Southfield is a changing

[Goose]

the problem is identified in the first paragraph of that article

Three years ago, Lamar Grace left Detroit for the suburb of Southfield. He got a good deal — a 3,000-square-foot colonial that once was worth $220,000. In foreclosure, he paid $109,000.

5 years ago $109,000 got you a 900-1100 sq. ft. house in the inner ring suburbs.... now its buying you 3,000 sq. ft.

There is a HUGE amount of difference in utility and maintenance costs between a 1000 and a 3000 sq. ft. house. Couple that with rising energy costs and soon the pristine 3000 sq. ft. house next door starts to be less than adequatly maintained. When the roof starts to leak, paying for a roof on a 3000 sq. ft. house might be out of range, so out comes the blue tarps.... heat bills got you down, how about some classy plastic over the outside windows.... decorating the inside of a 3000 sq. ft. house expensive?? not if you hang cheap mexican blankets in the windows for curtains....

this is why you see animosity from the person who paid $250,000 for the house next door and can afford to maintain it also.....

[Downtown Lady]

But white people stopped buying in Southfield a long time ago. The only reason it's not about race in Southfield anymore is that there are almost no white people left there.

Neither sentence is true. I know several white people that have purchased in Southfield in the past year. And I don't have the demographic statistics in front of me, but I would guess that it is an equal mix of black and white. If you think there are no white people in Southfield, you haven't been to Southfield.

[R8RBOB]

the problem is identified in the first paragraph of that article

Three years ago, Lamar Grace left Detroit for the suburb of Southfield. He got a good deal — a 3,000-square-foot colonial that once was worth $220,000. In foreclosure, he paid $109,000.

5 years ago $109,000 got you a 900-1100 sq. ft. house in the inner ring suburbs.... now its buying you 3,000 sq. ft.

There is a HUGE amount of difference in utility and maintenance costs between a 1000 and a 3000 sq. ft. house. Couple that with rising energy costs and soon the pristine 3000 sq. ft. house next door starts to be less than adequatly maintained. When the roof starts to leak, paying for a roof on a 3000 sq. ft. house might be out of range, so out comes the blue tarps.... heat bills got you down, how about some classy plastic over the outside windows.... decorating the inside of a 3000 sq. ft. house expensive?? not if you hang cheap mexican blankets in the windows for curtains....

this is why you see animosity from the person who paid $250,000 for the house next door and can afford to maintain it also.....

I am trying very, very hard to understand your point. I hope this is a satirical posting and you don't mean anything that you posted.

[Augustiner]

Neither sentence is true. I know several white people that have purchased in Southfield in the past year. And I don't have the demographic statistics in front of me, but I would guess that it is an equal mix of black and white. If you think there are no white people in Southfield, you haven't been to Southfield.

Southfield is about 70-30 black-white. Detroit is about 80-20. There are white people in Detroit, but nobody seriously suggests that it's a successfully-integrated community, and the white people who consider Detroit when house-shopping are a very small minority of the region's overall white population. I'm suggesting that Southfield is in a slightly earlier stage of what is essentially the same pattern of black inmigration and white outmigration.

[Goose]

I am trying very, very hard to understand your point. I hope this is a satirical posting and you don't mean anything that you posted.

what part don't you understand?, just because someone can afford to make a payment on a "Deal" they got through foreclosure doesn't mean they can afford the upkeep on the property....

people are moving into these "cheap" homes and can't afford to maintain them properly...

[R8RBOB]

what part don't you understand?, just because someone can afford to make a payment on a "Deal" they got through foreclosure doesn't mean they can afford the upkeep on the property....

people are moving into these "cheap" homes and can't afford to maintain them properly...

I thought you were going to say that. Well, I suppose you are one of those unfortunate people who paid $250,000 for your home and discovered that your next door neighbor got their house for a buck-o-five. The way you described it sounds so accurate.

[Locke09]

what part don't you understand?, just because someone can afford to make a payment on a "Deal" they got through foreclosure doesn't mean they can afford the upkeep on the property....

people are moving into these "cheap" homes and can't afford to maintain them properly...

It's certainly true that some of the people will be able to afford the payments on the homes but not the upkeep.

On the other hand, some of the people with the more expensive homes apparently couldn't afford the payments and the upkeep either or they wouldn't be losing so many of them to foreclosure in the first place.

Also, with houses prices going down so dramatically, some people are actually paying cash for very nice houses, rather than incurring the same large mortgages that their neighbors have. With no mortgage payments and lower property taxes, they should be able to handle their upkeep just fine. They should probably have more concern for their neighbors still struggling with high mortgages than their neighbors should have for them.

The different people moving to Southfield fit into different categories and the reaction to them should be based on their actual actions and not what people fear. Of course, given human nature, that's not likely to happen.

[mwilbert]

Lower prices will tend to lower the level of maintenance even among the existing owners--you probably won't spend as much fixing up a $100K house as at $200K house, even if it the same house.

[Locke09]

Lower prices will tend to lower the level of maintenance even among the existing owners--you probably won't spend as much fixing up a $100K house as at $200K house, even if it the same house.

Really? Who actually thinks like that, except people who think of their house as an investment rather than a home. I'm willing to place a lot of money into maintenance and home improvements because I expect to live in my home for many years.

If I ultimately sell it for less than the value of the purchase plus the home improvements, why should I feel cheated? I lived in it and derived value from it while I did. Didn't the rec room in my finished basement and my outdoor deck give me and my guests some pleasure? Didn't my more modern kitchen make it easier and more pleasant to prepare meals? Didn't the extra bedroom I added that allowed me to give each of my children a separate room keep me from having to kill one of them because of their constant bickering?

I guess I have some weird misguided perception of what a house/home should be.

[mwilbert]

People who aren't sure they are going to stay in their homes for many years. Like people in a changing neighborhood.