All Forum Posts by: Travis Biziorek

Hey Cynthia, shoot me a message with what you have. I'm always a buyer for something if it meets my criteria.

That said, not wanting a house to sit on the market for a long time and not willing to take a loss are generally at odds with each other if these are problematic properties. 

Happy to take a look though, give you my opinion and thoughts, and tell you what they're likely worth to an investor.

 Maybe you've only read a small sample of my posts, but "everything is awesome" is not at all a very good distillation of them. Anyway, not here to argue. My strategy is working well for me and I know plenty of folks doing the same.

 The only difference between now and when you started is the city of Detroit is vastly different than it's been in decades. Don't be so jaded from your past experience that you let the opportunity pass you by.

 It doesn't matter any way you slice it. Assembly workers will get increasingly sacrificed to automation. We're seeing it already, but we'll really see it in the next downturn when it makes increasingly more sense to replace humans with robots, or there's a catalyst that makes more attractive (think a minimum wage hike to $15/h).

Right now we have so much labor support that it's not as high of a priority to replace workers. Labor is still dirt cheap.

If you're betting on Detroit because of the return of the auto industry, you're doing it wrong (not speaking specifically to you, Drew... just in general). I have no doubt the auto industry will continue to be important to Detroit, but there will be far greater diversity. And that's a good thing.

 Yep, gotta agree with @Drew Sygit. Nobody is asking for "general information" even when they say "what areas should I invest in?". It's a very general question, I agree. And I have no problem dancing around it like everyone else. I can tell them the hot areas everyone regurgitates, but people literally want you to tell them where they should be buying... where YOU are buying. Yeah, no.

A general question is lazy. It puts the burden on the person with the knowledge. I hate it when people ask to "pick my brain" or to "tell me about Detroit". They can't even spend the time to do some research of their own in an effort to ask pointed questions. Why should I spend the time throwing information at them, trying to figure out what they really want to know? I shouldn't. It literally has zero value for me.

You might think it's "worth my time" to have these conversations, or that it's "good for everyone". You're wrong.

The spots that I uncover, the up-and-coming ones that are clearly going to be winners... I don't have to point anyone there, because the smart, savvy, hardworking people that are putting in the time and effort have already found them, or will very soon. It's actually in my best interest NOT to tell you where you should be investing.

Think about that for a minute. In a market that is coming back, where there's still plenty of low hanging fruit if you know where to look, it is not at all in my best interest to point you to the honey hole because that means there's less for me. 

There are definitely spots where I buy, where I desperately want more houses, but they are hard to come by. When you really understand that, and understand that it is inevitable that others will find these areas, it's very clear why I don't want to share. 

I realize I may sound like a selfish jerk. The less you think about me due to what I've written here is directly correlated to how lazy you are. I have no problem helping folks, and there are a number of people right here on BP that I've helped get out of sticky situations. But I'm not here to give out a free lunch, especially one I had to bust my butt to earn. 

To my knowledge there are no turnkey providers operating in Detroit. 

There are plenty of shady PM's that will sell you marked up properties, do terrible rehabs for you, and maybe rent them out at the end of the day.

Detroit requires you to be far more hands on if you want to get involved here. So if you're looking for turnkey, I'd avoid it.

Wait, so you won't just give me all your hard-earned knowledge for free?!?! HOW. DARE. YOU!!!!

Laugh, folks... but this is literally my BP inbox every day.

 Population is declining according to what, the 2010 census? That's 10 years old and done at essentially Detroit's low point. It's been nearly a decade of growth now and the 2020 census is going to show it. 

Mark. My. Word.

 Gotta agree with Keyonte here. There are plenty of B-class neighborhoods in Detroit. You just need to put the time in and find them. If you're a jaded, closed-minded local, it's going to be a lot harder to accept this. But the savvy folks are out there scooping them up for cheap and doing great with them.

Hey Rachel, I'm not an agent but I can help in one of two ways:

a) Give you some advice from the perspective of someone who owns 10 properties in Detroit and lives here locally.

b) Connect you with an agent or two that I respect.

Some quick advice: You do NOT want a house for $20,000 with at tenant in it. If you think that will be easy to handle because it's turn key, you'll be sorely mistaken. That tenant is not paying rent, living in a complete dump, and the house probably needs $20-$30k in renovation. The owner is a slumlord, hasn't paid their taxes or updated the house... EVER.

That's not something you want to get involved in.