Detroit Real Estate

How to buy a good investment property

Many people are thinking of buying Metro Detroit investment properties. But what makes a good investment property? I am going to focus on long term appreciation.

If you are going to buy a investment property for long term appreciation then here are some of the items and questions you should be asking yourself.

Can I get positive cash flow out of this property?
Is the investment property in good structural condition?
Will the area that the home is in be a good area in five years? ten years?
Does the area have a good school system?

If you are looking for long term appreciation you want an area that will be stable for years to come. You want the area to be where people want to move to. Middle class Americans want to buy homes where their kids can go to school. A good school system. A place to raise their kids.

Which Metro Detroit citieswould you think home buyers would want to live in? Do you think middle class Metro Detroiters would want to buy a home in the City of Detroit? Or would they prefer to buy in a different city? Which cities do you think an investment property will appreciate more in.

These are key elements in long term appreciation of Metro Detroit Investment properties.

Yorkshire Place subdivision Novi MI

Novi MI real estate

Yorkshire Place subdivision is actually 4 subdivisions with one homeowners association. Yorkshire Place has approximately 180 homes in it. The homes were built during the years of 1986 -1990.

The homes are mostly Colonial and Ranch style. Most of the homes have brick exteriors, 2 car garages, 3-4 bedrooms, 2 + bathrooms, basements

Square footage of the ranch homes range from 1900 - 2000 square ft.
Square footage of the colonial homes range from 2100 - 2900 square ft.

All of the above information is general information. We do not guarantee the information. This is to give a guide to the subdivision.

The school district is Novi Community Schools

The location of the subdivision is between 10 and 11 mile roads and between Taft and Beck Roads.

The streets that are in the Yorkshire Place subdivision are:
Falmouth Ave
Avon Ct
Portsmouth Ave
White Plains Dr
Emerald Forest Dr
Freemont Dr
Davenport Ave
Sutherland Dr
Amherst Dr

Here is the latest Novi real estate market update for Yorkshire Place Subdivision Neighborhood as of August 20, 2008.

There are 4 Novi homes for sale currently in the sub. The average list price is $294,725 and on the average has been on the market for 109 days.

On-Market Residential
Price	Address	Bed	Bath
$2,200	2490 DAVENPORT AVE	4	2.1
$239,900	2477 WHITE PLAINS DR	4	2.1
$269,000	2502 DAVENPORT AVE	3	2.1
$285,000	2506 PORTSMOUTH AVE	4	2.1
$287,000	2471 WHITE PLAINS DR	4	3.1
$314,900	2489 DAVENPORT AVE	4	2.1
$324,900	4553 EMERALD FOREST DR	4	2.1
$325,000	2477 SUTHERLAND DR	4	2.1
$339,900	2490 DAVENPORT AVE	4	2.1

IF YOU OR ONE OF YOUR FRIENDS, OR CHILDREN WOULD LIKE TO SEE ONE OF THESE LOVELY NOVI HOMES FOR SALE OR GET MORE INFORMATION ON ANY OF THESE MICHIGAN HOMES FOR SALE EMAIL ME AT INFO@RUSSRAVARY.COM OR CALL ME ON MY CELL AT 313-310-9855

Here are all the Novi homes that have sold in Yorkshire Place, Novi, MI in the last year as of 8/20/2008

Off-Market Residential
Status	Price	Address	Bed	Bath	OffMktDt
LEASED	$1,500	24808 SUTHERLAND DR	3	2.1	10/1/2007
PEND	$1,850	24808 SUTHERLAND DR	3	2.1	6/3/2008
PEND	$2,100	24856 SUTHERLAND DR	3	2.1	7/13/2008
SOLD	$275,000	24969 AVON CT	3	2.1	6/2/2008
SOLD	$277,999	24839 PORTSMOUTH AVE	3	3.1	10/8/2007
SOLD	$295,000	24747 DAVENPORT AVE	4	2.1	5/9/2008
SOLD	$300,000	25016 AVON CT	4	2.2	10/28/2007
SOLD	$302,000	24731 WHITE PLAINS DR	4	2.1	8/31/2007

5 Novi MI homes have sold in Yorkshire Place subdivision the last year with an average price of $290,000 after being on the market an average of 91 days.

