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Updated about 4 years ago on . Most recent reply

Detroit, MI or Greensboro, NC
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.
Most Popular Reply

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.
