Relocating from Chicago, realtor recommendations sought

I'm finally putting my money where my mouth is when it comes to reversing the outflow of human capital from Metro Detroit -- I just accepted a job offer that is contingent on toxicology/background screening.

Likely looking to purchase in the next few months in either Detroit [[Midtown/New Center or Palmer Woods) or Ann Arbor [[Old West Side, maybe SE of downtown off of Packard), depending on where my wife gets a job offer.

I recall someone posting a link to an agency or developer based in Corktown[[?) a few months ago that looked promising.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

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Originally Posted by Anonymous

I'm finally putting my money where my mouth is when it comes to reversing the outflow of human capital from Metro Detroit -- I just accepted a job offer that is contingent on toxicology/background screening.

Likely looking to purchase in the next few months in either Detroit [[Midtown/New Center or Palmer Woods) or Ann Arbor [[Old West Side, maybe SE of downtown off of Packard), depending on where my wife gets a job offer.

I recall someone posting a link to an agency or developer based in Corktown[[?) a few months ago that looked promising.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

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Is this it?

http://www.oconnordetroit.com/

That was it. Thanks! I recall a thread with a bunch of people recommending them.

Seems like a good place to start.

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Originally Posted by Anonymous

That was it. Thanks! I recall a thread with a bunch of people recommending them.

Seems like a good place to start.

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PM me and I will give you the number of a very good realtor.

I also have a realtor recommendation if you'd like to PM me.

check out http://citylivingdetroit.com/

they can definitely help you out with looking at places in the city. they are very hands on and helped me get my place.

Welcome to Detroit !
I'm sure if you've been on this site you are pretty familiar with Detroit .
Corktown and Midtown are great area's but know that it's nothing like Chicago.
Midtown is Great but it's just starting , there are a tons of great options for eating and cultural stuff, Whole Foods is coming soon, I think early 2013?
Detroit can be very cool , just check out the New york times Lifestyle section anytime LOL , they seem to have a love affair with Detroit :-) which is a good thing I guess LOL
It's always cool to have the "blessing" of the "epicenter" of style, taste and culture on your side :-).
It's like having the hottest girl in school take you out to prom :-)
But I digress , LOL just know that you do have to do a little digging to find the "cool" kids, but they are pretty easy to find. Coming form Chicago I'm sure you have your city savy. You will need it here , but in a different way.
AA is cool just a little far, it's a great college town , but you can find those anywhere and you've been to one you've been to them all ? no ?
Living in the city will make a difference for you and for the city, I'm not saying it's always good, but it will be something that will make an impression, It has for me living here 4 years from LA.
Some have the patience for it other not so much , I go back and forth ;-), but I'm an optimisms and I like an underdog . when the city is "popping" [[Opening Day) you see the potential , just building on that is a BITCH !
make it your own ! also quickly I'm not sure when you are moving , but you may want to check out the brodrick [[sp) tower. this may give you that Chicago feel you may be missing . It should be done this fall ?
all the best

Thanks for the suggestions everyone.

We called to check out 640 West Canfield and it sold in under a week, according to the seller's realtor. According to our realtor, it never even had a chance to hit the MLS.

Then we asked the owner about the house at 702 West Canfield, but he has a cash offer from a developer in hand. Had he not already accepted it, we would have made a formal, documented offer. Good guy, though, and the community on that block seems to be pretty progressive about working together.

Bummer. We'll keep an eye out but we might just rent for awhile. Thanks again for the suggestions.

The REO market in the city proper is very cutthroat. Really nice properties are rare and start feeding frenzies. Agents will call for "highest and best" and that when you know the BS is turned on. My advice is to have your agent force submit offers. The selling agent has to accept submission and contingent offers fall through all the time.

Of course if you not using cash then this could be a problem.

If you are going to drive, check out Rosedale Park. It is a great location-- easy to downtown [[15 min), Dearborn [[10), Southfield [[7), Birmingham[[15), Royal Oak [[15), western suburbs [[10-25), and a half-hour to Ann Arbor. Great houses, too. Here's a story from Curbed: http://detroit.curbed.com/archives/2...216d1d39067dd1

The housing stock here is fantastic, and the neighborhood is very walkable. Good shopping right in the neighborhood. Walkscores are 60-66. Mine is 66.

