Home for the Holidays

Editor’s note: This article won first place (Division C) in the Local Column: Critical Thinking category of the Maryland, Delaware, and D.C. Press Association’s 2024 Contest. Read our other award-winning pieces here.

“Can we go enjoy our mortgage now?” my fiancé asks whenever our social batteries run low and we want to leave a party.

He and I are homebodies at heart. For years while living in apartments together (first in Havre de Grace and later in Pikesville), we dreamed of spending our free time on home repairs and yard work. That day finally arrived this summer when we became Baltimore homeowners.

I grew up in Baltimore County, my partner in Frederick County. But when deciding whether to buy in the city, there was no wavering: Baltimore is home. We set our sights on northeast Baltimore, where we were enchanted by walkable/bikeable neighborhoods with an array of restaurants and small businesses, expansive green spaces like Herring Run Park and Lake Montebello, and ample yards to facilitate our gardening ambitions. We had figured out the “location, location, location.” Then came the hard part: finding a house.

I had no illusion the journey toward homeownership would be easy. Early in the pandemic, competition was steep among buyers looking to take advantage of record-low interest rates. Offers frequently came in well above asking prices, often within hours of the house coming on the market, and many buyers even waived contingencies in an appeal to sellers.

I knew the challenges all too well, after helping my mom search for her own first house on a low income. From late 2020 to early 2021, we spent many evenings and weekends with her real estate agent touring homes in varying states of disrepair. As we encountered moldy basements, leaky roofs, and cracks that stretched up walls like long unkempt fingernails, the experience left us exasperated at times. But it also gave us the opportunity to explore parts of Baltimore we seldom — if ever — had visited before.

Our journey ranged from a Pigtown house with an interior staircase so narrow and winding you would have no hope of carrying a mattress to the upstairs bedroom; to a two-story home in Wilson Park, whose backyard abutted the local elementary school and whose street radiated with the light of the winter sunset; to a squat McElderry Park house, where my mom mused of renting the spare room to nurses at nearby Johns Hopkins Hospital for some extra income (as long as they were as short as her to handle the low ceilings). My mom put offers on at least five different properties – all ultimately rejected – before eventually buying a rowhouse on a quiet but welcoming street in east Baltimore.

By the time my fiancé and I entered the housing market in late 2022, demand had cooled, even if only slightly, from volcanic lava to an oven on full blast, while interest rates had climbed swiftly from their pandemic lows. Still, the stock of available affordable houses was small — as is the case across much of the country.

To put ourselves in the best possible position, we signed up for a homebuyer education course, a requisite for most of Baltimore’s homebuyer incentive programs (and simply a good step for any would-be buyer). In fact, our home search lasted so long we ended up taking the course twice, after our first year expired. Both times, during hours-long virtual presentations, the folks at the HARBEL community organization taught us about everything from creating a realistic budget to finding a good match in a real estate agent, lending agency, inspector and other individuals involved in the homebuying process.

After we completed the homebuyer education course the first time around, we sought a real estate agent with whom we felt compatible. We sifted through Live Baltimore’s database of local real estate agents before connecting with our agent, Stephen. Not only was he a wealth of real estate knowledge, he also shared our passion for old homes and our determination to find the right fit for our future family. That vision proved difficult — though ultimately not impossible — after facing a sea of flipped houses with open concept floor plans and gray laminate flooring. (For the record, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with liking those features; they’re just not what we had in mind.)

We visited a house that reeked of cat urine. Another had water-damaged ceilings and no kitchen appliances. In each, we saw the charm despite – and maybe even because – the hard work they would require. Over the course of those two years, we put offers on multiple homes but were outbid each time by buyers looking to flip and resell the properties.

In the meantime, we attended Live Baltimore’s Trolley Tour. Inside the halls and classrooms of Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, we joined hundreds of fellow buyers to meet real estate agents, lenders, inspectors, and other professionals; take workshops, such as an introduction to completing your own home repairs with the help of the Station North Tool Library; and ride a bus tour showcasing the diverse range of neighborhoods, amenities, and architectural styles across Baltimore City. 

Upon completion of the Trolley Tour event, which is held three times per year, attendees can apply for $5,000 toward their Baltimore home purchase. Here’s the catch: to be eligible for the incentive, applicants must enter into a home contract within 10 days of completing the tour. Twenty eligible applicants are then awarded incentives via a lottery system. In our case, we were unable to find a house we liked within that 10-day period. But even without the incentive program, the Trolley Tour event can be a great resource for first-time homebuyers.

In the summer of 2024, through a combination of luck and friendly letters to local homeowners, we connected with a couple who were preparing to sell their home. We were able to tour the house and submit an offer before the property was listed, allowing us to forgo the competition that had plagued our house hunt up until that point.

Some of our takeaways as first-time homebuyers in Baltimore City:

• Determine how much house you can comfortably afford. Many buyers find the house of their dreams, only to be let down when they learn it’s outside their price range. Or they see the maximum amount that a bank will lend them and run with that number, finding themselves “house poor” once they’ve moved in. While you might still face disappointment along the way, setting realistic expectations from the get-go will help you find the right house for you without straining your bank account.
• Create a budget and stick to it. There are more costs than just your monthly mortgage payment. Save up for a down payment. Different loans have different requirements, but in most cases if you want to avoid private mortgage insurance you will need to put at least 20% down. Budget for other costs that you likely didn’t have to pay as a renter, such as home repairs (both planned and emergency), potentially higher utility bills, etc. 
• Know the assistance programs that are available to you. Baltimore (and Maryland more widely) has a variety of homeownership incentives. Although we were not eligible for some of the income-restricted programs like the city’s First-Time Homebuyers Incentive Program, my employer did provide assistance through the Live Near Your Work program (thank you, Baltimore Fishbowl!). If your Baltimore employer isn’t already on the list, it doesn’t hurt to ask your boss to consider applying, like I did. It’s an easy process, and the city will match your employer’s contribution between $1,000 and $2,500. Although the city’s match is capped at $2,500, some employers will even contribute more than that for their portion.
• Figure out your “must-haves” and “would-like-to-haves” in a house. We’ll be the first to admit we were picky when it came to finding our house, which contributed to our long wait. In addition to our desired neighborhood, we knew we wanted something with “old house character” but strong bones, enough bedrooms for future children/aging parents, and a sizable yard for planting a garden. We were more flexible on square footage, and spaces like the kitchen and bathrooms could be updated to our preferences down the line. Know your priorities and what trade-offs you’re content with.
• When you move in, look into assistance programs that are available to homeowners, like Maryland’s Homestead Property Tax Credit Program and Homeowners’ Property Tax Credit Program, as well as assistance on utilities for income-eligible households.

At the risk of holiday cheesiness, I’ll leave you with these thoughts. Home is not a house, at least not inherently. Home is the place you feel safe and warm, and the people with whom you choose to share that comfort and joy. 

Home is being proposed to in your living room, surrounded by the love of family and friends. Home is watching “Survivor” with your fiancé and cheering for Baltimore’s Gabe Ortis as he performs the Ray Lewis touchdown dance after a challenge victory. Home is the sounds of cat paws pitter-pattering across wood floors, and meows for a meal that can’t come fast enough. Home is introducing yourself to your neighbors four months late, with bags of cookies in tow to let them know you’re thinking about them this holiday season. And home, for us, is Baltimore.