I have looked at the areas you listed but I felt they were too far from the city which didn't fit with my goal of being a part of rebuilding Detroit.

We are rebuilding it now.

but as we know very market specific.there is so much of America were existing homes are still bought for half of what it would cost to rebuild them.. so I get it in those areas.

Find out what citys are going to be rebuilding and cleaning up the city.

Equity is an asset on your books and you need to start rebuilding your financial picture.

Reading through this and it's clear most investors aren't thinking about re-building communities.

David if you fly to the area see what other buildings in the close proximity are doing.If all include utilities tenants for the area will be conditioned to it and go down the street if you try to sub meter out.If most buildings have been sub metered for the area then it might make sense.As far as redevelopment you have to look at future use.Maybe the city will allow your current zoning say for example of 100 units to be changed to a more dense project of 400 units on the same property.By the city offering tax credits or bonds you will add new product with a higher assessment to improve the look of the area plus put more money into the cities budget.I talk to council reps for their districts in my states.What's on their mind is how to balance the budget and how to improve their district with quality and more money coming in.At some point the old units will be torn down even if performing and regenerate.Every area regenerates.It might take 50,60 years etc. but it will.This is why in high density cities where no more land is the buildings will be torn down and built new again.No more space is there so you have to go up in size and a more efficient design.When I look at a property I think of all the possible exit strategies with it and what it could become.If the location is great developers will pay a premium to tear down and rebuild new.When the boom happened everything was expanding and banks and developers had the "build it anywhere and it will not fail" mentality.Now that they have been stung hard with banks having bad loans and developers and corporate companies having failed projects or failed locations selection is the key.Development will come back but it will be much more selective.

Been there...burned out...economy crash...failed marriage...rebuild from ashes...life is good...the story still unfolding...

Many insurance companies give you the option to insure a property at its market value, which may be significantly less (or more, I suppose) than the cost to rebuild the structure (the rebuild amount is typically referred to as the replacement cost, which is where the confusion comes in, as this is not referring to RCV coverage).  

., i worked my *** off 70 and 80 hrs a week, worked my dead end job and went right to fix or build in a rental every day before and after work. was doing well building my portfolio, had a hand full of hold properties, did all my own work rebuilding them from the ground up so i wouldnt be a slum lord.