I live in Patterson Park and know the condition of those homes and I don't feel this will have any effect on the area. Harbor House was disinvested in the area for years prior to this sale, and their homes are in all kinds of disrepair. The houses auctioned were probably last renovated in the 60s and Harbor House was reluctant to spend money on replacing broken windows let alone upkeep.

The sale price says absolutely nothing about the surrounding area, which is still growing and becoming solid middle class. Just drive down Baltimore or Fairmount and look at all of the construction happening in the middle of the recession, or stop in at Bistro for dinner some night.

As I started out saying, those homes were all garbage before the auction, I don't see why anyone should have expected them to fetch a premium.

The auction information given to bidders says the homes were renovated between 2000 and 2008 ("new windows, updated kitchens and bathrooms, as well as updated plumbing, electrical, and HVAC systems"). Of course, anyone who's lived in Baltimore for a while will attest that there's a big range in what companies mean by "renovated," and rehab work on homes intended as rentals isn't usually at the same level as rehab work on homes intended for sale.

Sheldon Good & Co. says other investor-owned properties in the area are selling for about $100,000.

As I stated before in an earlier blog, these homes were "renovated" in a manner in which running water is an amenity. I lived next to one of their "renovated" homes and the the vinyl around the "new" window is literally chalked on to secure it and I had to go outside and attach it a number of times after rain storms because Harbor House refused to fix their properties. I'm sure the marketing about these homes was great, but the reality is that they were in complete disrepair and we can only hope that the new owner is more responsible than the last.

As for the "market rate" in the Patterson Park area, that's really hard to determine given the glut of investors snatching up previously vacants or unrenovated homes for rehab. If you look at the recent sales data (http://www.zillow.com/homes/recently_sold/Baltimore-MD/#/homes/recently_sold/39.295531,-76.572085,39.290674,-76.581462_rect/16_zm/) you see everything from investor houses going for 30-50K to totally renovated homes with great amenities going for 200K+.

Finally... I wouldn't use the word of an auctioneer as the market rate price in any neighborhood, haha! Come on Jamie, I'd think you have better resources than that?!

I wasn't taking the word of the auctioneer on the market rate, Joe -- I was offering it up as an example of how the homes went for a lot less than what the auctioneer says is the market rate, which could suggest something about the condition of the homes relative to what's around them. Sort of buttresses your point, I thought. :-D

I've got good figures on sales prices by ZIP code, and by neighborhood for the first six months of the year, but getting at investment homes vs. homeowner properties is trickier without sorting through sales one by one. I occasionally get data from the state Department of Assessments and Taxation that identifies buyers as owner-occupiers or non-owner-occupiers.

I live not far from many of these homes, was just rolling by some of them today (down Orleans St headed downtown).

I think the sales price isn't really representative of the "Patterson Park" area. These homes are mostly (or all?) North of Lombard Street, with many (most?) being north of Orleans aka route 40. Those are tough areas and fairly removed from the Park.

What makes sense for this bloc of homes is a property manager who can roll them into existing properties and benefit from economies of scale. If these houses have basic services (heat, water, electricity) I could see this as a revenue increase without a big hit to expenses. Knowing this area, I doubt many of these homes have central air or updated fixtures, but I don't think that's the point. A lot of these houses are right near the commander of the Eastern District of BPD whose own rental property has been sitting vacant for years due to tough tenants (the story was the Sun within the past week, look it up). This is not an easy area to rent, but if you already have boots on the ground (office staff, managers, handymen) it's doable. And the price seems about right. What will really determine if this is a good deal is whether the city sees population growth over time or whether outflow continues.

Does anyone know if this sale was approved and if it has closed?

Eric, I emailed the auctioneer and never heard back -- it's possible it got lost in the holiday shuffle. When I'm back at work and feeling better, I'll try again.