Last week, The Detroit News reported that suburban homes
that were listed for more than $5 million were being sold for less than
half that price. Bad deal for the seller, great deal for the buyer.
Meanwhile,
some buyers are finding good deals in Detroit's Midtown, thanks to the
program launched by three anchor employers -- Wayne State University,
Detroit Medical Center and Henry Ford Health System -- to offer
subsidies to employees who opt to buy or rent in Midtown.
A
couple of the newly minted homeowners will be hosts at the 2011 Crain's
Detroit House Party on Sept. 28. (See details at
www.crainsdetroit.com/events.)
Even The New York Times
recently captured the excitement and interest in Detroit's hottest
neighborhoods -- downtown and Midtown. But the ability to sell condos in
some buildings has suffered a bit in buildings that have fallen off
FHA-approved lists.
One friend who's retiring found that out when
he put his Midtown condo on the market. His building is no longer
FHA-approved because too many units are leased.
The FHA backs
many residential mortgages; FHA backing gives a buyer access to a
mortgage with a lower down payment and sometimes a lower interest rate.
But
the FHA has caps on the percentage of units that can be leased and
minimums for the percentage of owner-occupied units. And when the bottom
fell out of the real estate market, some developers of new condo
projects and conversions in Midtown opted to lease condos that were
languishing on the for-sale market.
Ed Potas, the in-house real
estate expert at Midtown Detroit Inc., which runs the live-work program,
says mortgages can still be found even for these buildings. He credits
Southwest Lending Solutions, another nonprofit, for helping to alleviate
the hassle.
"They've been good in finding local lenders to back
a mortgage," he said, even in the buildings that are not on the
FHA-approved list.
Not much is easy when it comes to residential real estate these days. Still, interest in living in Detroit continues to grow. Crain's nonprofit
reporter, Sherri Welch, reported on crainsdetroit.com that the Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan Detroit is trying to raise $100,000 to help
subsidize rent for 25 young Jewish adults to live in Detroit.
One
of the fundraisers for the project is Aug. 20 on Belle Isle at what's
being billed as an attempt to break the world's record for the largest
dodgeball event.
For more information, check out www.doitfordetroit.com.
