4300 Wentworth Rd, Baltimore, MD 21207 — 39.3% Cash-on-Cash

About this property

4300 Wentworth Rd is a four-bedroom, three-bathroom single-family property in Baltimore's 21207 zip code, listed at $199,900 as an estate sale requiring major rehabilitation.

The listing is explicit: this is a gut-rehab candidate, sold strictly as-is, with no seller repairs and no assignment clauses. That's not a red flag so much as a pricing mechanism — the $199,900 ask reflects the work ahead, not the finished product.

Inside, the property retains period character worth preserving: original hardwood floors, built-in cabinetry, and a curved staircase that would cost real money to replicate in new construction. A brick fireplace anchors the main living area. The unfinished basement and a blocked attic both represent expansion square footage that doesn't show up in the current 1,614 sq ft figure. An outbuilding on the 7,500 sq ft lot adds storage or workshop utility that most comparable properties in the zip don't offer.

The tax-assessed value sits at $165,200 — roughly $34,700 below the list price, which is normal for a property requiring this level of work. The listing has been on the market 49 days, longer than the freshest comps in the area, which is consistent with a rehab property that requires buyers to bring a contractor before writing an offer. Non-owner occupied status is confirmed in public records.

The investment case

The headline metric here is a 39.3% cash-on-cash return — nearly four times the 10.3% zip average for 21207 — driven by a purchase price well below comparable finished properties in the area.

List Price

$199,900

Monthly Payment (PITI+HOA)

$1,310

Principal & Interest

$1,051

Property Tax

$192

Insurance

$67

HOA

$0

PMI

$0

Est. Monthly Rent

$2,619

Estimated rent based on automated valuation of comparable listings.

Cash-on-Cash Return

39.3%

Cap Rate

15.3%

Monthly Cash Flow

$1,309

Gross Rent Multiplier

6.4

DSCR

2.4

At a 20% down payment on a $199,900 purchase, the total monthly payment works out to $1,310, covering principal and interest at 6.66%, property taxes of $192, and insurance at $67. There's no HOA and no PMI. Estimated monthly rent comes in at $2,619, producing a monthly cash flow of $1,309 — essentially a dollar-for-dollar match between the payment and the surplus.

The cap rate of 15.3% and net operating income of $2,552 per month are the figures that matter most to investors evaluating the asset independent of financing. A gross rent multiplier of 6.4 means the property theoretically pays for itself in gross rent terms in about six and a half years. The debt service coverage ratio of 2.4 gives meaningful cushion against vacancy or unexpected expenses — a lender typically wants 1.25; this property clears that bar by nearly double.

The 39.3% cash-on-cash return compares against a city average of 0.0%, which means the Baltimore market broadly does not produce positive cash flow at standard financing terms. This property is an outlier in both the zip and the city. That outlier status is almost entirely explained by the distressed pricing — the rehab cost is the risk that creates the return spread.

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

The numbers are strong, but they're priced for a property that needs significant work. The return is real only if the rehab budget holds.

Annual return outlook

The five-year total ROI projection of 48.1% is dominated by cash flow, with appreciation and mortgage paydown providing secondary support.

Cash flow contributes 39.3 percentage points of that 48.1% five-year figure — the overwhelming driver. Mortgage paydown adds 4.9 points as principal reduces over the hold period. An estimated annual appreciation rate of approximately 3.9% contributes the remaining 3.9 points. That appreciation figure is a modeled estimate, not a market-data scrape, so it carries more uncertainty than the cash flow and paydown components.

The practical implication: this investment doesn't need Baltimore to appreciate to work. If the city stays flat on price, the cash flow and paydown alone deliver a return most local deals can't match. Appreciation is upside, not the thesis.

One honest caveat: the 5-year projection assumes the property is stabilized and rented at the $2,619 estimated rent. A rehab property starts the clock at zero occupancy. The time and capital required to reach that stabilized state — contractor costs, permit timelines, holding costs during vacancy — are not reflected in the ROI breakdown and represent real drag on year-one and potentially year-two returns.

How it compares to nearby for-sale listings

Five active four-bedroom listings in ZIP 21207 provide a pricing reference, with a median of $350,000 — 75% above this property's $199,900 ask.

The comp set tells a clear story about where this property sits in the local market. The median comp at $350,000 represents finished or near-finished inventory; 4300 Wentworth Rd is priced $150,100 below that median, which is the distressed discount doing its work.

On a price-per-square-foot basis, this property comes in at roughly $124/sq ft against comps ranging from a low of approximately $115/sq ft to a high of $177/sq ft for the larger finished properties. The gap narrows considerably once rehab costs are factored in — an investor underwriting $50,000-$80,000 in rehabilitation would land at an all-in cost of $250,000-$280,000, which is still meaningfully below the $350,000 comp median and suggests a reasonable margin for either a hold or a resale strategy.

The freshest comps hit the market in the last week; 4300 Wentworth Rd's 49 days on market is longer, consistent with a property that filters out buyers who can't bring a contractor to the showing. That's not market rejection — it's a narrower buyer pool by design of the listing terms.

Rental demand in this zip

No active rental comps for four-bedroom units were identified in ZIP 21207, so the $2,619 monthly rent estimate carries higher uncertainty than a comp-supported figure would.

The absence of rental comps in the immediate zip is a meaningful data gap. The $2,619 estimated rent is a modeled figure, not derived from active four-bedroom listings in 21207. Investors should treat it as a directional benchmark rather than a confirmed market rate, and budget time to validate it through direct outreach to property managers operating in the area before closing.

That said, the cash flow math has room to absorb a rent miss. Even at $2,200 per month — roughly 16% below the estimate — the property still generates approximately $890 in monthly cash flow against the $1,310 payment. The DSCR would compress but remain above 1.6, still well above lender thresholds. The 15.3% cap rate implies the property can support a meaningful rent discount and still outperform most alternatives in the city.

The practical risk isn't that the property can't rent — four-bedroom single-family homes in Baltimore have a demonstrated tenant pool. The risk is the time between rehab completion and first lease, during which carrying costs accumulate with no offsetting income.

Who this property suits + risks to weigh

This property is best matched to an experienced value-add investor with contractor access, capital reserves, and the patience to absorb a rehab timeline before the cash flow starts.

Best fit

The ideal buyer here is not a first-time landlord. The estate sale structure, the as-is condition, the blocked attic, and the explicit language about major rehabilitation all point toward a buyer who has done this before. Someone with a reliable general contractor, a construction draw budget, and a lender comfortable with a distressed acquisition will find the return profile genuinely compelling. The 39.3% cash-on-cash and 15.3% cap rate are not paper metrics — they're achievable if the rehab is executed at a reasonable cost and the property is stabilized at or near the $2,619 rent estimate.

A fix-and-flip buyer also has a credible thesis. At an all-in cost of $250,000-$280,000 after rehab, the property sits well below the $350,000 comp median, suggesting a resale margin before accounting for transaction costs.

Risks to weigh

The rent estimate has no local comp support — zero comparable four-bedroom rentals were identified in 21207. That's the single largest uncertainty in the underwriting. Rehab cost overruns are the second: the listing explicitly blocks attic access and describes the basement as unfinished, meaning the full scope of work isn't visible from a standard showing. Carrying costs during the rehab and lease-up period compress the year-one return materially. The non-owner-occupied designation and estate sale structure also mean no seller disclosures and no negotiated repairs — the buyer absorbs all discovery risk post-contract.

The tax-assessed value of $165,200 versus the $199,900 ask is a reasonable spread for a distressed property, but investors should confirm the assessment hasn't lagged market conditions before assuming significant embedded equity.