Looking to Househack Duplex in Detroit

[Deiontae Nicholas]

Hello everyone! Just submitted an offer for a duplex in Detroit - Bagley District Neighbor hood. It's listed at 160k with 6 bedrooms and 2 1/2 bathrooms. I've been looking for a deal for over a year now and this looks promising for my first househack. I'm currently 26 years old with a fiancee and it's been my goal to create passive income through real estate since I read Rich Dad Poor Dad in 2018. I'll post the listing here but any feedback or suggestions would be helpful. I submitted a FHA offer today and will be awaiting the listing agent's response soon!

https://www.zillow.com/homes/1...

[NA Reese]

Good luck! I'm looking to do this same thing exact thing. The FB for Metro Detroit Real Estate investors also has good info

[Travis Biziorek]

Hey, congrats man! Looks like the place could use a bit of love but a great first step for sure!

[Drew Sygit]

@Deiontae Nicholas hope you have a good clause in your offer about FHA repairs, cause FHA appraiser highly likely to have a field day with this property.

You may want to start looking into an FHA 203k loan that will allow you to finance needed repairs.

For 203k you will need a licensed contractor to bid the repairs.

[Ryan Thomson]

@Deiontae Nicholas $160k for a duplex! What a dream. Huge fan of house hacking. Best of luck to you! I do like the idea of trying to use the FHA 203(k) loan to get some extra cash to remodel some of the unit like the kitchen/cabinets.

[Scott Mac]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bDSKTzLyrYQuote from @Deiontae Nicholas:

Hello everyone! Just submitted an offer for a duplex in Detroit - Bagley District Neighbor hood. It's listed at 160k with 6 bedrooms and 2 1/2 bathrooms. I've been looking for a deal for over a year now and this looks promising for my first househack. I'm currently 26 years old with a fiancee and it's been my goal to create passive income through real estate since I read Rich Dad Poor Dad in 2018. I'll post the listing here but any feedback or suggestions would be helpful. I submitted a FHA offer today and will be awaiting the listing agent's response soon!

https://www.zillow.com/homes/1...

That fancy shelf built into the wall is a Telephone holder from the olden days. When having a phone in your home was a status symbol to display.

It might have held an old fashioned Al Capone Blower Phone, or a more stylistic handset phone.

I'm guessing from the level of fancy trim, this place is well built.

Maybe one of the people in this video had this house built for his family with 6 bedrooms.

(Look at how smooth the roadways were back in time and a hat for everyone).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bDSKTzLyrY

Good Luck!

[Anthony Sierra]

Congratulations! Best of luck! 

[Scott Mac]

Maybe tone the yellow in the kitchen down a bit.

Maybe more into the brownish end the color scale.

Some people might think the zebra stripe oak cabnets are 80's, but I think the cabinets are a pretty good (long lasting) match for this house. 

And with a big kitchen like this, new cabinets can add up quickly.

Plus the older ones (to me) give the room character.

If it were mine, I might put on some crown moldings, a back splash and black handles just to make them little fancy, like the rest of the house.

Also I will give you a tip: Many people in the east and midwest  like and expect the ceilings in their home to be white.

They make paint called "White Ceiling Paint" just for this purpose.

Here is one brand as an example: https://www.sherwin-williams.com/homeowners/products/eminence-high-performance-ceiling-paint

Many times the ceiling and walls will be the same color, either as an attempt at clever decorating or cost savings when the painters come in.

[Scott Mac]

Quote from @Deiontae Nicholas:

Hello everyone! Just submitted an offer for a duplex in Detroit - Bagley District Neighbor hood. It's listed at 160k with 6 bedrooms and 2 1/2 bathrooms. I've been looking for a deal for over a year now and this looks promising for my first househack. I'm currently 26 years old with a fiancee and it's been my goal to create passive income through real estate since I read Rich Dad Poor Dad in 2018. I'll post the listing here but any feedback or suggestions would be helpful. I submitted a FHA offer today and will be awaiting the listing agent's response soon!

https://www.zillow.com/homes/1...

 So i am looking at this blizzard of wires (some) hanging loosely off the side of the building.

They appear to be all over it.

I also see what might be old 110 Volt electrical service for 2 units.

While it might be ok to rent, if it were mine, over time I would have it upgraded to 220 volts at 100 amps or 200 amps (whatever code calls for) per unit on separate meters.

And I would PAY an electrician to re route the wires into something more tidy looking and just do an overall inspection on the electric inside the house. (it probably won't raise the rent, but to me it looks dumpy).

Note: I had an electrician in another state tell me he considered all electrical in a home over 50 years old to be at the end of its service life (might be something else to discuss with an electrician).

As for the giant moon-raker antenna's on the roof, I would consider moving them to pipes in the backyard if possible, to save the wind stress on the roof and make re-roofing easier (theft from the pipes though???).

Because it's inside 8 mile road, I like the big Roladon shutters and the iron grates over the doors--make it seem very secure and safe like a fort (even thought the rest of the road doesn't seem to have them).

I also see what what might be an old fashioned land line phone line--this might be connected to an alarm monitoring service for that alarm box by the back door (state of the art 1974). Might be able to get rid of that hookup (mess of wires) if no one uses land lines in your target renter group anymore.

Good Luck!

[Zane Cress]

"This one won't last long" with 80 days on Zillow, I think you have some bargaining room here. Do you know if this has gone under contract before and came back on market? If it did then there was likely something during the walkthrough that spooked someone off. Be thorough in your due diligence period. If nothing else ask for $1k off so you can paint over that yellow kitchen.

[Josie Brown]

Hi Deiontae! That is very exciting and it sounds like this property has a lot of potential. Feel free to reach out if you'd like some advice on next steps once you close on a property!