he needs to appeal the assessment.

Wow, what an awesome benefit they are offering. In response to comment number one, doesn't Johns Hopkins offering an incentive to live nearby contribute to Baltimore's economy through property taxes and neighborhood price stability?

I am a recipient of a Hopkins Live Near Your Work Grant and was grateful to get it. This post didn't note 2 important things: 1, the grants, even the lowest one, are not all from Hopkins so someone's point that these grants are raising the cost of health care is just not even valid. Part of each grant comes from the city and part from Hopkins. I got 2 separate checks. Second, you don't just miraculously get a large grant. There is quite a process to go through including home buying and financial workshops and individual counseling. It was not a quick and easy process, but was obviously worth the time.

I live in the neighborhood just east of Hopkins Bayview, called Bayview (imagine that). It's a safe neighborhood and quiet with a great park and an ample amount of parking. Neighbors of mine participate in this grant. One neighbor bought her house about six or seven years ago, while a Hopkins employee, for a GREAT price and on top of that received assistance from the hospital/city. Now, they've put a lot of sweat equity into the house, and once they sell it will give them a huge down payment for where ever they go next. This program is helping to develop my community and I'm grateful for it.

Wow people are so mean. LOL I personally am happy that JHU gives employees incentives to live in the City.

Yes Hopkins should pay some sort of taxes, but I think employee benefits are a different topic.

First, I would like to applaud Johns Hopkins for offering this kind of incentive to encourage employees to live in the City. Second, it is my understanding that Hopkins sought a special grant from private sources to be able to offer this level of employee housing assistance, so this cost is not being passed on to consumers. It is sad to see the jaded and cynical nature of some of the comments posted.

This type of program is a win for everyone involved. The City benefits by boosting the property tax and income tax base. The neighborhoods benefit from the addition of homeowners investing in the neighborhood. The employees benefit by getting direct cash assistance to help them purchase a home. And yes Hopkins benefits by creating good will among its employees and helping to stabilize neighborhoods in the vicinity of its campuses. And I should add that the home sellers and REALTORS benefit as well.

If more employers would put forth the effort and commitment that Hopkins has made to promote City living, the City, its neighborhoods and residents would be much better off. The Greater Baltimore Board of REALTORS stands ready to work with other employers like Hopkins to make it easier for their employees to find suitable housing in the City.