I found this to be both an interesting, educational and astounding story: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125390841258341665.html What the hell happened to the missing $61,000? The rise and the fall. My gawd....the fall is deeply depressing.
Recently sold homes nearby "Average sales price $182,438" recently sold nearby 1625 W Boston Blvd, Detroit MI 48206 1625 W Boston Blvd, Detroit MI 48206 2 full 2 partial ba | Single-Family Home Sold for $132,141 on Jun 29th, 2009
That sounds interesting, but this is all I could read... It says to read any further, I'll need to buy a subscription to the Wall Street Journal.
Rebecca: Try this link to the WSJ story through Google News...http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125390841258341665.html?mod=googlenews_wsj Kaethy: The information from Trulia smells fishy to me. I don't live in Detroit or Michigan. I don't know that market. The other information is so dramatically different. They are at odds. I do know through foreclosure purchases, someone I know has purchased at least several hundred homes in the Detroit area at prices significantly below $10,000/house. He has been slowly reselling them at a profit. Could Trulia be providing only "selected information". At this point I tend to think that is what it is doing.
It's the same - I can read what I quoted above, but if I want to read further, the WSJ wants me to pay for it. It's not that I don't think it's worth it, but I'm in numerous book clubs, and I have books stacked everywhere around the house just waiting to be read - most still in the unopened shipping package. For that reason, I'm not to eager to buy a newspaper subscription right now. Is the point of the article the fact that Detroit home values have gone way down?
I agree it looks dramatically different. But there are houses in Detroit for next to nothing because they are in TERRIBLE condition. They are NOT ready to move into. And then there are houses that are in move in condition, with nice features, and they are selling for less than what they would have sold for in the past, and the people who buy them are getting a bargain too. In both cases people are getting bargains. That street is an older neighborhood with big homes, some have been maintained and improved, some neglected. Trulia may be providing only selected info, but I doubt their info is totally false.
Try this copy: I found the last sale and loan particularly interesting: $250,000 loan: $189,000 selling price, a borrower with shaky credit. That was a BS loan!!!! and why we have the financial crisis
Kaethy: I looked further at the Trulia information. I looked at All listings starting from low to high. I saw over 150 homes for sale in Trulia at under $5,000. I looked at recent sales. The bottom sales price was $20,000. I know that isn't accurate. A friend has bought up an inventory of homes at an average of less than $10,000/home. Pretty significantly less. You are correct. Home prices in a neighborhood can vary greatly on so many factors. Yet, I wouldn't want to pay high in an area where there are a significant number of abandonded homes. The story grabbed my attention. What is a true picture? I don't know. I suggest with a horrible economy, and a population that is probably shrinking the housing value situation is generally mucho ugly. Meanwhile, the additional thing that grabbed my attention was the reported last sale. The sellers say they got $189,000. Somewhere there are copies of a settlement sheet on the sale....and there is a deed registered with the city. Meanwhile loans were made at a total of $250,000. If the sales price is accurate that loan value is nuts. Where did the appraisal come in at? The loan was made by a finance company. In other words there was no government oversight. When ultra right wing conservatives blame things like CRA....hahaha.....CRA wasn't involved. Take a couple of million of these crappy @ss loans made by unregulated finance companies...and bingo you have in excess of a $ trillion dollars of serious crappy @ss debt. Hence an enormous financial crisis.
That's a great article, thanks for posting it for me. I like how they told the story using the history of one house. Buying these properties may be a good investment over time, I guess at those prices how can you lose - but I don't know, who would want to live in Detroit? I read that Detroit is rated as America's most dangerous city - for an average buyer that's actually looking for a house to live in, even $10,000 may not be a good deal for a house you cannot feel safe in.
@ Kaethy and @Rebecca: Interesting coincidence. Just ran into my friend who has been buying homes in Detroit. We are partners on a couple of things but we are busy in different areas and sometimes rarely speak. In the midst of a conversation about something I referenced the article. It turns out he also read it. He thought it was a great piece. I have nothing to do w/ his buying of homes in Michigan. He's told me a little about it in the past. Here are some things he mentioned. Avg home sales in Detroit are currently running about $14,000. I referenced what I had seen in Trulia via you, Kaethy. He and I had been commercial real estate brokers together years ago. His face turned sour at the mention of Trulia and referenced how a lot of information coming out of businesses associated with the RE business often give out terrible selections of data. Then we both ranted and vented for a while. Anyways, it might be that the information coming out of Trulia is slanted and trying to paint a prettier picture than what is actually occurring. Its still a fascinating, powerful and sad article imho