Detroit real estate interest

[Alessandra Almeyda]

Looking for someone who can give me directions

to get good reliable info in detroit market. I heard a podcast with ashley and i know she is bussy. Im only looking for where to begin in that market. My current market is Miami and im looking for out of state great deals. 

Any help helps! 

Thanx to all!

[Travis Biziorek]

Hi Alessandra,

Welcome to the wonderful world of Detroit investing. Ashley's podcast sure has created a bit of buzz. Let me try to answer some of your questions.

First, you should begin by outlining your goals. Detroit has been primarily a cash flow driven market for many years now. That opportunity definitely still exists. You can buy dumps for $15k-$20k and rent them for $700/mo. In ten years they'll probably still be $15k-$20k dumps renting for $700/mo. That's not my style both because I don't want to be a slum lord and because I'm not investing in Detroit purely for cash flow.

Yes, I know Ashley bought dumps in that price range and fixed them up and now they're worth more. But she also bought them years ago. The $15k-$20k dumps Ashley was purchasing years ago are probably worth $35k-$40k today. If you're buying at the $15k-$20k range now, IMO it's the garbage nobody really wants and won't perform well for you. But again, if you are purely looking for cash flow it could be your strategy.

The next step up is $35k-$50k places IMO. These still cash flow nicely with rents anywhere from $800-$900/mo and, if you do a ton of research and buy in smart locations, they will appreciate nicely as Detroit continues to gain steam. There's some serious competition at this level though because these places generally only needs light to medium rehab ($5k-$10k). And if you don't have the ability to buy them all cash, a lot of these deals aren't going to be accessible to you (most require all cash purchases).

The next step up are $55k-$80k places. IMO these need major rehab work and are only attractive in "hot" areas where flippers can turn around and resell them for $100k+ to retail buyers. Obviously, this is competitive; it's not something I focus on.

Anything selling for $70k or more doesn't make a ton of sense as an investment property IMO unless it's something like a duplex, tri, or quad. 

So assuming you figure out your goal and strategy you can start doing your market research. That you'll likely need to do on your own unless you can offer some value to a partner here on the ground.

I'd be shocked if anyone is going to just offer their time, expertise, and hard work to you simply because you asked (I personally won't). I'm not trying to be rude, just honest. I spent more than 4 hours driving different neighborhoods the other night, something I plan to do at least every other week. And that's on top of the countless hours I spend analyzing properties, networking, going to meetups, and reading up on all things Detroit. 

You need to either out compete someone like me or have something attractive enough to offer to partner. 

Hope that helps.