New member from Michigan

[Zech Stimson]

Hello everyone! 

I am currently a full time business student at U of M. I am extremely interested in getting into property rentals in Michigan. I am here looking for all of the advice I can get, and also hoping to network with investors in my area.

[Sarah Lorenz]

Investing in Flint is an interesting question. Maybe others can chime in on that. I'm guessing that the water crisis will depress prices and scare off investors and home owners alike. When you add that to decades of economic depression . . . but maybe I'm wrong and need to be corrected with current info from those who live and invest there. I do think that investing near universities is a great move, and my nephew is currently in a doctoral program at UM Flint, so I should consult with him about his experience with the area in the past year. You can probably get solid rentals near the university for good cash flow but may not ever see appreciation. Or you might score a great deal in a down market. Ypsilanti and parts of western Wayne county would be closer to you and offer low prices with cash flow, but there are a lot of investors in those areas that snap up properties pretty quickly. 

I held a couple of rentals in Ann Arbor for about a decade, but recently sold them. I'll probably build a few more into my portfolio in the near future. We have also moved multiple times, using our primary residence as an investment/live-in flip. I would advise you to start doing that as soon as you get a job. If I could go back, I'd buy a primary and move every 6-12 months for about five years while I was young and kidless to build a portfolio with minimal down payment on owner-occupied properties. Two duplexes a year for five years would give you 20 units. If you averaged 200K per property, you'd have a two million dollar portfolio at the end of five years with 20-25K a year invested, using 5% down.