All Forum Posts by: Leroy K. Williams

Hi Donyae, my company "Property Rehab Central" specializes in Property Rehab Management and Property Management. We are a professional service with an office located in Southfield MI. Our website is Propertyrehabcentral.com. We understand the BRRR strategy and can provide quotes that match your budget. Our team of professionals are licensed and insured and can pull all permits.

You can inbox me directly.  We also have a Youtube channel with plenty of projects we have complete on display that you can subscribe to. You can find the link on our website

Honestly its not that hard to evict.  

You send out the typical 7 day and 30 day notices and if the tenant fails to pay you file a complaint in the 36th District court and you will be assigned a court date right on the spot which is about 7-14 days after filing. Make sure you serve properly (Best to use a court officer for service which costs about $50).  Thereafter you pay an attorney to appear on your behalf (70% of the tenants don't show up to court)  After you receive the judgement your tenant will be given about 10-14 days to move out. If they don't move you will have to hire a bailiff as someone mentioned however 70-90% of the time the tenant will accept cash for keys and in this scenario they will move out and give you the keys without having to pay a Bailiff and typically they will try to clean up since they want to be sure to get the cash which we normally provide as $300.00

Respectfully, I understand that its all about income which is completely reliant upon collecting rent.  Understood.  The idea in this business has to be thinking broadly across time and not month to month.  If you are a buy and hold investor you are supposed to be thinking about income over time.  Many investors in Detroit get hurt thinking short term about rental income and are tricked into allowing the wrong kind of tenant into their homes because the new tenant has the first months rent and security deposit in hand.  That "money in the hand" thing can be seductive.  This kind of thing can lead to a few more payments and then the ball drops.  Investors fall for this because they are paying attention to the wrong thing. Just because someone is paying you today doesn't mean they will pay you tomorrow and vice versa just because someone stopped paying you today doesn't mean they won't catch up and pay you tomorrow.  The idea here is choosing the "right" tenant and then managing the tenant.  Managing the tenant may require working them through difficult times.  I am not suggesting you can do this with any and every tenant, but when you have someone who has paid on time for a substantial amount of time and then something happens to disrupt this, I would say that it is not a good idea to push them away as a first response.  

I would suggest a different approach. if you have a tenant who paid regularly in the past and is now facing hardship it may be a good idea to help them locate temporary assistance such as the State Emergency Relief Program https://www.michigan.gov/mdhhs...   You have to remember that in order to evict you have to stand in front of a judge and if you build a reputation in the 36th district court as a heartless landlord you will likely draw the ire of judges who can become sympathetic to your tenant(s) in the future. 

Running a good rental business sometimes requires that you NOT throw out the baby with the bath water meaning sometimes its better to stand with people who have a track record of paying you but run into financial or health issues.  

As a rehab manager myself I will say that your contractor is smart, he is trying to gently assert that its "HIS" project once you signed the agreement.  Providing different material can be a hassle as someone mentioned also it may change some element of the finish that the contractor is not comfortable with. Guys like to feel good about how their projects turn out.  If you want to provide material that should be negotiated upfront.  

Hi Rayisha,  

First Thank You for considering our great city for your investment goals. Detroit is really interesting right now since there is a ton of activity in certain areas of the City namely Downtown, midtown, Liv/6 district, historic neighborhoods, the villages, et al. In these areas things are really hot, however in other core neighborhoods things are relatively static as far as values. I am not sure how well the BRRR strategy will work where values are not really that high and lenders are not likely to look favorably on. So with that said when you get here look carefully at the areas and how they are trending before you buy.

In my view the best strategy for tenanting properties in Detroit is buy and rehab first and then hire a property management company. There is a real science as to why but that's an entirely different topic that is tangential to your post so I will leave it at that.

Yes plenty of people invest here.  Right now we are seeing an influx of investors from South America (Argentina, Brazil) and also more interest from overseas investors from places like Ireland and China.  Detroit is quietly becoming a goldmine for investors seeking cash flow properties.  

While the opportunity is here, there are many people who cannot figure out how to make Detroit rentals work since there doesn't seem to be many good renters to choose from.  There is a way to mitigate this problem if you are creative.  The key is creating a better product which will attract a higher quality tenant.  Many investors come here and have an extremely difficult time wrapping their mind around the reality that you cannot just cheaply slap a property together and expect a quality tenant.  Detroit has alot of homes to choose from so good renters tend to be choosy, if your property is a slum they will likely pass it up.  After doing a substandard rehab many times owners or Property Managers will resort to tenanting the home with anyone with a pulse, the first month, and a security deposit just to get some one inside the home and that is often the beginning of sorrows.  

Detroit is open for business but its unique and requires tact

Hello Daniel,

I am from Detroit  and have lived a good portion of my life in the "hood".  Now, Before I offer my two cents about how to deal with the locals I will say for the record that Detroit is not what you might think, its probably the best place in the country right now to buy real estate. Ok, that said I will give you a few pointers.  #1 Mind your business, you don't want people to think you may be a problem as it relates to whatever rules they are bending in order to survive.  This means don't ask too many questions.  #2 Dress very casually like basic jeans, t-shirt, jacket. #3 Do not try to make friends, instead be cordial and respectful #4 Like Jay Ballman said definitely hire a property manager and never reveal your secret identity as the property owner.  #5 Try to get in good with the local merchants closest to your property since your first line of defense will likely be these folks (like store and restaurant owners)  looking out for you since its likely that they know the locals and have some influence when it comes to convincing them to leave you alone. #6 Try to avoid a routine. Don't leave out and come home at the same time everyday.  

Alright, good luck.  

I have a portfolio of homes for sale in Detroit.  15 of the homes are vacant and the prices range from $3,500 to $4,900 each.  I also have 2 tenant occupied homes for sale for $35,000 each.  

Hi Chris,

I am a Rehab Contractor in Detroit MI.  I would suggest the following:

1. Go to the material supplier your prospective contractor uses and ask them if they know him. If he shops at Home Depot or Lowes alot likely the people at the Pro sales counter will have things to say about him one way or the other.  

2. Tell your contractor that you want to see him in action on another project before you give him your job.  

3. Pay in increments of 10% upon mobilization and then 20% milestones until you reach a punchlist and the last 10% upon completion.