Howell, MI · Member since 2016 · 8 posts · 0 votes
Hey New Friends
I've been lurking on the forum for a bit reading and such. Close to diving in the waters.
I'm considering investing in the downtown ann arbor area. Would love to hear thoughts on that area? Any real estate agents that are top shelf in that area you can suggest?
Investor · Allenton, MI · Member since 2016 · 32 posts · 9 votes
10y
Good afternoon Justin. we are close but not to close. I am currently 18! I am also new but I currently have two single family rentals. in the Lapeer county area. Down town areas are just two much for me!!
Investor · Fenton, MI · Member since 2015 · 142 posts · 46 votes
10y
Not to discourage you, but Ann Arbor is pretty darn expensive. You are in a great area yourself as that 96 corridor from Howell to Brighton is awesome and in the beginning stages of exploding in my opinion. Highly suggest networking at local REI groups. Checkout meetup.com for local groups. Great one in AA and we just started one in Howell not too long ago as well. Come check them out.
Specialist · Ann Arbor, MI · Member since 2016 · 355 posts · 191 votes
10y
Hi Justin--welcome to BP. I live near downtown. What type of investing are you interested in? There is a lot of development going on right now, with new condos and luxury student housing. Do you mean right in the city business district, or single family housing near downtown? Are you interested in rentals, or something else?
Howell, MI · Member since 2016 · 8 posts · 0 votes
10y
@corey - Nice to meet you! Great info thank you so much! I will check into these resources. This really helps me a lot.
@sarah - Nice to meet you! To start I was hoping to get something downtown (in a building). Was possibly thinking something I could airBnB and use some of the time too. If all goes well I want to expend into monthly rentals. Any thoughts?
Investor · Allenton, MI · Member since 2016 · 32 posts · 9 votes
10y
Good afternoon Justin. we are close but not to close. I am currently 18! I am also new but I currently have two single family rentals. in the Lapeer county area. Down town areas are just two much for me!!
Investor · Fenton, MI · Member since 2015 · 142 posts · 46 votes
10y
@Justin Hamel, to get the @ symbol to work properly to tag someone, you have to choose the name that pops up in a prompt near the bottom of the page after you type the symbol and the first few letters of the persons name. once you choose the person from that prompt it will turn the persons name blue and will send tgem a notification that they were tagged. I believe, but am not positive of this, that you can only tag folks that have posted within the specific thread you are in or that are already collegues/connections of yours.
@Erick Michael Ford did i understand you correctly that you are 18 years old and already own two single family homes that you rent out? WOW what a start in life
Investor · Allenton, MI · Member since 2016 · 32 posts · 9 votes
10y
@Cory Mccarthy yes you understand correctly. Currently 18, and Yes. Well they are not paid off free and clear but I am working them down! I can only thank my Parents for being well off and being able to co-sign the loans for me without them none of this would have been possible. I could not hardly get a Mendards credit card, but i had two house loans in my name. It is a great start! but hey got to start young right!
Howell, MI · Member since 2016 · 8 posts · 0 votes
10y
@Erick Michael Ford - Nice to meet you! You have a great start! If you need anything done online Let me know
@Cory Mccarthy - Thanks so much for that info! You had mentioned the howell/brighton corridor... What types do you suggest for the area will provide the best return over a long period? Duplex, single family homes, lake homes, etc?
Investor · Fenton, MI · Member since 2015 · 142 posts · 46 votes
10y
@Justin Hamel a lot of that depends on your specific situation and what you are trying to accomplish, but all of the above will work, some just may work better than others depending on your specific situation. Do you own a home already or are you currently renting. If renting, I would look hard at Duplexes or Mutli's and do the house hack thing to start. If you already have a home, then something else might work better for you. You mentioned above about doing AirBnB. Lakefront could be great for that as well. I just recently talked with a realtor who is renting out a lakefront property on a weekly basis, and finding a great deal of success doing that, much as they do in strong tourist areas such as the west coast of Michigan, but is doing it right there in Brighton somewhere. Surprised me, but she said they were covering a years worth of mortgage payments and then some just over the summer, so clearly she was getting premium prices for them and was able to fill it regularly. I am sure she was also renting during the winter somehow as well to get even more out of the property. Single family I think will do well in Livingston as well as I see homes there consistently renting for more than $1/Sq. Ft. and then some. Livingston is growing steadily and there is extremely high demand there right now and lots of new business coming in, which will drive even more demand. The real trick is buying it right. As long as you do that, you will be fine in just about any strategy, but buying right is not really very easy. But I don't think buying right is necessarily easy anywhere. Requires a thorough knowledge of the area, a keen sense of the differences from one neighborhood to the next, from one house style to the next, etc. I have been studying the markets around me for months and have been putting in offers regularly and have yet to get one accepted just simply because of how hot the market is right now and the very low levels of inventory available. But after studying for that long, it is now much easier to spot a potential bargain and estimate rehab costs, so soon one of these will hit. Just stay focused, remain committed and don't let anyone or anything get you discouraged. As a serial entrepreneur, I am quite sure you already know that. let me know if I can help any other way and best of luck to you on your new
Specialist · Ann Arbor, MI · Member since 2016 · 355 posts · 191 votes
10y
Hi Justin--I'm helping a friend who is trying to do something similar right now--she wants to buy a duplex in or near downtown where she can rent one unit and use a second very small unit for occasional personal use and then rent it on AirB&B the rest of the time. There are several possibilities we are going to look at soon in the 299-425K range. Of course, if you have between 500-800K, there are a lot of other possibilities. You could also consider the Tower Plaza condos right downtown at 555 E. William. Those range from 130-160K and would be pretty affordable, especially if you could buy it as a primary residence, and they would make great short term rentals being right in the heart of downtown. You'd have to check to make sure the HOA allows it, though, and see what kind of competition there is for that. You'd want to furnish it really nicely, because I think a lot of people are doing that nowadays. Football weekend rentals, too-those can go for up to $4000 a weekend for a big house on a big game weekend. Lake house rentals north of Ann Arbor are a great idea, too--I'm interested in that as well.
