Starting Out, Interested to invest in Detroit or surrounding suburbs

[April Santos]

Hi guys, I'm new here. My name is April and I'm currently living here in Troy Michigan. I'm a nurse but have always been interested to get into Real Estate Investing. I'm interested in the idea of owning a duplex in either Detroit (closer to Grosse Pointe area)/Warren/Roseville for LTR. My husband and I are both W2 employees. My husband is an architect/project manager and while construction is something very familiar with him, at this point with our busy jobs and small kids, we don't have the time to flip a property so looking for turnkey/ light cosmetic rehab. We have about $70k saved up, household income is close to $200k, credit score at 750+ both and we don't have a mortgage so I believe we have a decent chance of getting an approval should we pursue this.

I just want to get an insight from seasoned investors here in Detroit area or suburbs. For someone starting out like myself, where do you think is a good area to invest in with good cash flow and growth? I'm possibly looking for duplex around $150k or less. Also, anybody who I can connect with to help us get started in this? We've once attended MREI but haven't had a time to follow up because of our schedule. Thanks! 

One thing to add: Because of work, we might move to Texas late next year. We don't own any mortgage but we're likely going to buy our first home in Houston and we'll go with an FHA loan. Taking that into consideration, given our background, what is a good loan to apply for that won't affect our chances of getting approved for an FHA loan after 1 year? Also, not looking to house hack at this point. Thanks

 

[Travis Biziorek]

Hi April, I moved from the SF Bay Area to Troy, MI in 2017 and we were there until about a year ago.

Between 2019-2021 my wife and I aggressively built a 12-door rental portfolio in Detroit. The cash flow allowed us to move back to California without my wife having to go back to a W2 job (she wanted to stay full-time with our kiddos).

All that said, I'm the expert here on the Detroit market and happy to give you some insights if you want to chat.