Occasionally I write articles about other parts of the country to give others who may be interested in long-distance landlording a heads-up.

David’s argument has some merit. Michigan is indeed in an untenable situation and eventually the business climate must improve, based on simple reality. However, nobody has any idea when this will happen. The current federal administration and US Congress have a great deal of interest in “saving” Michigan by mandating that certain car models be built there, funneling in huge amounts of federal money, and so on.

I believe these moves will enable the state to survive on life support for a while longer. They are not substitutes for making serious structural changes to improve the business climate. Nobody knows when things really will improve.

It is certainly possible to make money in Michigan right now.. But it is harder to do so because people are leaving the state more than they are coming in, and the people coming in are less financially sound than the people leaving.

It is not enough to know that some day your property will be worth more. You must also be able to predict when that will happen. If you buy a property for $80,000 now and sell it for $90,000 down the road, you made money. But if you cannot sell it for that amount until 2029, was it a good investment?

This is the PERFECT STORM for real estate investors in the state of Michigan. Home prices have never been so low while at the same time having access to very affordable financing since mortgage interest rates are at historical lows. Never in the history of Michigan, as I know Dennis has pointed out several times in his blog posts, have you been able to buy beautiful brick homes in areas with the most desireable school systems at low enough prices that they will throw off a positive cash flow day one. And, when the economy does rebound (and make no mistake, it will everywhere, including Michigan, as business and economic cycles have existed since the dawn of time – ups and downs) the value of the homes in the more desireable neighborhoods will be in higher demand causing their value to rise at a higher rate than those rat nests in undesireable neighborhoods that some investors mistakenly buy in.

I agree that the majority of the problems Michigan faces are a result of poor government decisions combined with the poor business decisions made by the auto companies bowing to the demands of organized labor through collective bargaining; however, there will come a time when that approach will reach its end. At which point, those who had the foresight to purchase real estate when it was cheap will look like geniuses.

My question to you, Brendan, what was the ultimate purpose of the article? Are you trying to prevent people from investing in Michigan and, instead, invest with you elsewhere?

I did take all of my facts from the Detroit News. I wish the people of Michigan the very best of luck, of course. It also seems to me unlikely that the “top people” would ever have read my advice, let alone taken it. Maybe they should!

As a real estate investor you of all people should know that where there are people there needs to be housing. And when there’s housing then real estate investing can be profitable.

And let me guess – you have never in your life set foot in the state. Shame on you.

By the way – I found your long-distance armchair quarterback advice to the state most humorous. I’m sure that we had our top people on it immediately.

Dennis Fassett