All Forum Posts by: Leroy K. Williams

 You should inbox me.  The Section 8 move in phase of your rentals is critical.  Its when all of the work is performed and you are literally prone to lose everything.  Having a full renovated home in the inner city is like being a sitting duck.

Everyone has heard about the great opportunities in the Detroit real estate market but in truth its difficult to take advantage of those opportunities without having a trusted team of professionals positioned in the city who understand the communities and also understand the needs of investors. That's where we come in.

Property Rehab Central has over 20 years of experience helping our clients succeed in this specific market. We provide a full turn key service which includes

1. Locating deals through our network of wholesalers, realtors, and auction sites at a much deeper discount that most investors will find on their own

2. Provide market analysis 

3. Provide renovation estimates 

4. Pair our clients with licensed real estate professionals for the purchase

5. Manage the renovations

6. Market and place tenants

7. Assist with ongoing management

Our team simplifies the process and makes investing in Detroit less challenging and more predictable.

Give us a call at (313) 828-9876 or email [email protected]  

propertyrehabcentral.com

Hi Eric,

• To generate a monthly cash flow of $6,000 - $8,000, though we are open to exceeding this initial target.

From the start the best way to accomplish this in the market conditions of 2023-leading into 2024 would be smaller multi-family properties in class B and maybe C in areas of the inner city.  As communities change, demographics shift, new industries emerge or existing industries see growth the demand for housing spikes.  Of course I am biased but I think Detroit's Midtown, New Center, East Jefferson, Corktown, West Village, Milwaukee Junction, Sugar Hill district, Eastern Market District, Detroit Medical Center, and soon Northend are where any investor stands to get a really great return on their investment since comparatively speaking these neighborhoods are hot and prices are still relatively tame compared to other cities seeing similar growth. 

• To invest in properties that will appreciate in value over time.

This can be accomplished multiple ways. You can comb through the MLS until you find the right seller who has a property in a great community in need of a rehab and add value and hold for awhile as a short term rental. Or you could target specific areas or pockets that are seeing a higher demand and place money there. As one of the other posters mentioned you may not see positive cash flow but if you buy right you will see the appreciation you are looking for. All that said I go right back to smaller Multifamily properties. This is the space where many investors are moving toward based on what we are seeing here on the ground in Detroit. The reason being is that the cities are in flux and population is moving around as I mentioned before and young professionals who are looking to relocate will not be looking for SFH in the core neighborhoods they will want to live, work, play in the center of the revitalization movement and where their jobs are within biking or walking distance.

• To diversify our investment portfolio to mitigate risk and maximize returns.

Stay local and buy a SFH rehabs in the suburbs, and then buy multifamily in the urban cores.

Good Luck, before she had to retire my mother was a wedding coordinator and for those who may not know that's probably up there with the most stressful jobs on earth so compared to that Real Estate will be easy.  

Hi Steve.

My team specializes in rehab management in Metro Detroit.  Please inbox me and I will be happy to provide you with a free quote on your project.  

Happy Holidays Jeff,

1.  As it relates to the up-and-coming neighborhoods there are 5 that I would point out as good investment opportunities

      Northend- This is an area right along the border of midtown.     

     East English Village- Along Detroit's East side bordered by one of the more affluent townships which is Grosse pointe

     University Detroit- Near the University of Detroit

     Jefferson Chalmers- Along the Riverfront

      New Center- Which is another midtown neighborhood which shares space with the Henry Ford Medical Campus

My group happens to be closing out projects in 4 of the 5 of these neighborhoods

2. Pitfalls:

The first would be Laying over the same investment blueprint which works in other cities onto Detroit. Many out of state investors make the mistake of investing by zip code in Detroit-that doesn't apply here.  Detroit is literally a block by block city and if you are not here to see the property you need boots on the ground that you can rely on to assess any potential purchase.  

Another pitfall is under improving properties in low income areas believing that since its a depressed area in terms of income the people will not have high standards.  This is wrong for Detroit.  There are so many rentals on the market at any given time which allows potential tenants to be selective. 

3. Things I am excited about:

Man there are so many.  I would say the regionalization and Development of Detroit into an international destination. For decades Detroit has been an island to itself. The new movement is for Detroit to become a Mega City by cooperating and merging with its surrounding cities to become a true Metro-Detroit. This unity includes joint transportation, greenways, shopping districts and more.  Detroit is also seeing the expansion of our international trade activity via the two new bridge routes to Canada. 

Our Medical districts are expanding, Our downtown is booming and growing. We have an NFL draft convention set for next year. Detroit is happening in a major way.

4.  Your team- My team "Propertyrehabcentral.com" specializes in helping out of state investors locate great deals, place them with passionate and competent realtors, handle the rehab management, market the units, and take care of placement and ongoing management for cash flow investors. If your plan is to flip we help create a product that will sell quickly.  Feel free to inbox me and we can discuss more.  

Hi Ayesha,

The answer depends on the property type you purchase and where it is located.  If it's in the core neighborhoods of Detroit being a good landlord means first providing a fully functional, clean and respectable place for someone to live in.  Many investors buy in low income areas and expect people to be okay with slum level living spaces. This may work in other places but in Detroit its never going to work since tenants have so many available housing options. If you renovate to a standard of nice and functional you will attract a decent tenant.  For inner city single family dwellings I recommend Section 8.

Hi Logan, Here is a realistic scenario for your 100k in Detroit

Purchase price for a 3 bedroom brick home  $30,000

Renovation cost $35,000

ARV $95-100k

Tenant pays $1,250 per month Section 8

After all of your expenses including management you should have a enough income for a good return on your money.  

You mentioned that you weren't necessarily looking for considerable appreciation, if this is true the above would work and it is very realistic.  Let me know if I can help. 

Unfortunately, this is the case in Detroit.  Title companies should be able to see this prior to a purchase and it should be disclosed.

Quote from @Emily Holbrook:

Hello,

I recently purchased my first rental property -- a 3/1 SFH in Detroit. These are the fees my property management company supplied in its contract. I'm curious if these seem reasonable/fair. Any thoughts are appreciated.

 Well, as a Detroit property manager I can say that these fees are substantially higher than what is typical.  

Our fee structure is as follows:

General onboarding fee of $399 for any size portfolio.  If you come to us with 10 properties, 20, 30 ...Its one fee and its one time ever.

$500.00 tenant placement fee

$100.00 lease renewal fee

10% per month of collected rent, if you have 3 -10 doors under management the fee drops to 9%, if you have 11 or more we drop it to 8%.

No charge for vacancy 

No charge to arrange utility activation 

No up charge for maintenance of construction repairs since we manage those in house.  

Late fees are split with owners 50/50

Hi Daniel,

Our company, Property Rehab Central, LLC is a property management company that specializes in Section 8 Rentals. We understand the various municipalities and Housing agencies and their rules. We have a staff of experienced management professionals who understand Detroit.

If you go to Thumbtack you can read some of our reviews or visit our website propertyrehabcentral.com

We stand out from our competition in that we handle all unit prep and maintenance in house so that there is not additional management fee for those items, you will receive the direct pricing, the same as you would from a tradesperson or contractor.

Perhaps we can get on a call to discuss further.  You can email your contact information to [email protected]

Have a Great day

Leroy