baltimorecalling

baltimorecalling t1_itdpkbj wrote

The house next to me is being rehabbed by people who don't know what they're doing. I had 2 gas shut-offs at my house because we thought we had a gas leak. Turns out: it was theirs.

I had to get a stop work order issued, because it was dangerous and expensive for me (First time, BGE shut OUR gas off, and didn't trace the problem to the obvious construction next door. We had to pay AJ Michaels a pretty penny to clear our gas tag that same day).

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baltimorecalling t1_itc5cby wrote

Rehabbing these properties is not viable for most.

Even if someone finds a vacant with 'good bones', it's a lot of money, permitting, inspections, time to get one of these rehabbed.

On top of that, you have material costs, and labor costs. And even if a significant portion of the people buying these vacants have the skills to do the work, the permitting process requires licensed contractors for many of the jobs, so trying to save money by going DIY is not usually an option.

On top of all of that, you have issues with lead paint, asbestos, etc.

A lot of these vacants just need to be razed.

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baltimorecalling t1_it797tj wrote

It really depends on the basement. Certain foundations are more prone to flooding. Certain foundations may have mitigation methods installed (French drain systems, etc).

If you're buying a house, a competent home inspector should be able to evaluate for previous water incursion. If you're renting, I'd reach out to the landlord and ask.

Now, certain weather events can cause area-wide flooding. However, the FEMA flood map seems to have Boston Street out of the flood range. https://msc.fema.gov/portal/search?AddressQuery=baltimore%20maryland#searchresultsanchor

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