Houses in Detroit

wazza300 · 24 Jan 2014 at 18:41

youll get nice views of the drive by's in detroit :eek:

Mark A · 24 Jan 2014 at 18:46

Are they mostly timber houses in Detroit? Could see the renovation costs being massive if they haven't been maintained for years.

No one even wanted to buy Eminem's childhood home, that was left dormant and then burned down. I'm surprised he still lives in Detroit, albeit in a big gated off mansion.

jackthezipper · 24 Jan 2014 at 18:54

They should have just let OCP build Delta City.

PMKeates · 24 Jan 2014 at 19:03

Mark A said:
Are they mostly timber houses in Detroit? Could see the renovation costs being massive if they haven't been maintained for years.

No one even wanted to buy Eminem's childhood home, that was left dormant and then burned down. I'm surprised he still lives in Detroit, albeit in a big gated off mansion.

It depends what you classify 'in Detroit'. He doesn't live in the city. Detroit is surrounded by suburbs, built on motor city money, that remain some of the wealthiest in the world and are exceptionally nice places.

For example, Bloomfield Hills, 30 minutes from downtown Detroit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloomfield_Hills,_Michigan http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-search/Bloomfield-Hills_MI

dowie · 24 Jan 2014 at 20:21

north of 8-mile is outside the city limits...

wazza300 · 24 Jan 2014 at 20:23

Aye,its a shame Eminem wasn't still inside when it burnt down

Energize · 24 Jan 2014 at 20:34

Why not buy a house in Chernobyl while you're at it op?

Yas786 · 24 Jan 2014 at 20:37

86JR said:
But what do I know?

Pretty much what we all think anyhow when you post lol.

dowie · 24 Jan 2014 at 20:44

randomshenans said:
So I've been reading a lot in the press at the moment and talking to a few people and I'm considering picking up a couple of houses in Detroit.

Bankrupt city as it may be, the house prices are at such a low that the risk for me seems very low.

I can get a property that is "managed" by a management company there, having had a refurb that I pay for, which is fair enough and either sit on it, or let the management company rent it out to make income back.

I'd either pay it outright, or as Swiss mortgage rates are so low, I'd get it on the Mrs' income over 2 years at a fixed rate of 2% and be paid off.

My investment would be c. 25k GBP at what I'm looking at.

seems very risky to me... Also there is no free lunch available using a different base CCY for the loan/mortgage...

A lot of these are being bought up in the hundreds (residential and commercial) by the Russians, Chinese and UAE at the moment and figure; if they drop in price even more, how far can they physically go? If they're worth $0 (which is impossible), I'd still have bricks and mortar of a house.

Anyone seen any of this? Been tempted themselves? I could sit on this for 10-20 years for all I cared! What do you think?

Main thing is that the only costs you've mentioned are the refurbishment costs... You want to buy property in a city that's very strapped for cash - you might well find there are taxes due to them... You mention managing company? Are you going to buy a condo or a house? If a condo then what are the home owner association fees, how many people in the block are in foreclosure etc... how many properties are vacant and for how long have they been vacant? If a house then some of the same applies... are there empty, derelict properties surrounding it, whats the rental market going to be like in a city who's population is declining and who's economy have been collapsing?

You're going to fork out for lawyers, managing agents, you might even end up flying there... so a few thousand in up front costs, various potential annual costs... all for a 25k investment that doesn't appear likely to go up any time soon... you might well have spent another 25k by time time it even does start to move, if at all...

There might well be money to be made over there but that's likely to be made by Americans with local knowledge who are perhaps investing in a more than one or two properties.

86JR · 24 Jan 2014 at 21:34

For $5000 it would probably be worth it.

A few examples of VFM

http://hotpads.com/search/listing/22dmuvhdzq6jz?emptyType=true

I would be real tempted of buying this for $15k if it was pocket money.

http://hotpads.com/search/listing/4u0c2nn506j7z?emptyType=true

86JR · 24 Jan 2014 at 21:35

dowie said:
north of 8-mile is outside the city limits...

And the point of that post is?

Terminal_Boy · 24 Jan 2014 at 21:56

It was a war zone South of 14th Mile when I was last there in 2000.

I have relatives in Michigan who've been there since the 1970s and they moved North up the I-75 as fast as they could.

deuse · 24 Jan 2014 at 22:04

South of warren is not good. But warren it's self ant to bad.

OhEsEcks · 25 Jan 2014 at 00:20

http://www.policymic.com/articles/56327/america-s-10-deadliest-cities-2013

Lord-Jaffa · 25 Jan 2014 at 02:27

Place called Gaylord just north west of Detroit, I did laugh I admit it

Raymond Lin · 25 Jan 2014 at 02:30

86JR said:
And the point of that post is?

i guess he meant the racial divide, just look at the legend.

D.P. · 25 Jan 2014 at 05:21

Investors are burning houses in Detroit not for the houses but the land.

Detroit would be the last place I would buy a house. If you want to. Buy a house buy one I. A place you can actually live for starters. If you don't live in the house then the mortgage will be even higher. And don't forget taxes and the like, typically 1-2% pa n the US. Closing costs in the US will be about $6-8k

Plus you would really struggle to get a mortgage for house that is considered at such high risk.

And just how much money do you think you would ever get from renting it out. Ri would be surprised if you get more than $200 a month in rent, very definitely you will get less rent than the mortgage cost unless you have a large down payment. The city population dropped from 1.8million to 700k, there are tens of thousands of cheap houses to rent

86JR · 25 Jan 2014 at 06:11

Raymond Lin said:
i guess he meant the racial divide, just look at the legend.

Seemed a bit of a wierd post to me...after all it won't matter to the OP, the house is just an income stream.

86JR · 25 Jan 2014 at 06:14

D.P. said:
Investors are burning houses in Detroit not for the houses but the land.

Detroit would be the last place I would buy a house. If you want to. Buy a house buy one I. A place you can actually live for starters. If you don't live in the house then the mortgage will be even higher. And don't forget taxes and the like, typically 1-2% pa n the US. Closing costs in the US will be about $6-8k

Plus you would really struggle to get a mortgage for house that is considered at such high risk.

And just how much money do you think you would ever get from renting it out. Ri would be surprised if you get more than $200 a month in rent, very definitely you will get less rent than the mortgage cost unless you have a large down payment. The city population dropped from 1.8million to 700k, there are tens of thousands of cheap houses to rent

Exactly. A £300k apartment in Chester (using it as point of reference as been looking) is £750pm to rent.

So a house in a terrible neighbourhood in a bankrupt American city worth $10,000 is going to be about £30 a month rent!

OpenToSuggestions · 9 Feb 2014 at 19:21

I visited various General Motors factories in Detroit 2012.
I love the US lifestyle, but my goodness is Detroit an example of what happens if you fall off the bottom of the social ladder in the USA. So many derelict factories and houses, homeless people everywhere.
It makes ST2 postcodes look pricey:
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-29026968.html

If the OP believes he can make some money then by all means go for it. There were abandoned 3 bed detached houses for $15000 when I was there. Came with a free hobo and crack pipe though.