where to buy in detroit?

[zthatzmanz28]

Originally Posted by 69husky400

This thread has been very interesting and it is nice to hear positive things about Detroit. I live in Seattle but have been looking at inexpensive (sub-$10,000) houses in Detroit because it would be nice to have a house that's "all ours" in case we lose our Seattle home. But the high property taxes do scare me off... We pay $3400 per year on our house which is currently valued at around $300k, while a $10k house in Detroit has $4500 annual taxes. Seems like quite a ripoff.

Actually, IF there is a house with an SEV at $10K (market value about $20K) the taxes would be considerably less (around $500) in the city of Detroit... The problem is that even if one buys a house for $20k it still has a SEV at $40K--$60K ($80K-$120K value) and that is when the taxes get ridiculiously out of hand..

If one buys a house that is under $20K--$40K market value it is more than likely in a neighborhood that no one wants to live in...

[geos]

Originally Posted by zthatzmanz28

Actually, IF there is a house with an SEV at $10K (market value about $20K) the taxes would be considerably less (around $500) in the city of Detroit... The problem is that even if one buys a house for $20k it still has a SEV at $40K--$60K ($80K-$120K value) and that is when the taxes get ridiculiously out of hand..

If one buys a house that is under $20K--$40K market value it is more than likely in a neighborhood that no one wants to live in...

Not sure what you're using to calculate taxes but here's the last word:

https://treas-secure.state.mi.us/pte...testimator.asp

[zthatzmanz28]

Originally Posted by geos

Not sure what you're using to calculate taxes but here's the last word:

https://treas-secure.state.mi.us/pte...testimator.asp

ESTIMATOR is not the last word...Your TAX bill is the last word...The estimator is close but, under estimated our property in Redford by $900...

[Wee-Scot]

Save your money...move out of the state. than buy a house. You will not regret it.

[Bhaalspawn]

Originally Posted by Saturn5352

You've got to be kidding me. Why wouldn't someone buy in Detroit? There are many beautiful and safe neighborhoods within the Detroit proper, that's affordable. Solid homes that were built when construction companies knew how to build quality homes. It surprises me that people have such bad opinions of the City of Detroit. yes, it has problems but please tell me what major city doesn't?

Why risk having you or your children get shot or assaulted or mugged or burglarized, etc. Just find a suburb with a less expensive housing area.

Why even move to the Detroit area at all, for that matter, if you don't need to?

[Bhaalspawn]

Originally Posted by TightButLoose

As stated previously, the state of the public school system in Detroit is not good.

This is a huge understatement. It's not merely "not good", but rather god awful. Doesn't DPS have an under 40% high school graduation rate? Just move out to the suburbs and don't prop up the corrupt city government.

[Tom2]

I know a great house 11100 Worden by St Johns hospital, lots of new stuff

[Bergsgirl]

I lived in Novi for 1 year, and Ferndale near 9 mile for a year...

Detroit has tons of culture, its a great place to be, for games, etc. Living? i'm not sure... I was scared just going dtown for events... I would be scared to go out of my house if i were there.

Ferndale, getting a little dangerous. DONT buy a house there. I was a dog walker and every day, saw stores getting robbed (hilton/9/8 mile area) people getting thrown on the top of police cars, etc. Yes, I actually saw it! I dont know how pleasant ridge across woodward is so safe, & ferndale not, but it is.

Southfield, DOnt buy there, dangerous as well.
Gross pointe's - wonderful safe.
Royal Oak, good. (For a great church, try Woodlawn Church)

Novi- super safe great schools. Long commute to Detroit though... 45 mins. of course that was before everyone left the city, I 've heard its now a ghost town and takes no travel time at all..

West Bloomfield, safe- Jewish city, Kosher stores, schools etc. Pretty much everything is Jewish culture there.

All in all its a great city, if you love Mexican go to the one near greektown.. i can't remember the name but its great.

Go Redwings!

[RememberMee]

Last time I checked around 1 out of 3 high schoolers attend post-secondary schools for the first time every year. A respectable number, but once you include only 4-year universities, this figure becomes 1 in 4. Then you spread the 25% (around 1 million freshmen a year) over several thousand campuses, and there are not THAT many qualified domestic students to go around, let alone well-qualified students. The top universities fight for the top 100,000 students and fill in the rest with internationals. There are still plenty of excellent private and public high schools to produce this elite 100,000 every year.

"Internationals" (mostly from poor countries) enroll mostly to graduate schools where they serve as cheap lab/teaching labor while earning a degree before being thrown out to free space for another batch of cheap lab labor (financed by Uncle Sam mostly). Since universities need much more of cheap lab labor than there are jobs out there (requiring that Ph.D.), since, no matter what you are being told, holding a Ph.D. makes you really unattractive to employers (outside of a narrow technical field; actually, it makes you almost unemployable unless resume is fudged), there is constant oversupply of advanced degree holders on labor market; This makes graduate studies (especially in Sci&Engineering) even less attractive to the native with some options in life, which, in its turn, bring poorest of the poor to American Graduate schools for whom $11k salary + waved tuition + slim chances to get a job is much more than they can expect at home. There is no lack of "qualified people", there is lack of "qualified people" willing to take huge gamble with their lives.

Of course, am advanced degree from top Universities like Michigan state offer better chances in the saturated labor market. However, for every Michigan state there are 50 Oakland Universities whose faculty need cheap lab labor too.