Pittsburgh too affordable for HGTV's McGillivray (Bath, Riverside: crime, appliances, homes)

[PreservationPioneer]

Originally Posted by MeinGlanzendMotorrad

People with money don't want to live in the ****holes you can buy for $10k in Detroit.

There's a reason they're $10k.

They're actually not "Sh*tholes" in Detroit. You can actually buy mansions in decent city neighborhoods of Detroit for $10k.

[PreservationPioneer]

Originally Posted by Caladium

Why not contact them and suggest this? I'm serious with this suggestion--you could volunteer to do a show about your house (and maybe some homes of friends in a similar situation). If you tell them you'll do this for free, as part of your effort to encourage people to become urban pioneers, I'll bet they'd be interested. Use your photo tours to intrigue them. They probably wouldn't want an entire series (at first) but you might persuade them to do a one time "special" program. If it turns out well, they might even offer to pay your for a few future shows.

I think they might bite. After all, their advertisers are places like Lowes and urban pioneers do a lot of business with Lowes.

Great idea, Caladium. It can't hurt to try.

I actually just sent a message to HGTV. I seriously doubt I will hear anything back, but I used all my persuasive writing skills, so you never know!

[UKyank]

I don't think it's a negative to see property prices shoot up so long as the increase is supported by actual supply & demand rather then speculation.

[BrianTH]

Random sidenote: my father, a retiree in the Detroit area, has just embarked on a new venture as a landlord, and is buying up a bunch of cheap properties. Being who I am, I am a little concerned about liability issues, but otherwise it seems like a worthy project.

[MeinGlanzendMotorrad]

Originally Posted by alleghenyangel

They're actually not "Sh*tholes" in Detroit. You can actually buy mansions in decent city neighborhoods of Detroit for $10k.

It's Detroit. It's all ****hole.

[PreservationPioneer]

Originally Posted by MeinGlanzendMotorrad

It's Detroit. It's all ****hole.

Nonsense. I was in Detroit a couple weeks ago. Downtown was beautiful. There are some great neighborhoods, too.

[Q-tip motha]

Originally Posted by alleghenyangel

They're actually not "Sh*tholes" in Detroit. You can actually buy mansions in decent city neighborhoods of Detroit for $10k.

I believe he's referring to the amount of work it will take to make them liveable again. $10k will quickly turn into $80k, and that's only if you're doing all the work yourself.

Putting in a new sewer line for instance is something that the vast majority of people can't do on their own, and virtually all old houses are going to need them sooner rather than later. They don't come cheap either.

[BrianTH]

The thing is that there are houses which don't need major work going for tiny amounts in Detroit.

[PreservationPioneer]

Oh, I wish people would stop acting like it takes $80,000 to restore a house. I will have mine restored for less than $15000. Granted, it's a small house, and I didn't need granite counters.

But you can actually buy $10,000 houses in decently safe neighborhoods in Detroit, that do not need major work. Kind of like here, I suppose, except the houses are of much higher quality in that price range in Detroit, and there is a huge oversupply.

[MeinGlanzendMotorrad]

Because Detroit is a ****hole people can't wait to evacuate.