Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Detroit Real Estate: The Best Opportunities in the World
Detroit Real Estate: The Best Opportunities in the World
First, I'd like to admit that I am an Optimist. In fact I’m an Optimist Club builder having built more than 130 Optimists Clubs around the world. If you live in another city, please do not hold it against me when I say that the best real estate deals in the world are in abundance in Detroit, Michigan. Detroit real estate is being purchased at 5%-40% of its value two years ago, albeit with risk if not done properly. Some homes in challenged areas are going for a mere $2,500 or less per house. These are homes that will one day appreciate back to their normal values of say $50,000 to $125,000. I look at this as great news for investors around the world.
In the real estate world, these are the worst of times and the best of times. In the current real estate market, banks and municipalities have too many houses which have been reverted to them from foreclosures of mortgages and property taxes. If you are an investor or if you can put together deals and investors, this can be the best of times. Finding money is tough but the deals today are great. I have been in the real estate business for more than 40 years, purchasing my first house at the age of 18. After more than 500 transactions and over $2 billion in real estate deals, I have never, ever seen a real estate market such as this, it is unbelievable. For the savvy real estate entrepreneur, you can make the greatest deals ever!
Let’s consider the people who have been devastated by the present market, people who have lost their jobs, cannot afford their mortgage payments and are delinquent for 90 days or more. They can possibility get the best deals of all including a short sale on their existing mortgage, possibly lopping off as much as 30-60% off their balance. The same principle applies to credit cards. Jobs may be scare but individuals will eventually get other jobs and the values of property will rise again. As a bonus, they will not have to pay taxes on the new found equity.
The scenario just presented is being played out in communities all across America and around the world. As easy as this sounds, it is not as easy to accomplish. These are great times for potential investors if you are associated with the right real estate agents, have a game plan and have access to capital.
Because the market has so many properties at a discount, many investors in their zest, purchase too many houses. You can create mega headaches if too many properties are purchased at once, especially if you cannot attend to all of your properties. There are plenty of thieves waiting to steal from you and your properties, thieves who will happily strip you of everything in the house including your piping and copper wiring. To avoid problems, you might want to consider a partner or at least a bonafide real estate property management firm that knows the lay of the land and can either rent or 'flip' the houses at attractive terms for today’s market.
Herb Strather
“The Master”
About Herb Strather.
Herbert (Herb) J. Strather, author of Getting Rich Is Easy and How to Survive and Thrive in a Recession, is a real estate expert who has purchased, brokered and developed more than 3 million square feet of real estate in Detroit, totaling more than $2 billion in real estate deals. A few of Strather's developments include Woodbridge Estates, a 46 acre, $100 million mixed use residential community, and the elegantly appointed, Hotel St. Regis in Detroit. Strather is one of the originators of the casino industry in Detroit and is the former Chairman of Atwater Entertainment which developed and sold Motor City Casino at an 1100% return to investors.
A philanthropist and member of several boards and organizations, Herb Strather is on the international board of Optimist International, an association of more than 3,000 Optimist Clubs worldwide dedicated to “Bringing out the Best in Kids”. Strather is a lecturer at the Summer Leadership Institute at Harvard Divinity School in Boston Massachusetts where he teaches Faith and Finance and is also a regular lecturer at the University of Michigan's Stephen Ross School of Business. Strather has also taught more than 2,000 students at Marygrove College and Wayne County Community College in Detroit. Strather is currently focusing his attention on helping students, homeowners and investors to 'survive and thrive' during the current real estate and financial crisis through his articles, books, CD’s DVD’s, seminars commercial tours and lecturers. Herb Strather is the proprietor of the Strather Academy which the fundamentals of locating, underwriting, structuring, acquiring, developing, managing, trading, and selling real estate, especially in urban areas. (www.stratheracademy.com). His firm Strather & Associates is located at 300 River Place Suite 6600, Detroit, Michigan 48207 313.446.6900.
First, I'd like to admit that I am an Optimist. In fact I’m an Optimist Club builder having built more than 130 Optimists Clubs around the world. If you live in another city, please do not hold it against me when I say that the best real estate deals in the world are in abundance in Detroit, Michigan. Detroit real estate is being purchased at 5%-40% of its value two years ago, albeit with risk if not done properly. Some homes in challenged areas are going for a mere $2,500 or less per house. These are homes that will one day appreciate back to their normal values of say $50,000 to $125,000. I look at this as great news for investors around the world.
In the real estate world, these are the worst of times and the best of times. In the current real estate market, banks and municipalities have too many houses which have been reverted to them from foreclosures of mortgages and property taxes. If you are an investor or if you can put together deals and investors, this can be the best of times. Finding money is tough but the deals today are great. I have been in the real estate business for more than 40 years, purchasing my first house at the age of 18. After more than 500 transactions and over $2 billion in real estate deals, I have never, ever seen a real estate market such as this, it is unbelievable. For the savvy real estate entrepreneur, you can make the greatest deals ever!
Let’s consider the people who have been devastated by the present market, people who have lost their jobs, cannot afford their mortgage payments and are delinquent for 90 days or more. They can possibility get the best deals of all including a short sale on their existing mortgage, possibly lopping off as much as 30-60% off their balance. The same principle applies to credit cards. Jobs may be scare but individuals will eventually get other jobs and the values of property will rise again. As a bonus, they will not have to pay taxes on the new found equity.
The scenario just presented is being played out in communities all across America and around the world. As easy as this sounds, it is not as easy to accomplish. These are great times for potential investors if you are associated with the right real estate agents, have a game plan and have access to capital.
Because the market has so many properties at a discount, many investors in their zest, purchase too many houses. You can create mega headaches if too many properties are purchased at once, especially if you cannot attend to all of your properties. There are plenty of thieves waiting to steal from you and your properties, thieves who will happily strip you of everything in the house including your piping and copper wiring. To avoid problems, you might want to consider a partner or at least a bonafide real estate property management firm that knows the lay of the land and can either rent or 'flip' the houses at attractive terms for today’s market.
Herb Strather
“The Master”
About Herb Strather.
Herbert (Herb) J. Strather, author of Getting Rich Is Easy and How to Survive and Thrive in a Recession, is a real estate expert who has purchased, brokered and developed more than 3 million square feet of real estate in Detroit, totaling more than $2 billion in real estate deals. A few of Strather's developments include Woodbridge Estates, a 46 acre, $100 million mixed use residential community, and the elegantly appointed, Hotel St. Regis in Detroit. Strather is one of the originators of the casino industry in Detroit and is the former Chairman of Atwater Entertainment which developed and sold Motor City Casino at an 1100% return to investors.
A philanthropist and member of several boards and organizations, Herb Strather is on the international board of Optimist International, an association of more than 3,000 Optimist Clubs worldwide dedicated to “Bringing out the Best in Kids”. Strather is a lecturer at the Summer Leadership Institute at Harvard Divinity School in Boston Massachusetts where he teaches Faith and Finance and is also a regular lecturer at the University of Michigan's Stephen Ross School of Business. Strather has also taught more than 2,000 students at Marygrove College and Wayne County Community College in Detroit. Strather is currently focusing his attention on helping students, homeowners and investors to 'survive and thrive' during the current real estate and financial crisis through his articles, books, CD’s DVD’s, seminars commercial tours and lecturers. Herb Strather is the proprietor of the Strather Academy which the fundamentals of locating, underwriting, structuring, acquiring, developing, managing, trading, and selling real estate, especially in urban areas. (www.stratheracademy.com). His firm Strather & Associates is located at 300 River Place Suite 6600, Detroit, Michigan 48207 313.446.6900.
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