All Forum Posts by: Marvin Rice

Nice concept but I doubt it will be enough to drive up anything.  The numbers are too low for the amount of area you are trying to effect. 

They cannot live there for free.  The best they could have done was put the payments in escrow and prove they had the money and only with held for some deficiency.  They would have to release it to you once remedied.  No harm no foul.

Just evict.  They are running a scam on you.  Unfortunately, once good tenants go bad in the city, they don't get better.  EVERYONE has friends/family that educate them on ways to get over in one way or another.  EVERYONE has friends/family that has done it before.  EVERYONE thinks they are a lawyer and smarter than you until they get served.

If they don't believe you have a valid lease, then they are squatters and still can be sued for eviction.

I grew up in this city.  I am very familiar with many of the ways in the city.  You should act quickly and get them out.  You need to have someone secure the property immediately or coincidentally, your furnace, HW Heater, and copper will come up missing within days of their moving.  Start all over with another tenant.

Originally posted by @Jean Bolger:

@Dustin Zentz I agree- I'm always trying to convince my musician friends that it's worth putting effort into getting into some property. 

I do worry that Denver's current surge in prices is going to squeeze a lot of the 'artist class' out of Denver. That's what happened in Boulder County in the 90's, and why a lot of us ended up in Denver. And frankly, if I were a young artist faced with the prices here I would probably either move to a city like San Francisco or Seattle where there would be more established artistic outlets, or go to a place that had a considerably lower cost of living and a burgeoning creative scene (..Detroit?)

 Detroit would welcome you!

I have lived in the Pointes for the last 6 years.  The houses go full retail here unless you get an auction property.  The schools are top 2% in the country and demand is very high here so if you can get a deal it will rent or sell fast.  All of the listings are handled by a few agents and they almost always get 6%. You can get $1800 a month on a 3bd 1.5 bth 1500 sq-ft house in the Farms, GP City,and Shores (if you can rent there).  Rents are lower in GP Park and GP Woods.  GP Park has the most rentals with a lot of multi-families. 

St. Clair Shores look pretty attractive for investment.  The area seems to be in demand but they still have purchase deals with some upside.  I am interested in looking there for houses because I need a lower entry point right now...

Good post.  There are a lot of strong neighborhoods in Detroit and Sherwood Forest is one of them.  As a matter of fact, areas like this still have strong home prices.  There are tons of big houses with lots of great history.  People are moving back into the city.  Once the schools become more attractive, there will be lots of families taking residence again.  

Originally posted by @Melody Everett-Neddo:

Originally posted by @Marvin Rice:

Hello!  Most communities in Michigan have the taxes online.  It might cost you a couple of dollars but I pay for it all the time when I am very interested in a property.  

What exactly are you paying a couple hundred for in your above mention?

Thanks,

Melody 

 I was telling him that to get property tax information online was only a couple of dollars ($2) but I misread his quote.  He was asking about income tax.

The other money I mentioned ($100 and $200) was answering his question about what cashflow to shoot for per unit.

I would be very careful investing from a distance here. I am from here and I hesitate to invest in the city anymore. I have taken some serious losses in the past. Cash flow is awesome until you get a vacancy. Then you are working hard to keep you house from getting gutted overnight. At one point no one would provide insurance in the city. Your only option was Michigan Basic and it didn't cover much. I had 2 SFRs burned down, a duplex burned down, and a 20 unit burned down (this was before rehab was complete and it was next to a church). I have had a house gutted including the new windows before I could get a tenant in it. Had to rehab it again! Had I evict a tenant and the furnace and hot water heater was stolen the next day. I had spent time with the neighbors, joined the block club, and gave EVERYONE my number but no one bothered to call when they saw guys hauling my stuff away. They told me about it later. I'm not saying you can't make good money in Detroit. I am quite sure now that I am a little older and wiser I could pull it off. But it is much harder than people would lead you to believe. Many seasoned players get burned in this market

Welcome!

 Thanks for starting this thread. You likely helped several people by sharing your experience.  It's not easy to put yourself out there.  Keep plugging away at it.  I fell out of the game for several years after getting burned and that is what I regret.  My first deal was 12 properties (I found deal, brought on 1 partner to make cash purchase, brought 2nd partner to fund rehabs, I handled construction.  All 3 equal partners and I had no job and NO money).  If you find the deal and have a plan, you will find partners.  If you try to do it all yourself, I will be tough sledding and you'll always have an excuse not to make it happen.

Sorry... I misread the "income" tax!  Forget most of what I just posted...

I would expect that on paper you will likely show a loss as long as you document EVERYTHING.  On a buy and hold it should benefit you quite a bit assuming you have a W2 job also.  A tax expert would be better suited to answer this,