Metro Detroit real estate is in a downward if you look at several of these subdivision updates. Novi real estate home values are continuing to fall, but the time on market for Novi homes for sale is about the same. Even though Novi real estate home values are falling they are not falling as much as many of the rest of Oakland County home values.

The Bank bailout and Metro Detroit

Here in Southeastern Michigan it doesn't seem that the bank bailout is that important. None of our local Michigan banks have failed right?

Unfortunately we need the bank bailout for the simple reason, that the banking industry will become stabilized. We need banks to continue to loan money. If there is no stabilization of the banking industry then student loans, credit cards, and business loans will become much harder to get. Mortgage interest rates will rise if there is not enough money around. Do we need higher rates to further slow down the Metro Detroit housing market.

I had a client that had great credit scores (over 750) get turned down for a credit card. He makes good money, he has money in the bank. He is a good credit risk. I would loan my money to him. He just wanted to switch credit cards to get airlines points. But the bank said no. If there is no bank bailout many businesses will not get loans. Interest rates will go up. Remember the days of 15% - 18% mortgage rates?

We don' t need those times back. But will the bank bailout solve the Metro Detroit Real estate problem? No unfortunately there is nothing that the government can do to resolve the real estate problems. It is going to take time. There are too many Metro Detroit homes for sale and not enough home buyers. And there won't be enough home buyers for these Livonia homes, or Canton Homes because many people can not qualify for a home loan. But if there is no bank bailout home buyers won't be able to get their home loan approved. So fewer Canton Homes will be sold, fewer Novi homes will be sold. We need the bailout even though many people don't realize it.

Tighter restrictions have reduced the number of available buyers. It will take five - ten years before we have a resurgence in Metro Detroit housing market.. But hang in there and keep paying your home mortgage down. Life within your means. The Metro Detroit Housing market will come back. We can all weather this economic storm together. We will come out of this standing up. But the key is to keep enjoying life with your family and friends as we go through these tough times.. Take Care Russ Ravary

Metro Detroit real estate mortgage fraud

I received a call from a young lady the other day. She said she had gone into a Detroit home being showed by a metro Detroit real estate agent. The buyer said it was a very nice home. She was calling me to get pre-qualified for a mortgage.

As she explained what was going on with the home purchase I quickly decided I wanted nothing to do with this deal. The real estate agent was going to commit fraud. The asking price was $95,000 for this Detroit Home. The real estate agent/seller was going to give the buyer $20,000 cash back on the day of closing. It was not going to be disclosed on the HUD Settlement statement. The lady said that way the bank would not know about it.

This is fraud!

You can not get cash back on a home purchase and not disclose it to your mortgage company, or the cash back is not disclosed on the closing paperwork. It is fraud plain and simple. To this lady it was a lot of money. A half year of work. Who wouldn't want that cash.

But what she didn't understand is that she was borrowing the cash, that she would be paying interest on the money, and that she was overpaying for the home.

All she saw was the $20,000 cash. Probably more money that she has ever seen at one time. No wonder she was sucked into this deal.

She went her way to find another mortgage lender because she would not listen to me. Good luck because she is going to need it. So if the seller, mortgage person, or real estate agent offers you money back on the side..... Run

It is fall in Metro Detroit

Soon the leaves will be falling and the landscaping will start to look a little bare. Now it the time to plan to have great fall curb appeal. Buyers drive by at all times to look at the house. Is your home looking it's best?

Make or buy a Autumn wreath for the front door
Keep the leaves cleaned up and the lawn cut
Pull out all the dead flowers
Cut back all perennials
Buy some mums for cheap inexpensive flower color. A $100 -$200 worth of flowers will make a world of difference.

Somethings that you should be doing that won't be noticed. Clean the gutters out, air the house out one more time, clean the garage. Doing simple things like this will be noticed by home buyers.

For more Metro Detroit Home sellers tips or Wayne County home sellers tips check out the categories on the side.