Maryland contains two very different investor propositions. Baltimore offers some of the lowest entry pricing on the East Coast alongside a distinctive rowhome inventory and complications that do not exist elsewhere. The Washington suburbs in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties are high-basis, high-demand markets with correspondingly tight ratios.
The short answer: A fix-and-flip loan funds the purchase and renovation of an investment property, with programs reaching up to 90 percent of total cost and 100 percent of the rehab budget released in draws as work is completed. Underwriting centers on the deal — purchase price, rehab budget, and after-repair value — rather than tax returns. In Maryland, the age and condition of the available inventory is what usually drives scope and therefore leverage.
Baltimore rowhomes are the core of Maryland flip inventory, and they carry conditions detached-home budgets do not anticipate: party walls, shared roof and cornice work, and neighboring vacancy affecting both scope and eventual value. Comparable sales vary block by block more than in most cities. The Washington suburbs offer conventional flip economics at much higher basis.
Primary markets: Baltimore · Columbia · Silver Spring · Rockville · Annapolis · Frederick
Maryland has a legal feature no other state carries at scale: ground rent. Many older Baltimore properties are held as leasehold rather than fee simple, with an annual ground rent owed to a separate ground rent holder and a redemption process to convert to fee simple. Title work has to identify it, some capital sources will not lend on unredeemed leasehold at all, and an investor who has not encountered it before will not think to ask. Baltimore’s vacant property inventory adds a second layer, since acquisition through those channels can carry obligations that are not obvious from a listing.
Your rehab scope is conventional, your experience is documented, and the ARV is well supported by recent comparable sales.
This is a first or second flip, the rehab budget is large relative to purchase, or the ARV rests on thin comparable data.
No lender is best for every deal. Kiavi, Easy Street Capital, RCN Capital, Lima One, New Silver, Dominion Financial all write fix-and-flip loans in Maryland and all are legitimate options. They differ on leverage, credit floors, property types and experience requirements. The useful question is which fits this deal.
Works: An investor with a property under contract and a defined rehab scope, exiting by sale or by refinancing into a rental loan.
Does not: The property is owner-occupied, the ARV is unsupported by comparable sales, or there is no rehab budget on a property that clearly needs one.
Rowhome-specific conditions plus the ground rent question. Party walls, shared roof and cornice conditions, and neighboring vacancy all affect scope and eventual value in ways a detached-home budget would not anticipate. Properties acquired through vacancy or receivership channels can also carry obligations that are not obvious from the listing.
They vary block by block more than in most cities, and neighboring vacancy is a significant factor in what a renovated property will support. Two rowhomes a few streets apart can justify very different values, which affects both your margin and the lender’s confidence in the appraisal.
There is no single best lender for every scenario. Kiavi, Easy Street Capital, RCN Capital, Lima One, New Silver, Dominion Financial all write fix-and-flip loans and each has different guidelines. The right answer depends on the specific deal. LendingStreet places the same scenario across 30+ capital sources so the comparison happens on one application.
Yes, in all 50 states including Maryland. These are business-purpose loans on non-owner-occupied investment property, from $150,000 with no stated maximum. No W-2 or tax returns required and LLC borrowers are welcome.
Have a Maryland deal? Tell us the scenario and we will price it across our capital sources.
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