One man's trash is another's gold: Detroit. 1,419 square foot, 2 bathroom home with trees in the f

reply to post by FlySolo


I know, it is awesome. These are definitely the sale prices. I have been looking into it for a year now. My friend and I are thinking of getting a "vacation" home there - more like an adventuring home. I would love it.

The down payment and the morgtage payment on a house like that is very affordable - but not at my current income level, which is $800 a month, I would need to double it or so?

If you want my advice, and you are able to without hurting too much, I would recommend buying as many of those houses as you can - at least one. One house in Detroit could make a great place to go for so many things - including a SHTF scenario, as I bet the city is mostly abandoned - not sure. But

I'm guessing that there is a lot of freedom and opportunity there. So I would say, very good idea. My friend Seth got his house for $30,000 in Caldwell, ID on foreclosure and it is a similar size - seriously. DO IT. Great investment.

Homes have been cheap in Detroit for awhile, its not because of the city recently becoming bankrupt. Its all effects of a certain flight that happened long ago, and its coming to a city near you.

I will bet you a price of a house that the Saudis will take care of business...just wait for a few.

Originally posted by darkbake
including a SHTF scenario, as I bet the city is mostly abandoned - not sure.

No, the city is not “mostly abandoned”, its loaded with people. People you most likely don't want to meet. Picture... “Escape from New York”.

Originally posted by darkbake
I'm guessing that there is a lot of freedom and opportunity there.

There is very little opportunity there, that is why people are fleeing the area at breakneck speed. You know they just filed for bankruptcy a few day ago, right? The only thing keeping the whole area afloat is the Auto Industry, and the people who have those jobs aren't giving them up.

Originally posted by SarnholeOntarable
I will bet you a price of a house that the Saudis will take care of business...just wait for a few.

They have no interest in Detroit, they have a huge population in Dearborn MI. I believe its the largest concentration of middle eastern people in the United States. There are streets in Dearborn where you would swear that you just turned a corner right into the middle east.

I'd be interested in purchassing a few houses that are one next to another...Taring them down and keeking the proprety virgin for a little while. I've got plenty of money to do something like this and at the price of these houses, I could probably make money salvaging the remnants of the houses to pay for themselves.....In my books, owning land is a sure thing...No matter the value, it's always yours as long as you pay your taxes on it.

and then after you've bought you're beautiful new bargain you go fill up at the gas station and you get the crap beat out of you by fake police.

www.clickondetroit.com...

nice house, plan on $5000 in taxes every year

just another one of the reasons nobody wants to live in the D

Originally posted by HomerinNC
reply to post by FlySolo

 

these prices for rent or sale?

For sale - I once looked at the local property guide and zoomed into the cheapest home I could find - right next to a 24-hour liquor store with bars over the windows. Can't remember the name, but the place is bright blue in color.

So many ideas on what Detroit is and isn't. I love when people base every thing off what the see on the net.

I grew up in this "wasteland" and returned to this "wasteland" when I retired from the army. I walk two blocks to the park with my nephews (4 and 6). While they play with kids that are white, black, Mexican, and various mixes, I sit at shoot the bull with parents. It's a quiet way to spend an afternoon. I am not saying that it is an utopia by any stretch, however I am just as safe here as I would be out in the suburbs. The southwest side has seen several "peace rallies" over the last year and concerted effort to clean up the parks. I am very proud to say these events were attended by people of all races and age groups. We are by no stretch of the imagination "people from escape from New York".

As far as the job market goes I tend to get 6-8 job offers a week. These range from 35k to 80k a year on average. The biggest issue is most people in the area cannot pass a drug screening to be employed. I know at least 20 people that are out of work for this very reason. There are jobs here.

Most of the homes for sale here have been stripped. Every piece of wiring, hot water heaters, all plumbing, and even flooring has been removed. Tragically even a price of 17k puts most homes out of reach for the average citizen of Detroit. Few people want to remain in Detroit, it is simply a matter of ability.

As far as educational standards go it is a matter of the individual. I moved out of state in my ninth grade year. I transferred to Kentucky and I was happy to see that the students were learning what I was taught in the sixth grade. Unfortunately (or fortunately) I only stayed there for a few months before returning to the "wasteland". I would be willing to put my education against any other person in the world because I wanted to learn from an early age.

Walk a mile in the shoes of us wastelanders before you pass judgment. We tend to hate being disrespected almost as much as we hate being pitied. We may not have everything that the soft suburbanites have, but what we have we earned (for the most part). If you do move here be sure to make friends as soon as possible. We have the natural ability to smell fear and we eat the weak.

