Job at Southfield or Wyandotte. Should I rent or buy? (Detroit: real estate, mortgage) - Michigan (MI) - City-Data Forum

paulatrb · 07-31-2011, 02:39 AM

I'll be Moving from Minnesota to Detroit (can choose Southfield or Wyandotte). I would hate to buy something in a good neighborhood and then see it turn into a ghetto. It happened to me when I moved to Brooklyn Park in Minneapolis and a lot of black ghetto people moved into the new houses as banks were giving away loans. After a few months the value of my home went down 70,000 and I was lucky to be able to get out of there. I hear that these people are also moving to good neighborhoods in Detroit and making noise at night, not paying their bills and grouping themselves in houses to be able to afford living there. I saw this in Brooklyn Park and I don't want to live through that hell again.
Help!

djmilf · 07-31-2011, 10:18 AM

In the short term, rent rather than buy. Housing prices aren't going up anytime soon. Mortgate rates might rise, but if they do, then the economy is probably tanking - and your job might disappear.

RingWalk · 07-31-2011, 11:03 AM

Your job necessitates you moving to either Southfield or Wyandotte?

Southfield is largely black, though not, from what I've seen or remember, generally "ghetto" people.

paulatrb · 07-31-2011, 11:27 AM

The office can be at either place. Wyandotte would be a better bet since the facility is pretty big and the Southfield office might be consolidated with Wyandotte in the future. I can work from home some days if I need to. I was considering Ann Arbor: Saline or Pittsfield. I do not know if this would be a poor investment though.

RingWalk · 07-31-2011, 11:44 AM

No buying in metro Detroit now is not a wise "investment" at all, regardless of the city.

us66 · 08-01-2011, 04:47 AM

Ann Arbor is considered more desirable by most. Cost of living is a bit higher. Here's the problem with metro Detroit: our housing market is, unless you're rich, one big Brooklyn Park, only this one is probably a thousand square miles of it. Housing prices are not likely to go seriously lower, so buying is okay in that regard, but they say price reinforces exclusivity, and when you can go buy a brick house (a lot of metro Detroiters greatly prefer brick) for $40K, almost anyone can go buy one and neighborhood quality is slipping (Eastpointe, Roseville, much of Harper Woods, lesser areas in SCS). The problem is selling it; the mortgage market is tight. What's worse, renting is a fool's game. That same $40K house rents for $850 a month and I've seen houses only slightly nicer than that going for $1000.

Coldjensens · 08-01-2011, 03:08 PM

Why woudl you go all the way to Ann Arbor or Saline? Wyndotte is a great place to live (if you do not have kids). Trenton is nice. Woodhaven, Southgate, Riverview are all nice basic suburban communities. Grosse Ile is one of the nicest communities in Michigan.

Real estate prices are not likely to go up, but Michigan has been in a recession since about 2005 or 2006 and this area of downriver is not faring too badly. IN fact a lot of new stores and resturaunts have opened up.

us66 · 08-01-2011, 03:51 PM

I don't think she meant commuting from A2 to Wyandotte- I think she meant there was an opening in Washtenaw County.

paulatrb · 08-01-2011, 04:01 PM

Thanks everybody
US66 and coldjensens.
US, your comment about renting caught my attention because I couldn't find a decent place. The rents are higher than here and how can that be when Detroit has so many vacan houses?. That is why I was inclined to buy. See, I can't buy becuse I don't want to lose another 70 to 100 thou and I can't rent a decent townhouse for less than $1800-2,000.
Coldjensens: I chose Saline because it is a suburb of AA and it has AA schooling and I assume it won't go down in value as much as Wyandotte. The problem is that it is 36 miles from work.

I wish I could live in Windsor

SadieMirsade · 08-01-2011, 04:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by paulatrb

Thanks everybody
US66 and coldjensens.
US, your comment about renting caught my attention because I couldn't find a decent place. The rents are higher than here and how can that be when Detroit has so many vacan houses?. That is why I was inclined to buy. See, I can't buy becuse I don't want to lose another 70 to 100 thou and I can't rent a decent townhouse for less than $1800-2,000.
Coldjensens: I chose Saline because it is a suburb of AA and it has AA schooling and I assume it won't go down in value as much as Wyandotte. The problem is that it is 36 miles from work.

I wish I could live in Windsor

I think you can. They do have a special ID card and fast lane....for "frequent flyers" across the border.
And downtown Windsor is embarking on some major improvement projects. Capital investments in infrastructure and education which will definitely be making it more interesting.....long term.
Check it out.