SVreX wrote: I don't think he (or anyone) suggested 20 years with no one living in them.
But there's no one to buy them. Even one Michigan winter, heating 58 houses to, say 55 degrees will cost you a fortune.
Again, don't get me wrong, I don't care if someone wants to roll the dice on it, but I just have a hard time seeing how it comes up a winner when there are so many better ways to invest that money.
As I already said, ship in people to buy or rent if you can't find them locally, and work on job creation.
It's obvious you want to view a deal like this from a "glass half empty" perspective. You are not the buyer for this.
I can think of a hundred ways to make money on this. Like I said, if I lived there I would buy them.
Sorry, I'm not knocking it. I'm interested to hear how you would go about getting people there to buy or rent. In my experience, where people live is related to where the jobs are. As I see it, there were a lot more jobs there at one time, so a lot more houses. Now there are fewer jobs, so a lot of "extra" houses. I would love to see someone figure out a way to create jobs in that region, but I don't know how to do that.
Sorry, I should let this one alone. I don't mean to come of negative. I hate what's happened to that part of the country and wish I could feel more optimistic. I lost a good bit of money over the last couple of years and only in the last few months have gotten back to where I was. So I'm touchy about anything that looks like an iffy investment.
Hope the guy who bought them makes a fortune and jobs come back to that part of the country. I really do.
I built a call center a few years ago. For under $200,000 worth of renovations to an existing grocery store, a major company was able to move in and created over 150 jobs averaging $15 per hour in a place where minimum wage jobs are truly scare. The ONLY connection a business like this needs to the outside world is a phone line. They shipped no product, manufactured nothing.
Any business that sells online or over the phone could use a similar center, and could locate it anywhere.
The only thing a business like that needs to be interested is a cooperative local environment and a willing and trainable work force. I'll bet local government would offer business incentives, etc., and costs could be low enough to entice a company in.
A creative person partnering with a company like that and offering people "rent to own" scenarios along with decent jobs could get thousands of people willing to relocate, especially if they are dealing with a large enough quantity of properties that they can have an impact on improving a neighborhood.
Boxes were meant to be busted out of.
fast_eddie_72 wrote: Sorry, I should let this one alone. I don't mean to come of negative. I hate what's happened to that part of the country and wish I could feel more optimistic. I lost a good bit of money over the last couple of years and only in the last few months have gotten back to where I was. So I'm touchy about anything that looks like an iffy investment.
Sounds like your investments were down like the rest of us. Did you loose actual money, or have paper losses?
If you've gotten back to where you were, I'm guessing it was only a paper loss. I experienced the same. But I only lost potential, not real dollars. The only people I am aware of who lost real dollars are those that got scared and sold when the market was down. None of them have recovered.
Just paper, thank goodness. But I learned a lot about myself and my comfort level with losing money. Took a long time to stack that much up, but sure didn't take long for it to "go away". I understand why folks who lived through the depression have some funny ideas about money now.
Very cool about the call center. You're a better man than I. I have a great job, thank goodness, but I do know that I like working for someone else. I just don't have the cool hand to play it any other way.
fast_eddie_72 wrote: But I learned a lot about myself and my comfort level with losing money. Took a long time to stack that much up, but sure didn't take long for it to "go away". I understand why folks who lived through the depression have some funny ideas about money now.
Quoted for truth!
I've certainly lost a lot of my nerve after the fall as well.
In the old days, it wouldn't have mattered that I don't live near. I'd have bought them anyway and relocated.
The only problem with these properties is that they are spread so far out across the city. If they were close together, I would probably do like SVREX said and create a business + cheap housing for said business.
Think about it this way.. if Flint has the right classification from the government, you can get tons of money for just wanting to bring a business into the area.
michigan as a whole is offering some big tax breaks/benefits for moving a business there.
minimac wrote: I wonder what they'll want for the whole state?
I just want the U.P.
I might take the area down as far as Traverse City but that's it.
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