2123 Walbrook Ave, Baltimore, MD 21217 — 31.8% Cash-on-Cash

About this property

2123 Walbrook Ave is a 3-bedroom, 1-bath row home in Baltimore's 21217 zip code, listed at $99,900 with 1,200 square feet of living area on a 2,614-square-foot lot.

The listing describes a move-in-ready property with LVP flooring throughout and fresh paint — two signals that a landlord won't face immediate cosmetic capital expenditures. The kitchen has been updated, and the main level flows into a living room configured for flexible use. An unfinished basement adds optionality: storage now, potential finished space later if a buyer wants to expand livable square footage.

Six days on market is a short runway, which typically indicates either strong early interest or a price point that's attracting quick attention. The tax-assessed value sits at $30,000 against a $99,900 ask — a wide gap that's common in Baltimore's distressed-adjacent inventory but worth flagging as context for future reassessment risk. The property is classified as non-owner occupied and carries no pre-foreclosure or auction flag, keeping the title picture cleaner than comparably priced listings in the zip.

The $250/month HOA fee is the one line item that demands attention before closing. It accounts for roughly a quarter of the total monthly payment and will compress cash flow if it escalates.

The investment case

31.8% cash-on-cash is the highest figure in ZIP 21217 — 7.6 percentage points above the zip average of 24.2% — and it clears Baltimore's top-10 leaderboard threshold of 30.85%.

List Price

$99,900

Monthly Payment (PITI+HOA)

$1,029

Principal & Interest

$559

Property Tax

$187

Insurance

$33

HOA

$250

PMI

$0

Est. Monthly Rent

$1,559

Estimated rent based on automated valuation of comparable listings.

Cash-on-Cash Return

31.8%

Cap Rate

15.3%

Monthly Cash Flow

$530

Gross Rent Multiplier

5.3

DSCR

2.3

The numbers start with a $99,900 purchase price. At 20% down with a 6.66% 30-year fixed rate, principal and interest runs $559/month. Add $187 in property taxes, $33 in insurance, and the $250 HOA fee, and total monthly carrying cost lands at $1,029. Against an estimated $1,559/month rent, that produces $530 in monthly cash flow before maintenance reserves.

The cap rate of 15.3% and net operating income of $1,276/month reflect strong income relative to price. A gross rent multiplier of 5.3 means the property theoretically pays for itself in rent collected in roughly five years — well below the 10-to-12 range that characterizes typical buy-and-hold markets. The debt service coverage ratio of 2.3 means rental income covers the mortgage payment more than twice over, giving meaningful buffer against vacancy or rent softness.

For context: Baltimore's city-wide average cash-on-cash return is -1.4%. Most listings here don't pencil as rentals at standard financing. This property at 31.8% CoC isn't just positive — it's an outlier by a wide margin. The city median listing price is $407,000; at $99,900, this property costs roughly 75% less while generating income that most higher-priced listings can't match.

Figures exclude depreciation tax benefits, which vary by individual tax situation.

The investment case here is straightforward: low acquisition cost, above-market yield, and a financing structure that keeps monthly obligations well below projected rent.

Annual return outlook

The projected 42.7% total five-year ROI breaks into three components, with cash flow doing the heaviest lifting.

Cash flow contributes 31.8% of the 42.7% five-year return — the dominant driver by a wide margin. Mortgage paydown adds 6.9%, reflecting the equity accumulation that comes with a low purchase price and a standard amortization schedule. Appreciation contributes an estimated 3.9% annually, though that figure is a modeled estimate rather than a data-scraped market rate, so it carries more uncertainty than the cash flow and paydown components.

The appreciation contribution is the least reliable variable. At a $99,900 basis, even modest nominal gains translate to small absolute dollar amounts. A property appreciating at 3.9% annually adds roughly $3,900 in year one — meaningful relative to the purchase price, but not the thesis anchor here. The thesis is yield, not appreciation.

