City of Saginaw (Michigan) flipping houses with Stimulus Money

[hudkina]

Originally Posted by Crawford

I totally disagree. New homes aren't going to be valued more than old homes. If a neighborhood is essentially worthless, new homes will be essentially worthless.

You are looking at it from an upper-middle-income, suburban-raised, white male hipster's perspective. To you anything about a neighborhood like Brightmoor is worthless, and that's why you won't find any upper-middle-income, suburban-raised, white male hipsters living in that neighborhood. To you a "crappy low-quality" house in a shitty neighborhood is a step down, but to many a "decent affordable" house in a shitty neighborhood is a step up...

Originally Posted by Crawford

This is dodging reality, IMO.

Low property values in Detroit have nothing to do with the relative age of homes. If anything, very old homes in Detroit are worth more then newer homes.

As long as the quality and characteristics of a house are relatively even, I would say a newer home is more valuable than an older home. That's especially true when comparing working-class housing from the 30's and 40's to low-income housing of today. Of course a brick mansion in Rosedale Park or an historic 19th century worker's cottage in Corktown are going to be worth more than low-income housing in Brightmoor. However, I can guarantee the most valuable homes in Brightmoor have been built in the last decade...

Originally Posted by Crawford

I would guess than homes built in the last 20 years in Detroit ghettohoods are essentially worth the same as homes older than 20 years.

So to be clear, you think these:


are worth the same as these:


When you talk about the "median value", all that means is that half the homes in the neighborhood are valued below that number and half are valued above that number. Just because those homes are in a neighborhood where the median value may be $10,000, doesn't mean those homes themselves are worth $10,000. They are clearly in the upper half...