When we bought the Chophouse a few years ago, we had a pretty good idea exactly what we were looking for. Living close to downtown was a must for us, but alas… a four story brownstone next door to the Engineers Club was a bit beyond our means. We could afford a pretty nice house in a decent neighborhood, but we couldn’t quite afford to zero in on any particular place.
In our search we saw rundown rentals and homes meticulously maintained by their original owners; we saw a tiny Formstone house that was only 8 feet wide, an amazing 3000 s/f artist’s space with the kitchen and living room on the second floor, a former tavern, an urban farmhouse, a condo in the Belvedere and even a house where we could hear zoo animals from the front porch. There’s a lot to see out there.
Even for someone born and raised here, it was tough to compare Greektown to Govans and Lauraville to Little Italy, imagining what it would be like to actually choose one over another and live there every day. Savvy as we like to think we are, we still could have used a little help from the folks at Live Baltimore.
Live Baltimore's neighborhood pop ups are August 8, 15, and 22.
Every day on the Baltimore Chop we do our best to give you an inside perspective on the city’s social and cultural scene. Live Baltimore does the same thing for houses and neighborhoods. Their website’s got info on Baltimore’s 225+ neighborhoods, resources for buyers and renters, urban lifestyle help and more. You can drop by their Charles Street office to chat anytime, but this month they’re taking their approach to neighborhoods to a whole new level.
Wednesdays in August, neighborhood pop-ups will be happening throughout the city’s eastern neighborhoods. They’ll be setting up shop in actual homes for sale, leading neighborhood tours, and most importantly, connecting prospective buyers to actual residents. Volunteers from pop-up neighborhoods will be on hand to answer any and all questions about day-to-day city life in a way that even the best of Realtors can’t match.
The Fall 2012 Buying into Baltimore event willl be held September 8.
The pop-ups are a great way to do your house hunting, but they’re only a lead-up to the main attraction. The Buying Into Baltimore event for Fall 2012 is just a few weeks away, and it’s worth $4000 if you attend.
On Saturday, September 8 Buying Into Baltimore will combine homebuying workshops and a city-living fair with a neighborhood homes tour. Live Baltimore has arranged a route of featured homes for sale, and participants who take one of the narrated bus tours (or drive along a route themselves) can be among up to 50 buyers eligible for $4000 toward closing costs. (More details in the FAQ’s here.)
We’ve read the fine print, and it’s a pretty sweet deal. It’s something we wish we’d known about 3 years ago, especially considering we closed on a qualifying house on the last day of September.
Despite how TV shows make it look, house hunting is a difficult and time consuming process. Sometimes it can even feel like a full time job. Not only will Live Baltimore make that job easier for you, they’ll also pay you for it.
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The Live Baltimore Home Center is located at 343 N. Charles Street downtown. For more information: 410.637.3750 or info@livebaltimore.com. We’d like to thank them for sponsoring this post.