All Forum Posts by: Lamar Lee

It's very possible in Detroit. I'm currently finishing up a project that fits that description.

Purchase Price: $1,000 

Rehab budget: $65,000 

ARV: $90K-$100K

Gross Monthly Rent: $900

@Rekha Nathoo

We are buying and holding as well as flipping in Detroit. Let me know if you’d be interested in partnering on any deals in the market.

@Owen Dashner

I’ve bought multiple $500 houses in Detroit.

@Jacob Miller

Sounds good. I’m open to hearing about about what you’re looking to do.

@Cruz Gartner

You’re not too far off, just have to keep doing what you are doing. It took me 48 months to reach financial freedom vía real estate. (20 plus rental properties with one mortgage). I started in 2015 and was able to walk away from my day job as a special education teacher in 2019 with a 6 figure passive income.

When I tell my story, a lot of people are most impressed by the speed. What they don’t see is the million small sacrifices that I made over and over for 48 months, and the vision to see opportunities where others don’t.

I always encourage people I work with to focus on three things:

1. Personal development. You don’t get financially free with first becoming the right person.

2. Develop or find a system that you allows you to move quickly without being in a hurry. Investing in a marathon, not a sprint.

3. You need a team. You’ll never win big trying to play all five positions on the floor. Focus on one position and surround yourself with a good team with the same vision as you.

Good luck your journey.

Welcome to the market! What are you looking to do? Are you looking to buy and hold or flip? I’ve personally purchased close to 40 properties that I buy and hold in Detroit. We have about 20 investors nationwide that we work with on buying income producing property in the city of Detroit. 

I’m buying a $1000 house this week! I will put $35k-$40k of rehab (labor and materials) into it and rent it out for $800 per month. After expenses, I’ll take home $500/month. They are tough to come by but every now and then, you can still find properties 5K and under that make sense. 

A lot of properties in that price range require substantial repairs. You'd get a better ROI purchasing a property that's tenant occupied.

 Buying land to build on is a long term investment that could take years profit from. 

@Stephen Brown

Appreciate it!

@Shiva Bhaskar

Take the same 20-50 year outlook and apply it to deals with a 15% ROI annually, on a total capital basis. In 7 years you have received all of your capital back, in TAX FREE CASH FLOW and have an infinite return for however long you hold the property.

That’s regardless of if the market goes up, down, or stays the same (and we all know what happens to the value of real estate over time).

If you factor in appreciation (which is icing on the cake) at a minimal rate of 5% a year, along with rent growth, you have a hard time finding a better investment.

By the way, that’s with no leverage. Add leverage to the deal, and you’ve turned a home run into a grand slam.

Now do that 20 times.

We’re talking about rental real estate. I don’t care about population decline. I care about supply and demand. As long as the balance between supply and demand is favorable and there are jobs in the market, you have the perfect storm for building equity, and most importantly, creating long term cash flow that you can live off of!

The acquisition and operating team make all the difference in buy and hold real estate, in any market. There are great operators in all markets, they are just tough to find if you don’t know what you’re looking for. 

It also depends on what you’re investing for. I invest for cash flow so, Detroit is the perfect market for my investment strategy. 

If you’re looking to grow a large portfolio of cash flowing real estate, you have to be in a market with enough inventory to scale. 

You also don’t want to be in a market that’s too competitive. Competitive markets lack yield. As an investor, I love the fact that people are scared of what they don’t know when it comes to Detroit. It allows us to continue buying properties with excellent intrinsic value. 

A good acquisition and operating team will allow you to purchase income-producing real estate below replacement costs. That margin of safety, combined with great yield, make it hard to lose in a market like Detroit.