All Forum Posts by: Bradley Gasparovich

You'll definitely need to give notice otherwise they can just ignore it. You could try to pay them to leave but I would definitely post notice to vacate. (Check your local laws too to make sure exactly how to do this

 I would start by asking the Seller to give the Tenant verbal notification so they know it's coming. On the day of closing, give them a very short, professional letter. State that you are the owner and you bought the property to live in. You require them to vacate no later than 11:59PM on [DATE].

There's no need to apologize. You may consider offering them some kind of compensation for the inconvenience, but it's not necessary.

@Bradley Gasparovich If you're going to go through the hassle of a new build for rental purposes, you might want to go with more units.

Haven't heard of anyone building just a duplex or even 3-4 units. It's either an SFR to sell or 5+ units to rent out.

You should be able to search Ann Arbor website for recent building permits or just call them and ask, to confirm this.

If this is truly your FIRST investment in real estate, would recommend buying existing as the other commentors have mentioned. 

You may also want to expand your search to nearby Ypsilanti and other cities near Ann Arbor as AA is VERY expensive.

It's usually not possible to build new and get as good a return as you would with a used home. You can buy a fixer-upper, renovate, and have a like-new property without paying the brand-new premium, particularly in today's expensive economy.

Hi, @Bradley Gasparovich. Welcome to this crazy world!

TLDR, there are a ton of great reasons to build from scratch (brand new systems that shouldn't quickly fail at the top of that list), but with that said, as a first time investor building from the ground up also comes with a ton of risk (budgets almost always go over and timelines almost always go long). There are so many existing properties in Michigan that are already built, that you can easily get a mortgage for, and that with a minor facelift, you can get them rentable quickly.

I am not suggesting that you never build from the ground up, but that for your first property, you think twice about it.

I have two SFHs in the Detroit area that both cashflow pretty well and have also appreciated nicely.

I'd also ask myself why there arent more duplexes in your area, there could be some ordinances that prohibit building new ones. 

Good luck with whatever you choose.