[mnouri]

Hello,

I need somebody to advise, i hve been offered to invest in Detroit, Belmont. I no nothing about the are. Is it a good place? How easy/difficult is it to find a tenant to rent the house?

[jackmichigan]

Obviously, you are not from the area or you would know the answer. Do not even consider such an "investment". It would cause you endless headaches and likely result in the loss of all of the money you "invest". There seem to be lots of scams out there trying to take advantage of people who don't know what it's really like to own property in Detroit.

How did you get "offered" this "investment"?

[belleislerunner]

If you've been offered the opportunity to invest in an area you've never heard of, have done no research on, and trust your investment decisions to an internet board full of strangers - my advice would be to sell all that you own and make that investment!

[zthatzmanz28]

Yeah, what they said.

[Retroit]

"Invest in what you know." -Peter Lynch

[mnouri]

Thanks all for your replies, Jackmichigan said "There seem to be lots of scams out there trying to take advantage of people who don't know what it's really like to own property in Detroit", can I know what it's really like, or what are the problems associated with owning a property in Detroit?

[animatedmartian]

If you don't know/have not visited the area, you could be investing in a house that might be burnt to the ground. Worse, if the house is still standing, you'd have a host of problems like gutted pluming, walls, mold, water damage, etc. The best thing for you to do is to contact an investor/agent/anyone who is in or near Detroit and can check out the house that you're interested in to see what the condition of it is. Most often times, pictures of the house will not be recent.

If you don't want to go through the hassle, then it's best just to leave it alone.

[zthatzmanz28]

Originally Posted by mnouri

Thanks all for your replies, Jackmichigan said "There seem to be lots of scams out there trying to take advantage of people who don't know what it's really like to own property in Detroit", can I know what it's really like, or what are the problems associated with owning a property in Detroit?

Many properties have been vandalized and stripped. A potentially "nice" house may be in a really bad neighborhood or the only house on the street.

The house can be restripped as fast as you rebuild it. Also there is likelyhood of back taxes and outrageous insurance costs.

Some have listed the possible costs as:

$5000 for house
$15,000-$20,000 in repairs
$3,000-$6,000 in taxes or owed taxes
$2500 annual house insurance


All for $700-$850 monthly rent?

OR

$45,000-$70,000 resale if it is in the right market area.

You will probably not find a $150,000 house for less than $10,000 that will not require extensive repairs. Even on place like Boston-Edison and Virgina PArk / New Center Area, where houses can sell for over $250,000 upwards of $450,000 there are quite a few empty houses with very few investors / buyers / speculators.

[Jwo85]

Visit the area and property before doing anything.

[313Weather]

Are you referring to Belmont Shopping Center or an apartment by the name of Belmont?