All Forum Posts by: Michael S.

Just starting to look at some Metro Detroit, Michigan properties and want to make sure that I have enough of the bits and pieces accounted for in my calculations.

Would the property below pass your initial glance test and start the next phase of collecting more due diligence and asking questions?

3 Unit Multi-Family, Currently Fully Occupied, Up to Code. All Separate Electric, Gas, and Water. (2) Two Bedroom Units and (1) One Bedroom Unit.  Not located in Detroit but what I would call the first ring of suburbs.

Asking $89,000

Stated monthly rent $1,550

Estimated Monthly Costs

$170 taxes

$55 Insurance

$230 Vacancy/Repairs/CapEx

$155 Prop. Manager

$430 Est. Mortgage Pmt

Estimated Upfront Costs

$4,500 Closing

$4,500 Initial repairs/refresh

Projected Cash Flow: $490

Thanks for all of the great responses so far.  My current commute is about 1 hour each way which has allowed me to made it through 16 of the great pod casts so far.  I guess the next step would be to look at some properties?  I am thinking that for the first deal, I would look for a property that only needs a cosmetic rehab to test that waters and reserve my time to finding the proper team and working through the learning curve rather than tackling a larger project.

 I can do minor repairs and I would be looking to use a property manager.

@Scott K. 

@Alvin Neal 

Not sure why the mention did not work above, hopefully this one does.

@Scott K. I have been reading about land contracts but have been seeing lots of conflicting opinions. Do you have recent experience with using land contracts in our area?  Why a land contract vs seller mortgage?

@Al Neal I have been through some areas of the city and I know that there are bad area, very bad areas, and there are good ones. My rehab budget will be some what limited at this point, maybe $5k. How is the city of Detroit towards small scale investors? Can the rents overcome the additional taxes and risk?  Which neighborhoods would you recommend looking at?

@Tim Dingman The areas that I have seen heating up seem to be in the downtown and new center area and would be getting out of my $ comfort range for a first purchase. Which neighborhoods would you recommend looking at?

Thank you all for your assistance.

Hello Everyone! My name is Mike. I have bounced in and out of the Bigger Pockets community a bit over the years and now I am ready to start seriously looking at investing in real estate.

I work mostly in Detroit but live in the northern burbs and travel the I75 corridor daily. There seems to be large variety of options looking at the whole Metro Detroit area and I am having a difficult time finding a good place to start and focus. I think that my current preference would be more towards the buy and hold strategy utilizing a property manager but I do not know if that is feasible or the best place to start.

I am looking for opinions on where would you start with the following constraints?

1. $10k-$15k starting budget

2. limited but somewhat flexible schedule

3. prefer to stay in South East Michigan for learning close to home