Investor · Fenton, MI · Member since 2015 · 142 posts · 46 votes
10y
@Sarah Lorenz, that is very interesting, how far away from AA are they willing to travel for a lakefront home like that? Not something I will execute on immediately, but that is definitely something to keep in mind for the future. Have any examples of folks doing this already today? I would love to research this a little further.
Investor · Fenton, MI · Member since 2015 · 142 posts · 46 votes
10y
@Sarah Lorenz, yes, sorry that was a little ambiguous now that I read my post again. I saw that figure about $4K a weekend for a big game day and that really caught my eye. What kind of specifics can you share about rentals on football weekends?
Specialist · Ann Arbor, MI · Member since 2016 · 355 posts · 191 votes
10y
@Cory MccarthyI know someone who has been doing this for several years, booking up all the football game weekends, and making $3500 a weekend or more. They have a uniquely-situated property, though. They are in a beautiful old west side neighborhood with gorgeous homes and tree-lined streets, but two blocks from the stadium, so people can walk to the game and not have to mess with the traffic. They have a new house--they tore down and rebuilt--so it's huge and new and lovely, with four bedrooms. It's also furnished very nicely. And this does take a LOT of work to do--you have to clean and prep your whole house, lock up stuff you don't want sitting out, put out guest sheets and towels and other linens, etc. And then do that all over when they leave. Or hire a cleaning person. But that is pretty big $, so a ton of people are listing their houses on these sites now--check out HomeAway or VBRO and just search the Ann Arbor map. Probably AirB&B, too, plus there are a couple of sites just for this--I think one is GameDay Rentals, and one more I can't remember. I just heard about someone else that has a lake house near Brighton and a home in Ann Arbor--they have both up for short-term rentals all the time, and they just shuttle between the two, depending on which one is booked. I doubt that everyone who has their house listed for those really high rates is actually booking--you might be able to get an idea if you keep an eye on some of them and watch to see if those weekends book up (some of them show the specific weekend available). Oh, people are also renting places out for U of M commencement weekend and Art Fair, too.
Do you have a lake property in Fenton that you are thinking about renting?
P.S. Look on HomeAway at North Lake in Dexter--there is an interior designer's home listed there that is gorgeous.
Investor · Fenton, MI · Member since 2015 · 142 posts · 46 votes
10y
Thanks @Sarah Lorenz, that's helpful information. I do own a lake home in Fenton, but it is my primary and not really considering renting that out, but was thinking that perhaps a Brighton area home might work if I could find one in that area. Interesting concept, I will keep it in mind and start checking out the sites you mentioned above. Thanks for the information and ideas.
@Justin Hamel, sorry didn't mean to hijack your conversation, but I think the conversation does help illustrate that there are all sorts of ways to make money in REI and you never know where you are going to find a niche. Best of Luck to you in the future.
Specialist · Ann Arbor, MI · Member since 2016 · 355 posts · 191 votes
10y
There are at least five duplexes right near downtown for sale right now. June and July are a great time to buy – prices go down on things that have been sitting on the market for a while.
Specialist · Ann Arbor, MI · Member since 2016 · 355 posts · 191 votes
10y
Oh, yes. The busy spring market is over and everyone is leaving on vacation and not thinking about buying a house. Look at what's been sitting on the market for weeks or months, and then come in 50, 75 or even 100,000 lower, depending on when it's been listed for. I had an agent calling me last July practically begging to buy a house in a premium area from a client who really had to sell by the end of summer.
Great post and thank you for all this valuable information. I absolutely love Ann Arbor! I went to school there and am now back home in Rochester Hills to begin my full time job at a financial planning company. On the side I will be starting my REI investing career in the Oakland County area but hope to expand over near Ann Arbor and in the Washtenaw County area in the near future. I'm hoping, sooner rather than later, that I will be able to leave my full time job to focus all my attention on building an REI business.
There are at least five duplexes right near downtown for sale right now. June and July are a great time to buy – prices go down on things that have been sitting on the market for a while.
Asking prices are lowered on listings that were priced too high above the market to sell. This should happen and does happen anytime a seller is serious about selling regardless of season. However, buyers should never be very concerned about the asking price and should never offer more than the property is worth.
Hi Justin - I'm a real estate investor and agent in Ann Arbor and I would love to chat more with you on potential deals in the area. Depending on your budget and strategy Ann Arbor has it's upside (student housing, stable high values, etc). I would almost recommend to start in one of the outlying communities (Dexter, Saline, Ypsilanti, Chelsea, South Lyon, Whitmore Lake) as they are more affordable and don't come with the taxes. That being said, it all depends on your goals. Seasonal rentals can have high upside as well although you will have turnover, cleaning, etc. If I were going to look into seasonal I would look at somewhere like Traverse City. I have seen 500 sq ft "condos" (basically hotel rooms) for 125-150k bringing in as much as 25k/yr. I'd be happy to connect!