What the five-year breakdown makes clear is that this deal doesn't need Baltimore to outperform on home price growth. The cash flow alone — $530/month, $6,360/year — covers the return target even if appreciation comes in below estimate. That's a structurally more durable position than appreciation-dependent plays, which describe most of the city's inventory at the $407,000 median price point.

How it compares to nearby for-sale listings

Four active for-sale listings in ZIP 21217 provide pricing context, with a comp median of $225,000 — more than double this property's ask.

At $99,900, this property is priced 55.6% below the for-sale comp median of $225,000 in the zip. That discount is the first thing an investor should interrogate. Two of the four comps are priced well below market norms — one at $56,900 and one at $20,000 — which signals that distressed or heavily discounted inventory is a real part of the 21217 supply picture. The $329,990 new construction listing at the high end skews the range considerably.

The $225,000 comp at 2049 Division St offers the most relevant benchmark: 3 bedrooms, 3 baths, 2,100 square feet, 34 days on market. It's larger and better-appointed, but its price-per-square-foot of roughly $107 compares to approximately $83/sqft at 2123 Walbrook. That gap could reflect condition, location within the zip, or bath count — all variables a buyer should verify on inspection.

Six days on market for this listing versus 34 to 59 days for the comps suggests either early-stage momentum or a price point that's attracting fast attention. It doesn't guarantee a bidding situation, but it does suggest the window to underwrite carefully is short.

Rental demand in this zip

There are no active rental comps in ZIP 21217 for 3-bedroom properties, so the $1,559/month rent estimate carries more uncertainty than a comp-supported figure would.

Zero comparable rentals in the zip means the $1,559/month estimate is a projection, not a market-validated rate. That's a material distinction. In a zip with active rental inventory, you can triangulate against actual leased units. Here, the estimate stands alone.

The practical implication: the $530/month cash flow and 31.8% CoC return are only as reliable as that rent figure. If the achievable rent is $1,350 instead of $1,559 — a 13% haircut — monthly cash flow drops to roughly $321 and the CoC return compresses significantly. Investors should budget for a lease-up period and consider whether the local tenant pool can absorb $1,559 before treating the projection as a floor.

What works in the estimate's favor: the HOA fee of $250/month, which is already baked into the cost side, suggests a managed property environment that may support stable occupancy. The move-in-ready condition also reduces time-to-rent. But without active comps to anchor the number, conservative underwriting means stress-testing the rent assumption before closing.

Who this property suits + risks to weigh

This property fits a yield-focused investor comfortable with a single-asset Baltimore bet — not a buyer who needs appreciation to make the math work.

Best fit

The investor who benefits most here is one with $20,000 to $25,000 in available capital, a tolerance for Baltimore's urban market dynamics, and a priority on current income over long-term appreciation. The 31.8% cash-on-cash return and $530/month cash flow are the draw. At this price point, the downside is capped in dollar terms even in a stress scenario — a $99,900 loss is painful but not portfolio-ending for most investors.

The deal also suits a landlord who can self-manage or has a local property manager in place. The $250/month HOA fee already handles some building-level costs, but active management of a single-family rental in this price tier typically requires hands-on oversight to protect the yield.

Risks to weigh

The HOA fee is the most immediate structural risk. At $250/month, it's 24% of total monthly carrying cost. Any increase compresses cash flow directly. Investors should pull the HOA financials and reserve fund status before closing — an underfunded HOA in a distressed zip can become a special assessment liability.

The tax-assessed value of $30,000 against a $99,900 purchase price is a second flag. Baltimore reassesses periodically, and a sale at $99,900 could trigger a reassessment closer to purchase price, pushing the $187/month tax figure higher. The 1.54% effective rate applied to a higher assessed value changes the monthly math.

Finally, the absence of rental comps means the $1,559 rent estimate is unverified by market data. Vacancy risk in a zip with limited rental comp activity is harder to model than in a supply-rich market.