Note: even if you are going to rely on transit-- three main bus routes meet at Southfield/Grand River Ave.

Thanks for the advice Grix and Park. As a qualifer, we are only looking in the city, if my wife gets a job in the metro area, or the Old West Side of A2, if my wife gets something in Ann Arbor, Jackson, Brighton, Lansing, etc. that's just too far to commute from the city. I'll be mid-way between the two in Romulus, so while I prefer the city, it's a quick jaunt down 94 either way.

So we've decided we're just going to rent for the next 6 mos to a year. We looked at the following neighborhoods and came up with these thoughts [[for our situation, these places are great for people with other preferences and at other stages of life):

The Villages - Being close to Waldorf would be nice 5-10 years from now when we have old enough kids, but that's a ways down the road. So is being close to Belle Isle. But, as it stands, it's just so far away from anything to do in terms of bars, restaurants, and musuem-type places.
Palmer Woods/Sherwood Forest - Very nice, but way away from everything. Downtown is out of the question and it's a heckuva bike ride to get to/from Ferndale if we want to go out. Plus, Ferndale's iffy because we'd rather keep our dollars in the city as a matter of principle. Also, the area is just too suburban feeling.
Boston Edison - See above re PW/SF, but make it a bit less nice but also closer to stuff to do.

We've pretty much narrowed it down to Midtown [[preferable) and Corktown. My wife is a big arts/sciences person and the proximity to the library, DIA, etc. is really key in making Midtown our preference. Also, both places provide housing that's walkable to Honest John's, Motor City Brewing, etc. and Slows, Mercury Bar, etc. type places [[as an aside, we split the "Juicy" at Mercury last weekend, and it was still VERY good, despite being overcooked).

But almost NOTHING is available in either of those areas. We're pre-qualified for a lot more than these places are going for, but they keep getting snapped up. With that in mind, we're hoping that if we move out and rent that we'll be the ones that are able to snap a place up, since we'll be local.

If you happen to know someone, or be someone, who is thinking about selling within walking distance of those types of places, holler at me via PM. We're working with an agent from O'Connor, so she'll get a cut, but we'll try to work with you to make it worthwhile, if you have something we'd like.

Thanks again to all that helped in this thread.

:D We can offer anecdotal evidence to support the Detroit market being hot right now. My wife and I have missed out on [[1) the house on Canfield [[http://detroit.curbed.com/archives/2...-sale-sign.php), which sold before it even hit Michigan's MLS; [[2) 1833 Church [[http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/18...88462267_zpid/), and [[3) 4208 Avery [[http://detroit.curbed.com/archives/2...eader_comments).


In the case of the Church and Avery houses, we offered at 95% or greater of asking with a pre-approval for a conventional mortgage with at least 20% down.


It's crazy out there right now. Bad for us as buyers, but great for the city.

I'll put it out there again, if anyone is thinking about selling in Corktown, Midtown, or Woodbridge, or knows of someone that might be, please let us know.

Thanks!

Boston-Edison, The Villages and Palmer Woods are all "nice" areas, but they don't offer much in the way of an urban lifestyle.

Midtown and Corktown really have that potential, if you understand that things are still very much rough around the edges. As others have said, don't expect Chicago even in our best neighborhoods. But there are a good number of restaurants opening and there is starting to be a more walkable feel to the neighborhoods.

Corktown - opened within the last year: Mercury Burger Bar, Astro Coffee, Sugar House, Green Dot Stables... coming soon: Brooklyn Street Local, Italian/Brick Oven Pizzeria near Trumbull and Michigan

Midtown - opened within the last year [[or so): Seva Vegetarian, Raw Cafe, Thistle Coffee House, second location of Byblos Middle-Eastern, Tim Hortons, Temptations Indian Cuisine... coming soon: Great Lakes Coffee Co coffee house and bar, Whole Foods Market, probably more but my mind is blank

Ahh yeah, sorry if I wasn't clear on the earlier post. I was laying out reasons why BE, the Villages, and PW wouldn't work for us.

