Tim Baxter wrote: Alice Cooper is from Phoenix. Born, raised, and continues to live there.
Crap, well I'm an import myself so I'll cling to that excuse. I could have sworn he was from here for some reason.
I'd edit that out but you've replied to it so my stupidity stands for all time :)
On the news last night, they did a story on a guy who has worked for GM his whole life. They showed his neighborhood and my wife actually backed the DVR back up. "4 Bdr 3 Ba house, foreclosed $3995"
You could do the GRM House Challenge there They should market the state to retiring military, you'd never have to work.
Like I said now Michigan's close enough to a blank slate they can reinvent themselves.
A few months back I saw an article showing median prices in Detroit to be $9,100 which is less than a used car.
There were homes that had been $500,000 going for $50,000.
The unions have run all the industry out of the state and none is coming back until something changes.
Mental wrote: Wow. Flint MI Real Estate. You could do the GRM House Challenge there They should market the state to retiring military, you'd never have to work.
And it would be really safe, I suppose... I haven't seen/heard much about Flint since "Roger and Me."
captain_napalm wrote:Mental wrote: Wow. Flint MI Real Estate. You could do the GRM House Challenge there They should market the state to retiring military, you'd never have to work.And it would be really safe, I suppose... I haven't seen/heard much about Flint since "Roger and Me."
I still look at where those lint rollers are made at. Now it is China.
Mental wrote: They should market the state to retiring military, you'd never have to work.
That's good cause there's no work to be found
Dude must have lost his mind if he thinks he's getting that much,
http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/1290-S-Graham-Rd_Flint_MI_48532_1107649158
or he's trying to sell then go buy a whole neighborhood 
Tim Baxter wrote: Alice Cooper is from Phoenix. Born, raised, and continues to live there.
Quoth the great and mighty Wikipedia:
Alice Cooper was born Vincent Damon Furnier in Detroit, Michigan, the son of Ella Mae (née McCart) and Ether Moroni Furnier.
Got your back, Ade..... 
It's worth pointing out that things are not nearly as bad when you get away from the cities. In fact, it's really just Detroit and Flint that have experienced those catastrophic property value declines. Here in the burbs, it still sucks, but not as much. My house has probably lost 25% of it's value from it's peak. Of course, it's probably not done falling....
Tom_Spangler wrote: Alice Cooper was born Vincent Damon Furnier in Detroit, Michigan, the son of Ella Mae (née McCart) and Ether Moroni Furnier.
Got your back, Ade.....
It's worth pointing out that things are not nearly as bad when you get away from the cities. In fact, it's really just Detroit and Flint that have experienced those catastrophic property value declines. Here in the burbs, it still sucks, but not as much. My house has probably lost 25% of it's value from it's peak. Of course, it's probably not done falling....
Phew, thanks Tom.
To second what he just said about houses and the area, I've just re-fied my house and while I've lost $80K since the peak, it's not bad.
The valuation came in about what I expected. And while you may say valuations are bunk, they've changed massively in the last couple of years. The valuation consisted of a guy coming out and spending two hours at the house measuring, taking notes and photographing the house and grounds. The report was 24 pages long and also included not just comps, but full detailed listings of houses recently sold and for sale in the area with detailed variances by lot size, room size, facilities etc up and down for each feature. There was also a map showing where the comps were located and pictures taken the same day as he viewed my house to prove they are what he claimed. I was stunned at the detail for only $300. It gives me a very good feeling as to the real value of my house. Houses are also selling in my neighborhood in a reasonable time frame too, may be not 30 days, but 60 - 90 days.
The areas that are in big trouble are the houses that were sub $150K and over $600K at the peak. The solid middle class areas are down, but not in free fall.
Michigan and especial the Detroit Metro area will survive. Job's and industry will come back in time. There's a bog push on to expand the economy into battery manufacture and alternative energy (wind power) manufacturing and generation. It's tough, it will continue to be tough but it will get better.
Don't forget Ford is increasing market share every month and outsold Toyota in April. SE Michigan isn't just the err 'Big 3ish'. Toyota, Nissan, Kia/Hyundai are all based here plus every major supplier. Once the manufacturing stabilizes and redistributes things will get better.
carguy123 wrote: The unions have run all the industry out of the state and none is coming back until something changes.
Don't forget the stellar management who helped drive the nail in the coffin of the auto industry in detroit. CEO's and other over paid incompetents. Since we agreed to not talk politics on the board awhile back there's no need to mention that you should look at the whole picture instead of blaming one half the equation.
I've heard that Detroit and Flint are the worst hit places. Damned shame really. I'm sure they'll recover as the property values are low enough that just about anyone could roll out and create what they wanted. It's kind of crazy to think that parts of Detroit could be just about anything.
My g/f used to live there and we're traveling there over the July 4th holiday. I'd love to see some of the urban ruins but I'm told the areas to see those are not safe. She's also mentioned that there is a strong immigrant contingent there now. Maybe we'll see the modern version of Chinatown there?
Adrian_Thompson wrote: The valuation came in about what I expected. And while you may say valuations are bunk, they've changed massively in the last couple of years. The valuation consisted of a guy coming out and spending two hours at the house measuring, taking notes and photographing the house and grounds. The report was 24 pages long and also included not just comps, but full detailed listings of houses recently sold and for sale in the area with detailed variances by lot size, room size, facilities etc up and down for each feature. There was also a map showing where the comps were located and pictures taken the same day as he viewed my house to prove they are what he claimed. I was stunned at the detail for only $300. It gives me a very good feeling as to the real value of my house. Houses are also selling in my neighborhood in a reasonable time frame too, may be not 30 days, but 60 - 90 days.
