Buying bargain homes in Michigan
Right now I am hearing the same tall tales of extraordinary deal all over the Metro Detroit real estate market. Sure there are great deals out there, but. I heard that there was a house that sold in Francavilla a Livonia subdivision for $80,000. Or my friend bought a house for $30,000 in Farmington Hills.
The first story is a blatant lie. I checked all the sold sales there are no homes that sold for less than $180,000. The second story is true but the Farmington home had major water damage. There was mold in the house. The floors were warped. The house had to have all the drywall removed down to the studs. It was like rebuilding the house. The house had to be gutted.
The mold had to be re mediated. The Farmington Hills home buyers thought they could redo the house a certain way, but the city won’t let them do what they planned. So now they have a house that is too small for them and is requiring major work.
So forget about all the stories and be realistic. If many of the homes are price in the $100,000 range and there is one nice home listed for $80,000 don’t wait around and think about it. It will be gone.
If there is a 3000 square foot house that has been on the market 5 months and is listed for $80,000 it most likely has major renovation work to be done. You may not be able to get a mortgage on it. Don’t expect to see another 3000 square foot home that is in good shape for that price. That home is priced that low because it is going to take a hundred thousand dollars to fix.
If you are only finding junky houses or houses that don’t meet your requirements in that $70 – $80,000 range then maybe you should either lower your requirements or look in a higher price range (if you can afford too).
Your Michigan Realtor can’t magically pull up more houses, or can’t magically get a super cheap super nice house for you just because you want it. You have to be realistic and adjust your expectations to fit the Metro Detroit real estate market. You have to realize that instead of buying that $80,000 house…you may have to spend $120,000. But that house is still a great deal, that house probably once sold for over $200,000. Homes are cheap. Many times you can’t build the house for what they are selling for.
I had one lady that was looking at Southfield homes that got upset at me. They wanted a nice brick ranch over 1200 square foot for around $80,000. We found one but the other 15 we looked at needed major work. She was upset at me. Hey I can’t magically produce a house for sale. I am sending you all the houses that are listed on the MLS. What is listed for sale right now you have access too. I said what about the one nice one. She told me she wanted to be able to choose between 2 or 3. Unfortunately sometimes you can’t do that.
Sometimes that one bargain is the only home that will come up for sale in the next month. It may be the best deal for six months or who knows next month may have 3 homes to chose from but none of use know that. You can only buy out of the pool of homes that are for sale.
So don’t be frustrated, adjust your expectations and you will be glad you did.
Russ Ravary your Metro Detroit Real estate agent
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