Houses In Detroit

[lapeer20m]

phill and i have been toying with the idea of buying real estate for a whle now.

today we are going to look at a few houses in and around detroit. I live less than an hour from there. Anyhow, i didn'trealize just how cheap houses are. I usually drive junk cars, and many houses in detroit are priced below what i usually pay for a car.

here's an example.....

current bid is $4K (the buy it now price was 4K, but buy itnow goes away when you reach a certain price or something, i forget)



http://cgi.ebay.com/CHEAP-FORCLOSED-...1%7C240%3A1318

or how about this one which is up to $1,725.00




http://cgi.ebay.com/LAST-BANK-LISTED...1%7C240%3A1318


like with most things in life, if it seems too good to be true it probably is. we will use due dilligence and see what happens with one or two of the properties after we buy them.

we'd like to think that we could sell them on craigslist for double what we bought them for. I think the rule we're going to start with is to spend one day at the house cleaning and doing things that are nominally free, then re-list it. After we do a few of them, we might even consider doing lease with option to buy for people. Then we could sell them for like 10 or 15K perhaps.

[timbuk]

that is unbelievable considering that even a unserviced lot here on the island is a cool 160k that would be so fun to get into good luck and have a ball!

[pete c]

There is one tiny little problem.

The domestic auto industry is imploding as we speak.... errrr.... type.

If the feds keep there hands off and let it sort itself out, I think there is hope for the industry. But, it is going to be a tough next few years.

If you can ride it out, you could do very well.

If you need to flip them quickly, it could get ugly.

[frank-id]

Wow the houses seem like a real deal. Not all buyers are out of work or even work. The wealthy still have money to spend. If I knew of these opportunities, I would spend some money. Houses and dirt are the best investments. A little paint and labor can give big time returns. My friend buys houses and carries the papers. Some times he does a refi or sells the paper. Go get some properties. Frank in Idaho No bank repos here in Idaho...

[phillbus914]

So.. here's the news story that got us interested in looking for a house, watch the video on the page... http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=6249208&page=1

We're now leaving Detroit, I'm glad we went and checked these places out before we bid on anything. I can't believe what a dump Detroit is... Burned out houses everywhere, people staring us down every time we pull over (probably doesn't help we're in an old cop car) not to mention classy cars like this abandoned on the side of the road...



I think we're going to look for something around Flint..

[timbuk]

obviously prices reflect the region there in....very important to the flipper.....those prices are unbelievable!it would be worth it to spend a few more pesos and get away from that neborhood....id even pay triple that!

[lapeer20m]

we only got nervous a couple times yesterday. like when im stopped along the street programming the gps and the others in the car say "look at the man in the mask coming out of that store.....DRIVE DRIVE DRIVE!"

we were stopped at one house and i said, "did ya hear that gunshot?" and phill is like "that sounded like someone dropping a board" then there were at least 3 more in rapid succession. They were totally gunshots.

perhaps driving a 2001 crown vic police interceptor in the ghetto wasn't the best idea. We had a pair of 1 finger salutes from one gentlemen who was with a large group of friends. Just as we were stopping to take the above photo of that fine caddie a car that had been driving past us slammed on their brakes and turned around. Don't know if that was at all related to us, but we high tailed it out of there.

i still think real estate is a good idea, but there are some bad neighborhoods in detroit. I've been downtown a bunch of times, but that's way different than criusing around in the 'hood.

[Elliot Naess]

Besides the need to earn money, I can understand how you were attracted to that first house. Straight out of a fairytale! If only you could pick it up and move it....

But it needs a ton of work. Look at the balcony above the front door. I cannot tell if the crooked part is structural or just flashing, but either way the wood behind it has rotted away. But since you cannot reasonably move it, the condition of the house does not matter.

I'm getting to the point now: What you were looking at was in reality a "paper lot" in a wasteland where there once was a city. The city itself got up and left a long time ago. Tragic, yes.

I once lived in Garden City, a nice suburb east of Detroit. I put a stationwagon up for sale, and the elderly gentleman who bought it mentioned he was a preacher at a small church closer to Detroit. I noticed he was armed. And that was over 30 years ago.

Now.... Your "Bluesmobile" had me rolling on the floor! Perfect!

[letz4wheel]

Elliot,
You have a good eye...I am glad I didn't post pics of my house