Lonely Homes Tour

**Wintersmommy** · May-10-10, 03:33 PM

Has anyone been on these tours before? Are they worthwhile?

I read about this in the Freep yesterday and I am intrigued. I am starting to play around with the idea of buying my 1st home and doing so in the city. I am interested in learning more about some the neighborhoods that are well established and have strong community groups. I have heard wonderful things about the
Villages area and I am hoping that by taking this tour that i will learn more about them and their differences. Also would like to see the different styles/ architectures of homes as I imagine each neighborhood has their own unique style.

My main question is...is this a good way to learn more about the area or is this a waste of time? How would you recommend that i learn more about the various neighborhoods in the Villages or beyond for that matter...

**sumas** · May-10-10, 07:00 PM

Try contacting the Villages association. Attend local association meetings. Don't know anything about lonely homes tours.

Do know there are very viable neighborhoods still here in the city.

**Wintersmommy** · May-10-10, 07:12 PM

Originally Posted by sumas

Try contacting the Villages association. Attend local association meetings. Don't know anything about lonely homes tours.

Do know there are very viable neighborhoods still here in the city.

thank you for the feedback!! I have been researching them on the web today and plan on reaching out to the associations

I will update everyone after the tour on the 23rd with any interesting info or feedback

**Eastside** · May-10-10, 07:43 PM

You may want to attend this month's East English Village meeting this Wednesday. They are well attended and a wealth of information is shared.

Here's a link to their May newsletter.

http://www.eastenglishvillage.org/May%202010%20.pdf

DetroitPole · May-10-10, 09:09 PM

I don't know what a lonely homes tour is defined as specifically but I went on something similar and it motivated me to buy my first home in Detroit.

I would strongly recommend a tour. While it may be useful to contact an association, these people are unpaid and have lives of their own, and a scheduled tour is a dedicated time allotted to find out about a neighborhood.

It may seem irrational to buy in the City but I disagree. In the best neighborhoods you can find incredible deals and still great places to live. Houses that you would pay millions for elsewhere you can have for under 100,000 - and still live in a great neighborhood.

LodgeDodger · May-10-10, 09:24 PM

A couple of years ago, during a "Villages-wide" open house, there was a lonely house tour. While I didn't take that tour, I did look at some of the homes on the list.

At the time, there were a number of foreclosed homes on the tour. The homes were in varying conditions. It is an excellent way to find a home at a reasonable price in that area. I would highly recommend it.

**Wintersmommy** · May-11-10, 09:45 AM

Originally Posted by DetroitPole

I don't know what a lonely homes tour is defined as specifically but I went on something similar and it motivated me to buy my first home in Detroit.

I would strongly recommend a tour. While it may be useful to contact an association, these people are unpaid and have lives of their own, and a scheduled tour is a dedicated time allotted to find out about a neighborhood.

It may seem irrational to buy in the City but I disagree. In the best neighborhoods you can find incredible deals and still great places to live. Houses that you would pay millions for elsewhere you can have for under 100,000 - and still live in a great neighborhood.

Great advice thank you !! I am looking for a bit of motivation and I think this may be what i need. Seems there are 8-10 homes on the tour that are all for sale be it by bank or by owner. I donâ€™t think its irrational to buy in the city at all, though my family may attempt to have me committed for this. I am young and single with a child looking to find an established/tight knitted community, close to work and the attractions we frequent and above all I want an older home with character [[and a built in bookcase or two) that is in my price range [[which is close to nothing LOL ) ...I donâ€™t see how I can go wrong with the city

on the other hand I need to do some research and look into school options and the like so that i dont just jump in blindly...hoping this tour will inspire me to get on my game

**Wintersmommy** · May-11-10, 10:01 AM

Originally Posted by Eastside

You may want to attend this month's East English Village meeting this Wednesday. They are well attended and a wealth of information is shared.

Here's a link to their May newsletter.

http://www.eastenglishvillage.org/May%202010%20.pdf

this Wednesday is not an option for me as I will be dropping the moms off at the airport, I will try to make the June. Turn out looks to be huge at 200+ for some meetings, I cant even imagine 200 people in my subdivision coming out for anything

My family has lived in the same house for 30+ years and I dont know any of my neighbors other than saying hello in passing. I love how in the newsletter they encourge you to stop by and say hi to new neighbors, this is exactly the kind of place i want to live

I ADORE the fact there is a garden club...I love gardening

I printed out the newsletter to read at home tonight ..thank you for the link

**BillyBBrew** · May-11-10, 12:09 PM

West Village has a pretty tight knit community of people who have young children and who are committed to the neighborhood. The Lonely Homes tour usually focusses on bank owned properties, but I guess there are some that aren't bank owned on this tour. I recommend the tour to get a feel for the neighborhood. There are also alot of residents volunteering to answer questions about the neighborhoods, meet and greet, etc. We usually have our big "Living in the V" open house in the fall and another Lonely Homes tour is part of that.

**Eastside** · May-11-10, 02:51 PM

Originally Posted by Wintersmommy

this Wednesday is not an option for me as I will be dropping the moms off at the airport, I will try to make the June. Turn out looks to be huge at 200+ for some meetings, I cant even imagine 200 people in my subdivision coming out for anything

My family has lived in the same house for 30+ years and I dont know any of my neighbors other than saying hello in passing. I love how in the newsletter they encourge you to stop by and say hi to new neighbors, this is exactly the kind of place i want to live

I ADORE the fact there is a garden club...I love gardening

I printed out the newsletter to read at home tonight ..thank you for the link

EEV is a good, well maintained neighborhood of about 2,000 homes on the eastside of Detroit [[bordering Grosse Pointe Park). 95%+ of the homes are brick in various styles from Tudor, colonial and bungalows. There are some incredible buys in this neighborhood. Take a drive through sometime.

Hope you can make it to the June meeting.

**Wintersmommy** · May-11-10, 04:02 PM

Originally Posted by BillyBBrew

West Village has a pretty tight knit community of people who have young children and who are committed to the neighborhood. The Lonely Homes tour usually focusses on bank owned properties, but I guess there are some that aren't bank owned on this tour. I recommend the tour to get a feel for the neighborhood. There are also alot of residents volunteering to answer questions about the neighborhoods, meet and greet, etc. We usually have our big "Living in the V" open house in the fall and another Lonely Homes tour is part of that.

I look forward to the "Living in the V " open house...is this info updated on any particular website?

And yes they said for the 1st time this tour is going to include non bank owned homes. I am very excited to see what is out there

**JJD** · May-12-10, 10:35 AM

I am new to Detroti Yes and moved into West Village last year. I grew up in the D in the Cass Corridor, went away for college and lived in the burbs for a couple of years. I lived in Farmington Hills and knew none of my neighbors. I the first month I was in West Village I met every neighbor on my block and they were all super nice and friendly. It has been a great experience so far and we are very happy to have made the decision to live in the city. I see you are looking for an older house and West Village was in this old house magazine in March and listed as one of the 50 best places to buy on old house in the US.

**BillyBBrew** · May-12-10, 07:11 PM

News about events relating to the Villages and more info can be found on their website. www.thevillagesofdetroit.com There will be info about the "Living in the V" on there.