I worked in KC with Shaun Gamble from Veteran Home Inspection.

I don't gamble on future appreciation.

Appreciation 100% based on NOI.For a 5 year time frame I would not gamble on or rely on SFH appreciation.

Generally speaking, a primary residence shouldn't be considered an investment, as the cash flow is always going to be $0 in the best case (and if you purchased hoping for appreciation, you were just gambling).So, assuming you like your house, plan to live there long-term and it's paid off, why be concerned with the short-term valuation?

General consensus around here that I have seen is that:Buy and hold guys don't want the liability of a tenant getting sick or claiming to get sick from exposure to some area that missed treatment, or the soil in the yard if it has some unknown contamination.And flippers aren't willing to gamble that they got it waaay low enough to take the back end discount that they will need to likely take to get a end buyer to purchase.That is what I've seen pretty much every time this question has been posed in the past.

Everything is a gamble,, just be ready.

The parameters are set heavily in their favor to minimize their risk of having to pay out.So you can pay for their services and gamble that you will be that 1 in 1000 customer and come out ahead, or you can do everything on your end to limit your chances of needing their services, and keep the $$ in your own pocket

Just seems like such a gamble.   

That will be a big part of choosing the next steps.Some lenders will do a short-sale without missed payments, but usually with a hardship (illness, job / income loss, etc.).If there's some balance between appreciation and the current short fall in the LTV, you might consider subject-to or just make up the short fall at closing and avoid the short sale gambling on appreciation to make you whole (not recommended).Dunno ... too many unknowns ...

Hello Fellow BP'ers and especially Detroiters,I am an architect and an RE investor from Israel.Although I have been involved in the building industry for around 20 years, (mainly as an architect but also with RE investment experience locally, in the UK and a little in South Africa), I am relatively new to the US market.I have been following the posts and podcasts on this site for a while, and am really impressed with the length and breadth of the information and networking available.As you are probably guessing I was tempted into the Detroit market like a lot of others, seeking alternatives to relative low returns elsewhere, and promises of 2 figure ROI with ease.