@Alex Detroit
I agree that detroit is very much a block by block city. You need to know the neighborhoods well. I was able to consistently rent out a townhouse in midtown for several years to high quality tenants who could afford to pay on the higher end. If you want upscale tenants aim for midtown, downtown and cork town. It would typically take me a week to release the unit once I listed it. My property manager was mbs property Mgmt based In Southfield and they were good.
Morningside, Sherwood Forest, east English village and rose dale park are other good neighborhoods.
I owned a home in morningside that was vacant for over a year while I tried to sell, unsuccessfully, and then rehab it. I only had one attempted break in. The perp threw a rock in the window. I did have a security alarm though. Breakins wouldn’t be my concern. Once I marketed the property for rent it took 3-4 wks to get it leased but I was going on the higher side for rent.
I wouldn’t even think of trying to flip in detroit b/c buyers can’t get mortgages. I read an article that a little over 1000 mortgages were originated in 2018- an abysmally small number.
cons:
I agree with the other poster who said it’s hard to find contractors and even landscapers who will do work in the city.
Another challenge is that the city passed an ordinance requiring landlords to complete lead remediation. The ordinance even went as far as giving tenants the right to put their rent money in escrow with the court if their landlord didn’t get the property remediate. Then on top of that the city sent out workers to homes in the city alerting tenants of their rights under the ordinance. This ordinance is currently being challenged in court but it sent a signal to me that the city doesn’t want small business landlords. For these reasons I’m hesitant to do more deals in detroit.
Pros: lots of cheaper properties to buy.
City is projected to become more rental occupied over time so more people to rent to. However the tenant base is projected to become older- think more senior citizens on a fixed income. This will limit potential rent increases.
