Baltimore market read
Strong seller's market
Well-priced homes are moving quickly. Updates earn somewhat less than the national average.
Set by Liz Ancel
Step 1 of 3 · About your property
What kind of property is it?
Baltimore rowhome / townhome
Attached on one or both sides. Common in Canton, Fells Point, Patterson Park, Highlandtown, Brewers Hill, Locust Point and Federal Hill.
Suburban townhouse
Attached, typically with a garage and rear yard.
Semi-detached / duplex
Attached on one side.
Detached single family
Freestanding on its own lot.
Condo / apartment
Exterior and structure are typically the association's responsibility.
Multi-unit / investment
Two or more units.
Neighborhood
Select…
Canton
Fells Point
Patterson Park
Highlandtown
Brewers Hill
Locust Point
Federal Hill
Butchers Hill
Upper Fells Point
Riverside
Other Baltimore City
Baltimore County
Anne Arundel County
Howard County
Other
Estimated current value
$
When do you want to be sold and settled?
Within 60 days
3–4 months
5–6 months
6–12 months
I'm flexible
Who's in the property?
I live there
Vacant
Tenant-occupied
Do you need the proceeds to buy your next home?
Yes
Partly
No
See what the numbers say
Choose a property type and timeline to continue.
Step 2 of 3 · The live numbers
Why isn't every project on this list?
What are you considering?
Project cost
−
$
+
How long before you could list?
Estimate — adjust it
−
+
before the home hits the market
Your carrying costs — the part most sellers never calculate
Mortgage balance
$
Interest rate
%
Property tax rate
%
Insurance & utilities / month
$
HOA / condo fee / month
$
Monthly rent you'd lose
$
If it runs over, by how much?
%
An adjustable assumption, not sourced data.
And how much longer?
%
Only 36% of remodels finish on budget.
Reset to realistic defaults
Before you list
These aren't improvements with a return percentage. They're things a buyer prices against you — and they follow different math to the projects above.
How does the exterior look right now?
Tick anything a buyer would notice walking up. Cleanup is the one item whose return depends entirely on where you're starting from.
Estimate — adjust it
Cost to put it right
−
$
+
Time it takes
No published study measures a pre-sale clean-up directly. The closest measured comparison is NAR's standard lawn care service at 217% of cost recovered.
Any condition items you know about?
These surface at inspection whether or not you raise them first.
Three things this calculator can't tell you
Everything above runs on national averages. These three are local, and they're the ones that actually decide the answer.
- The real premium for updated homes on your block. National figures say a midrange bath returns about 80%. What it returns in your neighborhood is a different number entirely.
- What you'd be competing against the week you list. Four updated homes on the market changes the math. So does none.
- Your realistic price ceiling. Location, lot and layout set a limit that no renovation moves. Spending past it returns nothing.
Back
Compare your options
Step 3 of 3 · Side by side
Three paths, same property
All three update live. Change anything in the previous step and these move with it.
Back to the numbers
Get my personalised plan
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Get your Spend / Skip / Fix plan
We'll send your full breakdown, plus the three local questions that decide the answer for your property.