Better days,

reply to post by geobro


Or anywhere else in the US for that mater

reply to post by FlySolo


people just need to look at the potential..

Detroit.

Job openings for Slum Lord.

I bought a house in Houlton Maine for $20,000 it's a 4bdrm 2 bath taxes are $800 a year. Schools are decent, on the Canada border, lots of woods to play in. I rent it out for $825 a month, so there are some good deals out there. .

"A lot of those homes probably have back taxes and penalties to go along with the deed."

They also may have government liens, like water bills that need to be covered by your bid.
And of course they demand payment in cash within 24 hours..
You can't flip them without cleaning the title so most investors just rent them out as section 8.
Might be an alternative to the Katrina style FEMA camps though.

reply to post by FlySolo


I have been to Detroit a couple of times and enjoyed my stay. However, actually packing up and moving there, despite low housing costs, is absolutely out of the question. Even though some parts of Detroit are perfectly safe, the fact that the state is going bankrupt worries me. What happens when sanitation stops? What about water?

I do hope Detroit one day gets back on it's feet. It's a place rich in history. It would be a terrible shame to lose all that.

Originally posted by geobro
why do the goverment not give away the 30+ thousand houses to people instead of watching them fall apart .

there are many rich people who are living in areas of the world that make detroit seem safe .

after all that is what america is famous for immigration

I said in another thread that I believe they need to redevelop an area of housing to bring in youth in the tech industries. They need to create a city within the city, then attract people in their 20's in the tech fields to create businesses.

There are hundreds of thousands of young people all over the US who cannot afford to buy where they are, and would love an opportunity like this. The only obstacles are safety and employment. Increase the safety with a supported community (with its own police department), and focus on attracting self employed, work from home people who already have a harder time getting a mortgage.

Former realtor here...

These houses are NOT bargains. They are at best bad investments and money pits. At worst deadly (be it toxic molds, rodent infestations or crime).

Abandoned properties are usually "stripped." These older homes had aluminum wiring; copper plumbing...now long gone (stolen for recycling cash). To get plumbing/wiring holes ripped in ceilings/floor and walls (more rodent access now too). Mantels, light fixture gone as well. Broken windows lead to water damage to mold to sagging floor joists. Add in back taxes (not forgiven and must be paid first!); liens (water, sewage, possible utilities) and you would be financially insane to take any of these properties on.

The architecture maybe unique, but for cost efficiency (safety and sanity) find a builder; hire an architect (turrets, bays, grand foyers can STILL be drawn) and find land in a safe area; with reasonable taxes; good schools; etc. in
In the long run you, and your assets will be better off.

Lets say you purchase one of these houses for 17K...you have to invest 25K to make it livable and another 5K to pay off back taxes and utilities.....That's still a 37K home !!!! That's dirt cheap. A comparable house here in my area of Quebec would be worth an easy 235K. If I use the equity and my savings, I could go out to Detroit and get me 4 houses, rebuidt them nad rent them out. A 37K mortgage ends up being just about $170.00 per month, add utilities and taxes, you are still within a reasonable buget of approx $475 per month as an owner, if you rent it out, I'm sure you could ask an easy $700 per month thus making a profit and banking the access for repairs in the futur.

Is my math wrong here ???+

Originally posted by Nuke2013
A 37K mortgage ends up being just about $170.00 per month, add utilities and taxes, you are still within a reasonable buget of approx $475 per month as an owner, if you rent it out, I'm sure you could ask an easy $700 per month thus making a profit and banking the access for repairs in the futur.

Is my math wrong here ???+

In a word....YES. First off 17K + 25K + 5K in AMERICAN math is 47K not 37K. Must be a currency fluctuation, LOL, JK.

Good luck finding someone to pay $700 a month in a rundown area of Detroit. Chances are you won't find a great renter and they will beat up the house while they are there. You can get that price in the suburbs in some areas, why would you choose to pay that to live in a bad area of Detroit??

Once it's vacant for a month, you might as well tack on another $20,000 to replace all the siding and copper wiring and plumbing in the house.

Trust me, it's a losing proposition. I have a client who has twice tried to renovate a place and had his supplies stolen and the wiring and plumbing ripped out after he just replaced it. You'd have to live there for it to work and quite honestly, you DON"T want to live in those areas where the houses are pictured.

reply to post by pavil


LOL...Sorry...Forgot how to count there for a second...LOL...It is indeed 47K but my point stands although I do completely get where you are comming from.