Get Rich Quick. Buy a Stone House in Detroit! Earn 300% in 5 Years!

[Lowell]

I found this pretty amusing. It seems someone has more optimism about Detroit than others.

Snips:

Forget The Doom And Gloom
About US Property... Discover How YOU Can
Buy Large Stone Houses In Detroit, USA

At 60%+ Below Market Value
And Guaranteed 20% NET Yields For 5

... and best of all? You will still own the property with large amounts of equity and also generating large passive rental income!

The 3 reasons why YOU can make over 300% profit in just 5 years with property in Detroit, USA, right now!

http://www.propertyhorizons.co.uk/us...FZJM5Qod4wm5Jw

[DetroitDad]

2.

President Obama Is Going To Help YOU!

The US government is pumping BILLIONS in to Detroit to help car manufacturers. This will also help regenerate with new infrastructure, businesses and public facilities.

-- Prices are already increasing rapidly as more investors realise what an incredible opportunity Detroit is right now.

Help regenerate? Help regenerate what? What does that mean?

[Fury13]

Help regenerate? Help regenerate what? What does that mean?

That's a typo. It meant to say degenerates. It will help degenerates.

[Lowell]

I have heard buzz/rumors of foreign investors picking up properties in Detroit. I am wondering if this British company has actually done that or if they have a brokering relationship with some local real estate company.

However it does point out that in every product there is a price tipping point where something falls so low it becomes irresistible.

The use of the word "guaranteed" caught my eye the most. Obviously this group is not aware of truth in advertising laws, thinks that the international separation gives them cover or has a lot of fine print saying guaranteed means something else.

[Retroit]

-- Just Like Donald Trump Is RIGHT NOW!


Would someone please inform Donald Trump that his lawn needs to be mowed?

[Melocoton]

My parents get emails like this from real estate agencies in France and the UK and send me the Detroit ones all the time [[there are a lot). One recent ad was for a September tour of Detroit for British "investors," and it included scheduled meetings this month with representative of Home Depot and the City of Detroit "Housing and Urban Development" department [[that's a federal agency, as far as I know, but...) I was amazed the city thought it a good idea to schmooze with European speculators.

[Lorax]

I have some personal knowledge of this, there are alot of foreign investors who are buying up homes less than 25k in Detroit, hiring local "management" companies set up for the sole purpose of collecting rents [[section 8 mostly).

They are buying groupings of houses, sometimes 50-60 at a crack, and having local contractors repair them just enough to rent out. There are rarely permits pulled, and when caught for violations, they just pay the fine, which is often less than it would have cost to make the right repairs in the first place. That is, if they get caught at all.

The biggest downfall for the investor, is usually the supplies put into repairs are stripped out the same night, as soon as the contractors pull their vehichles away.

One investor told me he will eat this cost only once, if it happens again, he'll walk away and let the house rot. He'll keep paying the taxes, so in the end he'll still own the land, but unless he has a renter ready to move in right away, he can't afford to let it sit with new plumbing, etc. The neighbors are watching!

Often these investors don't realize there is no police protection for their properties, and often the people they rent to will strip the house soon after moving in. This is such a foreign concept to the Europeans, Japanese, and Australians who are typically the ones buying up these houses today.

Many do end up walking away from theses houses, not knowing what they are getting into. Even the so-called management companies are part and parcel to juicing the investors for repairs not made, and since most of them don't ever step foot in Detroit, they'll never know just what a trap they're stepping into.

Long distance slumlords- not something that benefits anyone.

[EastSider]

I have some personal knowledge of this...

Don't you live in Florida?

[Pam]

What do they mean by "large stone houses"?

[Gannon]

That's a typo. It meant to say stoneR. Invest in degenerate stoner's houses.

[Pam]

What do they mean by "large stone houses"?

Maybe they meant this one?

http://www.detroit1701.org/G.A.R.Building.htm

[Jason]

I think that 300% in 5 years is very realistic. Buy the house for $1, and there's 5 years to con someone into buying it for $3.

[dtowncitylover]

How comical. Laughed all the way through this thread.

[Ocean2026]

That ad would violate Deceptive Trade Practices Act in every state that I know of. They are guaranteeing a 20% net profit for 5 years!? Even if more people leave and rents go down? Even if strippers come in and remove all the copper? Someone in Michigan ought to turn them in.

[agirlintheD]

The strippers are removing the copper?

[Gannon]

Yeah, you know it's tight when the strippers have to scrap to get by, too.

[professorscott]

I agree with Dtown, this is a great thread. Best in a while. Laughed out loud, which the subdued Professor rarely does.

Curious about the claims that the advertisement violates some or another law. That matters? In a city where the vast majority of murders never get solved, we're going to put a policeman on the case of your deceptive advertisement? One doubts it.

I especially like the "buy for $1 - wait a few years - sell for $3". That would cause a naive person to suggest doing that a hundred thousand times at a crack, which of course leads to the same paradox as the idea that when Mega Millions has a jackpot of $200 million [[when there are less than 200 million possible combinations of numbers), why not just buy one ticket for each combination? [[If you don't know why that's not possible, come to my office at the University and I will explain it to you, speaking very slowly.)

[professorscott]

One more comment. Lorax wrote, speaking of international [["foreign" is so pejorative these days) investors, "Often these investors don't realize there is no police protection for their properties..."

Lorax, count New Yorkers among your international newbies here. Your Professor comes to Detroit from the wilds of New York, and never heard of a case in his entire life where a felony is committed and the police make absolutely no effort to investigate it. Came to Detroit, and it happened to me personally, twice. Absolutely fucking astonishing.

In Nueva York, if [[say) somebody breaks into your apartment and steals all your stuff, the local gendarmes at least pretend to be interested and to investigate the crime. I was stunned at the response I got the first time my car was stolen [[yep, kids, the first time), which can be summarized as: you expect us to do something about it? Then the first home invasion, second car theft, second home invasion, and so forth. [[Now, granted, the police did pretend to investigate the second home invasion; they felt sorry for Mr. and Mrs. Prof since it was our second home invasion in a six-week period.)

All I have ever seen of police, they're handing out traffic tickets. Not sure why to bother having a police department at all, if that's all they do. I can find people who'd be willing to give out traffic citations for a lot less than you have to pay a police officer. If there are any DPD on the blog, I'd be happy to hear rebuttals.

[iheartthed]

I agree with Dtown, this is a great thread. Best in a while. Laughed out loud, which the subdued Professor rarely does.

Curious about the claims that the advertisement violates some or another law. That matters? In a city where the vast majority of murders never get solved, we're going to put a policeman on the case of your deceptive advertisement? One doubts it.

I especially like the "buy for $1 - wait a few years - sell for $3". That would cause a naive person to suggest doing that a hundred thousand times at a crack, which of course leads to the same paradox as the idea that when Mega Millions has a jackpot of $200 million [[when there are less than 200 million possible combinations of numbers), why not just buy one ticket for each combination? [[If you don't know why that's not possible, come to my office at the University and I will explain it to you, speaking very slowly.)

It's a UK url and targeted to European investors, so their marketing practices likely aren't subject to any American laws.