Detroit, MI or Greensboro, NC

[Tadeh Vartanian]

Hi everyone,

New investor from California looking into deciding which market to start off in. I've narrowed my search down to Detroit, MI or Greensboro, NC. Two very different markets.

I would love some input from the BP community. My strategy is to buy and hold, targeting small multifamily or possibly single-family homes. Cash flow properties are a must, though I'm okay with lower COC return in exchange for more appreciation, market stability, or other benefits. Here are some factors I've considered already:

- NC is a more landlord-friendly state (source: rentcafe)
- Detroit has a higher population size, around 670,000, whereas Greensboro is around 290,000 (source: US Census)
- Detroit has a lower price/rent ratio (5.35) than Greensboro (15.84) (source: SmartAsset)
- Both have a price range I'm looking for
- NC has more cities to go if I choose to move to another city later on (Charleston, Raleigh).
- Better weather in Greensboro.
- Lower property taxes in NC.

[Jeremy Chaudet]

Hi @Tadeh Vartanian

To me, this seems like an easy answer. If you do not live or have any links in either market, I would pick Greensboro for many of the reason that you mentioned.

-NC landlord friendlier laws: https://www.rentcafe.com/blog/renting/states-best-worst-laws-renters/

-migration overall is trending south: https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/state-nations-housing-2018

-NC is fiscally healthy (#9 ranking vs #32 in Michgan): https://www.mercatus.org/publications/urban-economics/state-fiscal-rankings

-NC is a great state to do business in: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/10/americas-top-states-for-business-2019.html

-Greensboro has an increasing population

-Detroit has a declining population

-NC has better weather

-from a quick google search, Detroit has among the highest property tax rates in the country

-property tax rates in Greensboro are low depending on where you are coming from

Not only does Greensboro have a population of about 290,000 people but it is within 30 minutes of Winston-Salem (244K population) and High Point NC (111K population). The entire Triad metro has a population of about 1.6M people. And you are right, it is also within a couple of hours from either Raleigh or Charlotte, NC.