detroit property problem

[Sophie Younger]

hi,
I bought a property in Detroit through a uk company operating in detroit about 18 months ago, i bought it with a rental guarantee which didn't happen it has been empty all this time. i can't contact the property management company or the company who sold it to me and intermediary sales company seem to be avoiding my calls. Clearly i need to find another management company, but i'm starting to panic a bit. the house is in Morningside and was listed on hotpads for rent but isn't anymore. Any advice? what is this area like?
Many thanks
Sophie Y

[Tom A.]

Originally posted by Sophie Younger:

hi thanks for the posts. There is no problem with ownership, and the house has been renovated although i have not been sent photos. However clearly the area is not a great one otherwise the house would have been rented by now. I think I will have to put the rent down and find a better management company. It's on Buckingham st if anyone knows that street? there seem to be very few cars on the google photos. I have read about plans for Detroit to be the centre of electric car production, is this happening to any great extent? Hope so..

Hi Sophie,

Morningside was a fairly nice area but really went downhill in the last 5 - 10 years. It's close to the East English Village neighborhood which is still pretty nice though it too has gone down some recently. The closer to EEV, the better.

A quick look on the MLS shows two rentals in the last 12 months on Buckingham, one at $750 and one at $800. Sales on Buckingham ranged from $3K to $15K, most around the $10K mark.

I'm not a Detroit market expert but I'd be surprised if you couldn't rent out a decent house in Morningside, simply because there are many areas of Detroit that are worse, and have been bad for decades.

Here's a link to a Detroit-based forum thread that discusses Morningside. http://www.detroityes.com/mb/showthread.php?12849-More-help-for-Morningside

Search that site and you'll find more info on Morningside. Much talks about its decline. It also might be a good place to ask about the specific area your house is in. One of the members there might drive by and take photos, I've seen them do it before for people from afar.

Last month GM's CEO donated $1 million to Habitat for Humanity to help fix up houses and perform other neighborhood stabilization activities in Morningside. It's part of a planned $25 million initiative. I've seen these things fizzle out, but it might help.

Link to Detroit Free Press article http://www.freep.com/article/20120222/COL06/202220421/GM-chief-Dan-Akerson-gives-1M-to-help-Habitat-for-Humanity-project-on-Detroit-s-east-side?odyssey=tab|mostpopular|text|FRONTPAGE

The article refers to the difference between Detroit and Grosse Pointe. A 3900 sqft house on Buckingham in Grosse Pointe sold for $420K recently. Too bad you can't lift your house up and move it 1/2 mile.

Good luck.