All Forum Posts by: Jon W.

Hazel Park is getting more and better restaurants (Mabel Gray), housing prices are rising, younger people are moving to the area.  It is a good rental market and there are definitely better areas than others within Hazel Park so I am generalizing a little.  But I know of a couple flippers there doing very well.  I consider it up and coming but I guess everyone has a slightly different interpretation of that.

Up and Coming???  No, Royal Oak is far past that but it is a great place for rehabs.  You will not pick them up cheap.  Up and coming would be a Hazel Park, Oak Park, some Detroit neighborhoods, etc.  You may need to rethink your boots on the ground.

Agreed, Detroit public schools are not good but there are plenty of very safe areas in Detroit.  There are many (and maybe more) unsafe areas too but I am not talking about investing in those areas.  You failed to mention in your previous posts that you don't invest because it does not match your criteria.  You simply made a broad statement questioning why someone would invest there.  That is why it came off as an uninformed statement.  Just because it does not fit your criteria doesn't mean it is not a good investment for someone else.

I am not pointing anyone toward investing in Detroit.  To the contrary, the more naysayers post on forums like you did, the less investment pressure focuses on Detroit and the more time I have to build my portfolio.  

Perhaps you should hit up a Detroit Renegade Investor meeting sometime.  You might be surprised at what you learn.

@Adam Demchik and @Renee Bacon I assume by your posts that you do not have any Detroit investments and that you are not very informed on Detroit investing.  You are correct that Detroit has many issues and it is a huge area but Detroit investments are strong.  I invest in the suburbs and in the city. Some of my best are in the city.  You need to do your research and invest in the right areas but Detroit is booming.  I would pick a lot of areas in the city to invest before I would invest in some of the suburbs.  Before you completely write it off and post about it I would do a little more research.  Good luck with your investments.

Jon

@Account Closed congrats on getting into real estate investing. The Detroit and Detroit area markets are great.  However, if this is your first investment I do not recommend investing in the city of Detroit unless you know what you are doing and have a good sense of the area.  It can defining be done but is challenging even to a seasoned investor. That said, Detroit is a great place to invest and I prefer it to the suburbs.  Good luck. 

I buy/hold and flip in the city of Detroit and the Metro area.  Prices in the city have definitely gone up and it jumps each year but the city is changing in a real way. Where people would only go to Detroit for an event and leave, you now have people staying longer to check out the city. Non Detroiters are moving into the nice areas with force. It seems like a different place.  There are many many depressed areas still trading at low numbers (5-25k) but you really don't want to invest there.  The tenants, houses, and neighborhoods are tough to deal with.  If you buy in a nice neighborhood, and there are many, you can get great housing stock, great tenants, and have a good experience.  There are mortgage programs geared toward Detroit housing for any price level.  I have never had any problem with loans but my experience is with houses worth more than $50k.  Flipping is mostly possible in the nicest neighborhoods.  As with any older house, rehab costs tend to be a little higher.  So it does not make a lot of sense for houses that are worth $50k.  I only target flips in Detroit areas where the houses go for $150 - $300k.  Even then some houses will cost more to rehab than you can get out of them.  It is case by case. 

Any properties for sale for $1k are probably worth that. They are in horrible areas of blight where no one wants to live and will be that last to be redeveloped. There are great areas of Detroit. 

I have not found anyone to have a problem financing a Detroit property in a nice neighborhood. If you are buying where a bank does not want to finance you might not want to buy there for investment either. Most of my Detroit rentals are free and clear but the one I financed last year was easy. 

@Bryan Kunka I focus my flips on the stronger parts like you mentioned but invest in rentals in and around those areas.  You have to evaluate it house by house.

@Brandon Cook  As people have mentioned, the area does not really mean anything nor will it help you evaluate your property.  In that part of Detroit you need to go street and block by block.  In general, the only time I would use an "area" as a guideline is if you are talking about the nicer neighborhoods like Bagley, Boston Edison, Corktown, Woodbridge, mexicantown, etc.  Even then you need to be aware of the street and block.  Good luck with your rental.  I always like to see more investors taking part and getting involved.