What you got was the standard MORTGAGE appraisal. It is amazing how much work goes into one and if you know anything at all about mortgage appraisals you know they are anything but bunk. What most people don't realize is that there are many types of appraisals done to many different standards which can give you many different values- hence the appraisals are bunk rumour. The mortgage appraisal is the only one designed to give accurate values. I've seen 6 different appraisals on the same $300k property over a 3 month period with a $500 variance in derived value between the first and the last one. Up until April 30th as a double check on the system at the underwriting stage all mortgage appraisals were also subjected to a computerized review of the area to see if the value seemed to fit. If it didn't a second review appraisal had to be done.
As of May 1st they scrapped the whole system and did away with all safeguards. They also changed the methodology and what we've seen so far is a drop in indicated value of between 10-15%.
Xceler8x wrote: My g/f used to live there and we're traveling there over the July 4th holiday. I'd love to see some of the urban ruins but I'm told the areas to see those are not safe.
I haven't been there since 2003, but I didn't have a problem looking around then. I suppose as long as you don't go into any of the structures, you should be fine.
Getting back on topic, can Michigan now try to entice foreign automakers to move in like South Carolina? I mean, they can offer a trained work force, plants ready to go, infrastructure, and distribution networks in addition to tax breaks and other incentives. If I were the Chinese, I would be looking at buying up an entire car town for really cheap! Make the parts cheap in China and assemble here to qualify for "Made in the US" status.
On a side note, Detroit would become overrun by new Chinese citizens, eventually resulting in the Redwings putting a bunch of 5-foot tall guys on the ice who have no experience playing hockey. For some reason, that is appealing to me.
Pinchvalve
Pittsburgh, PA
pinchvalve wrote: Getting back on topic, can Michigan now try to entice foreign automakers to move in like South Carolina? I mean, they can offer a trained work force, plants ready to go, infrastructure, and distribution networks in addition to tax breaks and other incentives. If I were the Chinese, I would be looking at buying up an entire car town for really cheap! Make the parts cheap in China and assemble here to qualify for "Made in the US" status.
Unfortunately that's going to be a hard sell as Mi is a union state where as the Sothern states tend to be right to work.
Xceler8x wrote:carguy123 wrote: The unions have run all the industry out of the state and none is coming back until something changes.Don't forget the stellar management who helped drive the nail in the coffin of the auto industry in detroit. CEO's and other over paid incompetents. Since we agreed to not talk politics on the board awhile back there's no need to mention that you should look at the whole picture instead of blaming one half the equation.
Unions aren't political, but I have seen both sides of the equation and the Union concept is what drove all the industry out of the state. As someone mentioned it will be/has been extremely hard to sell industry coming back to MI as long as it's a Union state. The costs and strangling Union rules preclude an efficiently run (and dare I say profitable) business.
carguy123 wrote:Unions aren't political
captain_napalm wrote: I haven't been there since 2003, but I didn't have a problem looking around then. I suppose as long as you don't go into any of the structures, you should be fine.
Cool! I want to see the people mover and some serious abandoned warehouses and factories.
You guys seen this site?
carguy123 wrote: Unions aren't political, but I have seen both sides of the equation and the Union concept is what drove all the industry out of the state.
Thanks for your opinion. Back on subject?
Xceler8x wrote: Thanks for your opinion. Back on subject?
Gee, I thought the subject was Michigan economy and the closing of 14 more GM plants? Silly me.
carguy123 wrote: Unions aren't political...
Do tell. I'd love to hear this elaboration.
captain_napalm wrote:Mental wrote: Wow. Flint MI Real Estate. You could do the GRM House Challenge there They should market the state to retiring military, you'd never have to work.And it would be really safe, I suppose... I haven't seen/heard much about Flint since "Roger and Me."
Looking around on that list, there are a few houses the size of my current house here in MD that are listed for under $10k and look to be in relatively good shape (not all boarded up and run down). 1800sf and a 2 car garage, in relatively decent condition, that could be bought with cash, a couple blocks from the Buick HQ, and Kettering University.
Yeah, crime is a tiny bit worse than Baltimore (supposedly overall it's dropped by almost 70%, but property crimes are still kind of high), but if you owned the house outright, and did most of your business on the internet, it's actually a kind of compelling purchase...
I moved to Florida from Youngstown Ohio in 1977. Six months after we moved, all of the steel mills closed. Strong union area, but absolute devastation to the economy. Twenty years later, economy is stronger than ever, low unemployment, (although not sure how the current downturn has affected the area) They turned it around quite well, with cleaner light industry. Real estate is real bad though. My point? Detroit will be back. It just has to be different. And it will take a while.
Duke wrote:carguy123 wrote: Unions aren't political...Do tell. I'd love to hear this elaboration.
Well, let's see, political is about politics. So are Unions a political party or is it just because they own a politician or 2 that you think they are political?
Xceler8x wrote: Cool! I want to see the people mover and some serious abandoned warehouses and factories. You guys seen this site? Ruins of Detroit
Yep, as well as Forgotten Detroit
cwh wrote: My point? Detroit will be back. It just has to be different. And it will take a while.
One person's tragedy is another person's opportunity.
I'm thinking the worlds largest Six Flags. Make the lower peninsuala a statewide Six Flags and the hotels and restaurants for the visitors with all the housing for the workers on the upper peninsula. You could even dome it so that people could visit during the winter. After all it's not as if Michigan is a very big state (I'm from Texas). I think the new Cowboy Stadium is almost as large as Rhode Island.
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