All Forum Posts by: Michael O.

Originally posted by @Jonathan Roberts:

Thanks @Michael O.  

I was looking at trying to make a trip out to Detroit over the next few weeks when I am visiting family in Grand Rapids.

Are you doing the rehab yourself on that Duplex? I would super interested to hear more about that deal. I have seen a lot of pretty inexpensive multi families in relatively low crime areas (according to Trulia). 

 It's a mixture of doing rehab work myself and contracting out larger projects. There are a ton of great deals on small multi-family in the area currently.  Let me know if you decide to come out, I'd love to grab a coffee and chat if you do.

I might be biased since I work for the company, but you should look at some of the newer small SUVs from Chevy, Buick, or GMC. They’re all pretty affordable and stylish without looking too bouji. There’s always great incentives running all the time, as well. Let me know if you have any questions!

Dexter & Elmhurst is a tricky area... 

You have Russell Woods to the northwest which has homes starting to come back (this old house did a show in the neighborhood) & Boston Edison / Virginia Park to the Southeast with rehabs fetching in the mid $300-$400's easily. 

I don't know if I would necessarily invest a lot into the area just yet. There are no signs that the particular intersection, or anything close by, are seeing any types of development currently, nor in the near future. 

As @Christian Hutchinson said, if you are going to purchase I would make sure your security is top-notch and be prepared to market to Section 8 for now. I do imagine the area will come back, but how long before that happens is the question. 

You might want to take a trip out here to check the different neighborhoods and see what you truly feel comfortable investing in. Google maps and other sites aren't going to give you the best picture of what is really happening in Detroit right now.

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

Hi @Jonathan Roberts. Congrats on getting started in long-distance BRRRR-ing.

From what I know, all of the area's are great locations to start out in. I live in Detroit and have been seeing a ton of activity lately. My advice if you want to invest in this city is to take a weekend trip out here to check out the different neighborhoods. Detroit is definitely on the comeback, but is hit or miss depending on the neighborhood and a lot of out of state investors can run in to a bunch of headaches if they don't know where to put their money.

I'd also try to meet some boots on the ground once you come visit to get a feel for the potential team you're trying to build out. I'm currently in the rehab process on a duplex in the Bagley neighborhood, but I haven't been in the investment game too long so I unfortunately don't have any good contacts for you. 

I could put you in contact with a realtor that works with out of state investors if you end up wanting to pursue this market, just DM me.

Good luck! 

This property might have been part of the Detroit land bank auction. If they purchased through that program they are required to bring the house up to living conditions within 6 months of purchase (9 months in certain circumstances). I would look into that first to see if it is the case. If they do have that, I don’t know how you would be able to transfer ownership unless you were to work a deal out with the Detroit land bank. Good luck!

@Delmas Edwards don't listen to the negative people. There's plenty of opportunities within Detroit nowadays. You're right near the Pointe's, which is great. Hold on to the house and use as much of the rental income to pay down CC's as fast as possible.

I would look into the Detroit Home Mortgage Program: http://www.detroithomemortgage.org/#faq they will work with you to refinance, and it they're doing it for any area in the neighborhood.

Chemical Bank is a small bank that is doing a great job helping folks get mortgages and private loans for homes in Detroit, as well. I used them on a recent 203k for a duplex in the Bagley neighborhood. It took a while to get through the paperwork, but it was well worth it. 

https://caliberhomeloans.com/ also has been helping homeowners in the city with non-perfect credit, I would give them a call. 

Just keep asking and reaching out. Eventually you will find a private lender or bank that will be willing to help. 

And for all the people that don't think it's smart to invest in Detroit, start reading some more about the city. First the businesses move in, then the people follow shortly behind. There's over $5 billion in developments going on in the city currently. 

Good luck and keep us posted!

@Chris Schoonhoven oh, perfect. Hope they can help!

I know Caliber Home Loans work on a lot of non-traditional loan products. You could try to contact them to see if they might be of assistance. 

Tom Slater is who I would contact. 

https://caliberhomeloans.com/loan-consultant/michi... 

I grew up in Inkster. It is not an area that I would invest in... High crime, high unemployment, low median income. At one time Inkster was the cocaine capital of Michigan, don't know where they are at currently. I do know they recently had to close most of their public schools down due to lack of funding and the police and fire department was asking for donations of toiletries and etc. (toilet paper, paper towels, cleaning supplies). 

Most of your rentals will be Section 8. As long as you don't have a problem with it, go for it!

@Alexander Mair what neighborhoods of Detroit are you looking at? There's a stark dichotomy between the good and bad parts of the city. If you're serious about investing in multi-family in Detroit, I would suggest spending a few hundreds dollars to fly out for a weekend and tour the different neighborhoods.

As @Christopher M. stated, Detroit was built to house 2+ million people. There's a ton of vacant or half-occupied stock in the city so you need to have a good understanding of which neighborhoods are seeing development and an influx of renters. 

DM me if you have more questions.