We've added Woodbridge to our search because it's an easy cab or bike ride away from Downtown, Corktown, and Midtown, depending on how many adult pops we plan on having.

We just can't reconcile our lifestyle, even accounting for the changes we're going to have to make in moving to an auto-oriented city, with living so far away from everything.

Patience is the word of the day. We got a solid deal on a place downtown that'll last us through the fall. In the meantime, we'll keep our ear to the ground and hope that something pops, otherwise we'll probably just grin, bear it, and rent at the Broderick.

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Originally Posted by Anonymous

Ahh yeah, sorry if I wasn't clear on the earlier post. I was laying out reasons why BE, the Villages, and PW wouldn't work for us.

We've added Woodbridge to our search because it's an easy cab or bike ride away from Downtown, Corktown, and Midtown, depending on how many adult pops we plan on having.

We just can't reconcile our lifestyle, even accounting for the changes we're going to have to make in moving to an auto-oriented city, with living so far away from everything.

Patience is the word of the day. We got a solid deal on a place downtown that'll last us through the fall. In the meantime, we'll keep our ear to the ground and hope that something pops, otherwise we'll probably just grin, bear it, and rent at the Broderick.

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All sounds good. Good idea adding Woodbridge to your options. You could easily walk from many places in Woodbridge to many places in Midtown, too. You also have Woodbridge Pub which I'm sure you'd enjoy. Metro Detroit is auto dependent but in the City if you plan properly you can make due without a car much of the time - in the places you're looking at even moreso. Welcome to Detroit!

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Originally Posted by poobert

All sounds good. Good idea adding Woodbridge to your options. You could easily walk from many places in Woodbridge to many places in Midtown, too. You also have Woodbridge Pub which I'm sure you'd enjoy. Metro Detroit is auto dependent but in the City if you plan properly you can make due without a car much of the time - in the places you're looking at even moreso. Welcome to Detroit!

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I also recommend Woodbridge. When I was looking to purchase a home a few years ago, Midtown was out of my price range, but I had good luck in Woodbridge. The homes are gorgeous, and it has remained a strong neighborhood. In addition to these benefits, it's easily within walking distance of Midtown, and the WSU police actively patrol Avery, Commonwealth, Trumbull, and Lincoln.

For realtors, I would suggest O'Connor first and foremost, but would also recommend City Living Detroit [[Austin Black) and Renaissance Investments [[Margaret Palmer).

Thanks, poobert. I'm a Metro-Detroiter, having grown up in Warrendale until my parents split, then moving to near Ann Arbor with her. I'm familiar with the city and culture, and my wife is a native Houstonian, so she gets the auto-oriented thing, too.

On Woodbridge Pub -- We split a grilled cheese and had a few beers there this weekend while walking around the neighborhood to get the feel of it. With all that done, we were glad to add another neighborhood to our "this would work" list.

1545 Leverette is for sale by owner Anonymous. This is in Corktown.

Let me second HazenPingree's recommendation of Margaret Palmer at Renaissance Investments. She is very knowledgeable, competent and she lives in the area.

I agree with Hazenpingree for the most part Woodbridge has a lot going for it but would recommend spending time exploring every neighborhood you are interested in. Funny little things like feeling hemmed in in Woodbridge [[just how I feel when I am there, not everyone else and I am using this as an example) will start to appear. Even though I am a suburbanite I spent a considerable amount of time in all the neighborhoods mentioned here as well as a few that have not been mentioned.
You are going to have to come to grips with the automobile here no matter how hard you try not to.
In my travels around the city I have seen more joggers, bicyclists and dog walkers in the city in the last year than the preceding 49 years I have been a resident of the metro area. Funny thing though I almost always see them in Indian Village, Boston-Edison, Palmer Woods and their surrounding areas. Before you make a decision take a VERY good look around what you like now may not be what works best once you get to know the city better. Last if you want a great look at the eastside join me for my walking tour of Indian Village Sunday 5-20-12 around 12:30 near the Peirogi cart at the Tashmoo Bietgarten. I would love to show you the area.