Detroit regeneration good news for buy to let property investors

A pledge by US President Barack Obama to provide massive financial support for the regeneration of the State of Michigan’s biggest city, Detroit, should be of interest to property investors.

A growing number of investors, disenchanted by the performance of the ailing stock market, are putting their money into buy to let bricks in the US city as regeneration means more jobs and more demand for rental properties.

‘They are attracted by discounts as high as 70% and net yields of up to 17%. With more than 9,000 working families already on the waiting list, demand is high,’ said Mike Coyle of international property investment specialist High Yield Bricks.

Detroit, which as one of America’s leading cities in the field of industrial research and development has attracted more than half a million high tech workers, has suffered from a shift in urban sprawl to the suburbs. The resulting housing crash has left the city short of affordable housing.

Investing in this type of property is also seen as ethically worthwhile as it is saving foreclosed and uninhabitable properties are converting them into homes.

Coyle points out that Detroit’s city authorities are managing the newly refurbished homes though their Housing and Urban Development scheme. It includes extensive checks on the financial security of would be tenants and the underwriting of rental payments so that investors do not have to collect money from individual tenants.

The prices of properties available depend on size and location. Typically a three bedroom detached home with a monthly rental income in excess of US$850 can be purchased through High Yield Bricks for as little as US$32,000.

Purchases can be completed quickly, sometimes in just five days, and annual capital growth is expected to average 5% over the next five years.

http://www.propertywire.com/news/north-america/us-detroit-property-investors-201201045941.html