All Forum Posts by: Chris F.

As someone who reads a lot, I second Rich Dad/Poor dad. It's more about concepts and less about throwing a lot of numbers at you. Plus he should be able to relate to the way he talks about his dad(s) and how they interact when he's young.

I don't mind sharing. It's in Waterford. But the large cash flow offsets the taxes so It's not a deal breaker either way.

@David Krulac

The point of this rule isn't to waste your time, and that isn't to say you will need to look exactly at100 properties, but to find a truly good deal, you can't expect to look at 5 properties and pick out a winner. the point is to familiarize yourself with neighborhoods, and to ensure you know the difference between a keeper and a pass. If you look at 5 properties in a place you're not intimately familiar with, either pray you're lucky or prepare for disappointment.

They say you have to spend 10,000 hours study/working on a particular subject to master it. So familiarizing yourself with a particular neighborhood is a must, especially when there are can a large disparity between neighborhoods (all real estate is local.)

Even if it's not a rule, it's just common sense!

@Adrian Tilley

No Detroit fortunately does not encompass the state of Michigan :) I wouldn't invest in the city of Detroit.

@David Beard this is not in Detroit. It's in the suburbs in a nice white collar area.. And I will say that the property last sold in 2002 for 200K. taxes are on the high side at almost 3K, but tax basis is most likely based on 2002 sales price so I can probably get that reduced.

the rest I'm still trying to find out but so far based on what I'm seeing, it looks good.

Thanks for the replies all,

@Kurt K. I'm not looking to evict anyone, however there are 2 scenarios I'm concerned with:

1. the "uncle" was really letting them pay whatever whenever when he had the house, and I will expect the rent on the 1st like every regular non familial landlord

2. that the sellers "stacked the deck" with family members to drive up the price and get it rented, and once sold those family members will immediately bail giving me a 25% occ rate and a migraine:)

@Adrian Tilley As far as the rest, the rents are not far off, maybe a bit on the low side, which is good for me. Also this property is in Michigan.

I do not have leases yet, but that is definitely on my list of requirements.

one thing nobody really ever mentions when describing these "rules" is that you're not likely to just jump on Zillow/trulia/MLS and find these deals just languishing. I like the rule of thumb that you'll need to look at 100 houses to find a deal, which is more realistic, IMHO.

Here are the numbers:

1-3Bd

2-2bd

1-1bd

2k sq ft, full basement

fully rented @2100/month gross

going for 74,900 short sale, an inheritance that the owner doesn't want to deal with

seems like a great deal so far, but here's the kicker- 3/4 of the units are rented by the former owners(uncle) family members.

I'm thinking worst case, I have to do 3 evictions, but given the numbers, still worth the risk?

people flock to his gravesite like it's Mecca. It will sell. Not sure if it will sell for 500K, but definitely at a premium.

Gimme a break! Generalizations about somewhere you haven't actually lived in are ill-informed and just add to the over-hyped negative image.

As someone who grew up in Detroit and is intimately familiar with it, I can say this. Are there "Meth houses? Sure. There are probably Meth houses in virtually every major city. Is it pervasive with a Meth houses on every corner? Absolutely not. As someone accurately stated on another post, CRACK is the major drug problem in Detroit, and it's been that way for a long time. For every Meth house you show me I can show you 50 crack houses.

The points made on here are just uninformed. The city of Detroit does not make for a good investment. However, due to continuous "white flight" the suburbs great middle class and upper middle class areas, and the auto industry still does exist. I would say if you disagree, please list specific facts (ie cities, crime rates, vacancies, economic factors, etc). Someone posts that "they know a guy that bought a Meth house". rumour turns to myth, myth turns to fact. People are making money in Detroit, as stated, so it just depends on your knowledge of area and risk tolerance.

If you want to make generalizations, please provide real statistics, not just "it sucks" I'm more than happy to educate.