Buy one, get one free
Two reminders that the housing crisis is much worse in other places.
From Detroit comes news of people buying foreclosed homes in bulk, sometimes several dozen homes at a time. Sometimes several hundred homes at a time.
"I usually buy 40 at once," an investor named Tarik Dinha told the Detroit Free Press. Dinha pays cash for the properties, which in a bulk deal each can cost as little as $10,000. He then tries to sell the properties as quickly as possible to other investors, or prospective landlords.
Dinha's company, Urban Development Solutions Group, is one of several in Detroit that describes itself as being in a "wholesale" company, a wondrous term in a quintessentially retail industry.
Then we have the case of San Diego, where the Los Angeles Times reports that a developer is offering a special deal on new homes: Buy one, get one free.
"We thought, 'Why does it just have to be on Pop Tarts and restaurants? Why not buy one home, get one free?'" a spokeswoman for the company, Michael Crews Development, told a San Diego television station.
Here's the deal: If you buy one home in Royal View Estate, a gated community where prices start at $1.6 million, you get a second, 2000-sq.-ft. home in Cityscape, a neighborhood of rowhomes where prices start at about $400,000.
Says the company's ad, "Great for your children, grandchildren, parents, guests or rental property."
Or if you need a place to store your extra pop tarts.
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$10,000 is sitll too much. I woudlnt live in downtown Detroit if the home cost $10. The city is violent, there are few jobs, the schools are awful, and pension obligations are going to bankrupt it. And, with so many abandoned homes, its disgusting to look at. Aside from Utica NY, there is no city in the USA I was happier to drive out of than Detroit.
I know a couple of well-heeled amateur real estate speculators now "value shopping" in Phoenix. I hadn't heard about Detroit.
There's a difference between undervalued and just plain cheap. Some things are cheap for a reason, as in the fundamentals don't support a higher intrinsic worth. What's the hidden value in a house in a city that's running out of water (Phoenix), or a city that's run out of jobs (Detroit)?
These problems have all been noted and will be resolved by the new administration of Obama & Clinton. We'll be turning the corner soon; it's
just a matter of time and then happy days will be back for all!!
It is absolutely amazing to me how a matter of 100 miles or an hour and a half drive can make so much of a difference in the economy and housing market. I am a Massachusetts native living in Toronto (a stones through from Buffalo which is in the duldrums) and the market is still going strong.
I work for a home builder in the GTA that will be coming close to breaking our record for homes closed in a year, which was set last year. There were over 22,000 homes sold in the Greater Toronto Area last year, which I have to imagine is close to the number of foreclosures in the Boston area last year.
So my advice is, get a work permit under NAFTA while you still can, and move to Canada. The weather is not much different here than Boston, and the city is great.
Wow, Detroit is crazy, The whole industrial north is so cheap. Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Detroit. Here is an idea for the savy sellers who plan to make a profit. Use a flat fee mls broker and then you do not have to pay a realtor commission.
Here is a link http://www.realestateflatfeemls.com however since these houses are only 10g it might be a stupid idea...lol...it worked in Connecticut I guess its just different out there.
Good luck buying 10 houses at a time. Try renting section 8. That might work.
I've bought a house (to live in, not invest in) in Detroit and all the bad rap it gets is completely overrated. Like any other city, there are nice parts and bad parts. You can live like a King in Detroit or live like a bum in some of the name brand cities for what you pay for a small apartment.
Detroit has beautiful neighborhoods ranging from stately homes built of auto wealth (Palmer Woods, Indian Village) to newer lofts (downtown, midtown) or eclectic working class neighborhoods (corktown, east english village).
Whats the point in living in a $800k 500sq ft apartment in NYC or Chicago if you're just going to spend all your time working to pay for it or meeting your friends outside your home because you can't fit them in your home??
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