3812 Flowerton Rd, Baltimore, MD 21229 — 33.3% Cash-on-Cash

About this property

3812 Flowerton Rd is a 4-bedroom, 2-bath single-family property in Baltimore's 21229 zip code, listed at $180,000 with 1,560 square feet of finished living space.

The listing describes a fully finished basement that adds a fourth bedroom, a full bath, and a wet bar with a wine cooler — a layout that functions well for house-hacking or maximizing rental income from a single tenant household. The main level features an open floor plan anchored by an electric fireplace set into an accent wall, which differentiates the interior from typical Baltimore rowhouse stock at this price point.

The property is non-owner occupied, which removes the owner-occupant friction common in sub-$200K acquisitions. A $10,000 price reduction from the original listing is on record, and at 231 days on market, the seller has demonstrated patience — or has a price expectation the market hasn't yet met. Tax-assessed value sits at $179,333, nearly identical to the ask, so there's no meaningful discount implied by the assessment gap. The lot size is not publicly recorded. Figures exclude depreciation tax benefits, which vary by individual tax situation.

The investment case

The financial profile here is unusually clean for a Baltimore sub-$200K acquisition: a 33.3% cash-on-cash return that leads all 4-bedroom single-family listings in zip 21229, against a zip average of 8.7%.

List Price

$180,000

Monthly Payment (PITI+HOA)

$1,378

Principal & Interest

$982

Property Tax

$336

Insurance

$60

HOA

$0

PMI

$0

Est. Monthly Rent

$2,377

Estimated rent based on automated valuation of comparable listings.

Cash-on-Cash Return

33.3%

Cap Rate

15.4%

Monthly Cash Flow

$999

Gross Rent Multiplier

6.3

DSCR

2.4

At a $180,000 purchase price with 20% down, the all-in monthly payment — principal, interest, taxes, and insurance — totals $1,378. Against an estimated monthly rent of $2,377, that leaves $999 in monthly cash flow before maintenance and vacancy reserves. That spread is wide enough to absorb meaningful expense variance without flipping negative.

The cap rate of 15.4% and net operating income of $2,317 per month reflect a gross rent multiplier of just 6.3x — meaning the property pays for itself in rent in roughly six years at current rents, before financing costs. The debt service coverage ratio of 2.4 is well above the 1.25 threshold most lenders require, which matters if a buyer intends to refinance or pull equity later.

The city average cash-on-cash sits at 0.0%, which frames this deal's 33.3% return in sharp relief. Baltimore's investment landscape at current mortgage rates is not uniformly friendly to cash-flow buyers, making this property's yield an outlier worth examining critically rather than accepting at face value. The rent estimate should be stress-tested against actual leasing conditions before closing — but the margin between payment and rent is wide enough that even a 15% haircut on rent still produces positive monthly cash flow.

Annual return outlook

The 5-year total return projection of 43.3% is driven primarily by cash flow, with appreciation and mortgage paydown as secondary contributors.

Cash flow accounts for 33.3 percentage points of the 43.3% projected 5-year ROI — it's doing the heavy lifting here. Mortgage paydown adds another 6.1 points as the tenant's rent chips away at the principal balance. Appreciation contributes an estimated 3.9 points annually, though that figure is a modeled estimate rather than a market-derived data point, so it carries more uncertainty than the cash-flow and paydown components.

The practical implication: this deal doesn't depend on Baltimore appreciating to generate returns. Even if appreciation comes in flat over five years, the cash-flow and paydown components alone project a 39.4% return on invested capital. That's a materially different risk profile than appreciation-dependent plays, where the entire thesis collapses if the market stalls.

For a buyer who wants yield now rather than a bet on future price growth, the 5-year math here is structurally sound — provided the rent estimate holds.

How it compares to nearby for-sale listings

Five active 4-bedroom listings in zip 21229 provide a clear price context for the $180,000 ask at 3812 Flowerton Rd.

The for-sale comp median in 21229 sits at $369,900 — more than double this property's listing price. On a price-per-square-foot basis, 3812 Flowerton Rd comes in at approximately $115/sqft against a comp range that spans roughly $160 to $184/sqft across the five comparables. That's a 28% to 37% discount to the peer group on a per-foot basis.

The comp set skews larger — ranging from 1,920 to 2,180 square feet versus 1,560 here — and all five carry more bathrooms or more square footage. But none are priced below $349,000, and four of the five have been listed for under two weeks, suggesting active buyer interest at those higher price points.

The 231 days on market at 3812 Flowerton Rd stands in contrast to comps that have moved in days. That gap warrants scrutiny. It could reflect condition issues not visible in the listing, a pricing history that spooked early buyers, or simply lower buyer demand at the investor-oriented end of the market. The $10,000 price reduction suggests at least one recalibration has already occurred.

Rental demand in this zip

There are no recorded 4-bedroom rental comps in zip 21229 to benchmark against, which introduces meaningful uncertainty into the $2,377 monthly rent estimate.

The absence of direct rental comparables in 21229 for 4-bedroom units is the single largest data gap in this analysis. The $2,377 estimated monthly rent is the foundation of the entire cash-flow case — a 33.3% cash-on-cash return, a $999 monthly surplus, a 15.4% cap rate — and without local rental comps to anchor it, that number carries more model risk than the headline metrics suggest.

What the property's layout does support: the finished basement with a separate bedroom and bath creates a unit that can appeal to larger households or those wanting flex space, which typically commands a premium over standard 3-bedroom above-grade inventory. The wet bar and wine cooler are amenities that read as upgrades in the sub-$2,500 Baltimore rental market.

A buyer's due diligence should include direct outreach to local property managers to validate achievable rents before committing. Even if actual rent comes in 10% below the estimate — around $2,139 — the monthly cash flow remains positive at roughly $761. A 20% shortfall brings cash flow to approximately $523. The deal has buffer; it just hasn't been empirically confirmed by the local comp market.

Who this property suits + risks to weigh

This property suits a cash-flow-oriented investor comfortable with Baltimore's sub-$200K market and willing to independently verify rent assumptions before closing.

Best fit

The buyer profile here is someone deploying capital for yield, not appreciation. A 33.3% cash-on-cash return at a $36,000 down payment is a low-barrier entry into a deal that — if the rent estimate holds — generates nearly $12,000 in annual cash flow. That math works for a first-time landlord building a portfolio, a seasoned investor adding a high-yield position, or someone considering house-hacking the basement unit to offset carrying costs.

The non-owner-occupied status means no owner-occupant displacement, and the finished basement layout gives a buyer optionality: rent the whole property to a single household, or structure it as a primary-plus-basement arrangement. The electric fireplace and open-plan main level make it a livable product, not a distressed flip.

Risks to weigh

231 days on market is a flag. Properties that sit this long in an active market either have condition issues, a pricing history that created stigma, or both. A thorough inspection is non-negotiable. The $10,000 price reduction suggests the seller has already moved once; there may be room for further negotiation, but it also raises the question of why the market hasn't cleared it.

The rent estimate lacks local comp support, which is the core underwriting risk. Baltimore's city-average cash-on-cash of 0.0% is a reminder that yield at this level is not the market norm — and that the estimate may be optimistic relative to what tenants in 21229 will actually pay for a 1,560-square-foot home. Vacancy, maintenance, and property management costs will compress the $999 headline cash flow in practice.