# Should I buy an investment house in Detroit.......LOL..........



## sags (May 15, 2010)

From time to time, there have been some threads on buying homes in distressed areas as rental investments.

Here is a video of a guy showing what an investor bought. It was a 7 house package deal for $5,000 that was touted to be "worth" $280,000 and would generate a lot of cash flow.

Evidently there were 67 people bidding on these homes on Ebay in 2012.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuJFLJ0JApA

The next video is same area from February 2015..........and the city is tearing the homes down or soon will be.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmvmVAf3EEg&feature=youtu.be


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## Rusty O'Toole (Feb 1, 2012)

Do you believe in the 'buy low, sell high' theory? Detroit RE prices are certainly low. Seriously, I am surprised this and other cities have been allowed to sink as low as they have. Can no one in authority see that something is not working? That their policies or theories have gone astray somewhere? I'm not smart enough to know the answer but you don't have to be smart to see there is a problem.


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## Janus (Oct 23, 2013)

It is indeed very tempting. I can't help but thing you'd want to buy things in the best areas, though. Still at a huge discount, but less risk of some of the more sketchy problems in Detroit.


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## sags (May 15, 2010)

The best idea I have heard is to bulldoze entire areas and move any left over residents to new locations. If they own a home......give them another home in a better location.

Then build a security fence around the entire area and build greenhouses with the latest alternative energy sources. Grow food that that is currently transported across the US from drought stricken areas.

It can be "fixed" with enough money, but Detroit doesn't have it and the federal government would have to finance the project.......selling it later to private investors.

If built on a huge scale, food processors could locate there and provide additional jobs. The roads, sewer systems, lights are already in place.

Oddly enough, Detroit is adjacent to the Great Lakes with abundant water supply, which is the exact opposite of California which is in drought conditions.


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

sags said:


> From time to time, there have been some threads on buying homes in distressed areas as rental investments.
> 
> Here is a video of a guy showing what an investor bought. It was a 7 house package deal for $5,000 that was touted to be "worth" $280,000 and would generate a lot of cash flow.


It's still a ghetto no matter how much you disguise the fact. Most of these areas have a tendency to reverting back to ghettos as the renters lose their jobs. 
These are not what you call the elite- educated living in these areas, so the real estate will never be worth too much. 



> Evidently there were 67 people bidding on these homes on Ebay in 2012.
> 
> The next video is same area from February 2015..........and the city is tearing the homes down or soon will be.


Bidding on Ebay, sure somebody will win the bid, 
but then, to find financing to get the necessary permits from the city to fix up these places to make them livable enough to charge rent, 
is another matter entirely.


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## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

sags said:


> ... Oddly enough, Detroit is adjacent to the Great Lakes with abundant water supply, which is the exact opposite of California which is in drought conditions.


And according to my relatives, part of California's drought problems is how much has been removed from the ground water supply to support agriculture, tourism, industry etc.

I suspect the view of "abundant water supply" for the lakes is likely to lead to the same over-use and same problems without something to change the business culture.


Cheers


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## HaroldCrump (Jun 10, 2009)

sags said:


> Oddly enough, Detroit is adjacent to the Great Lakes with abundant water supply, which is the exact opposite of California which is in drought conditions.


Oh no, no, no, sags, please do not make that mistake.
Have you not heard about the water contamination problems in Flint, Michigan?

I would strongly recommend you buy "investment property" anywhere in or around Detroit only if you were my worst enemy.
But given that I like you, I suggest stay far away from that zone.

You live in a great area - look around in your area, I am sure there are great investment properties you can buy in & around London, St. Thomas, Ingersoll, Stratford, etc.


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