Aussie 'trying to make a difference' gunned down
May 10, 2011 – 2:04PMAn Australian real estate developer proclaimed a hero by tenants in the crime and recession plagued US city of Detroit has been shot dead.
Greg McNichols, 45, bought a two-storey apartment complex on Detroit's east side in February, a building in such disrepair residents described it as a "rat trap", but through the Australian's hard work it began to be transformed into a livable environment.
Mr McNichols was beloved by most of his tenants and nicknamed the "Crocodile Hunter".
<moderator: refer to link for rest of article>Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/aussie-trying-to-make-a-difference-gunned-down-20110510-1egnv.html#ixzz1Lv4ZB0f2
That is really sad.
And there are a lot of questions that come out of this to do with risk……do you add 'getting shot' to the list?
D
DWolfe | www.homestagers.com.au
http://www.homestagers.com.au
Email MeIts been one of the reasons that I wont ever manage my properties directly in the US. There are all these people who apply whats possible in Australia and think you can just slap it down as the same recipie in the US and it will work.
News for you. The tenants have totally different expectations in the US. They will play the rules as far as they can stretch them and even play victim to get their way. You are too used to a system in Australia which has reasonable flexibility for both landlord and tenant on commitments.
They just dont have that in most parts of the US.
What scares me most about this one, is i was seriously interested in the same property about 8 months ago. I know the one he's bought and it looked good on paper. But I did my investigations of the neighbourhood and there was no way I was into it. If a property manager you ring up isnt prepared to deal with it, why should you?
There was a large green bit of vacant land at the back of the block. The units were all crammed into a block nextdoor to it, there was lots of them and they were all cramped. It was returning about 12% gross and costing about 435k all up for 22 units.
Again, there is a reason why I will stress the following. ALWAYS get a LLC for your property in the US. And always use a property manager for the property. You invest in a country you dont understand totally. But the property manager does. And knows the laws of the land. And knows what must get done. So why waste money when for a small percentage the property manager does it for you? (double reference there)
After saying I told you so .. so badly, my comiserations to his family and his wife. Its a situation that just didnt need to happen.
And just sad that it did.
My condolences to his family for their loss.
It's very sad indeedI say this just about everyday. There is a big difference between a bad neighborhood in Australia and a bad neighborhood in the US. Bad areas in the US are dangerous and every large city has them. With all of the opportunities available to real estate investors across the US today there is no need to invest in a war zone.
John Carney | America Property Source I johncarneyonline.com
http://johncarneyonline.com
Email Me | Phone MeWork Hard. Play Hard. Profit Hard.
Detroit is not known as the murder capital of the USA for nothing, it is and will remain a very dangerous place, what a terrible waste of life when someone was trying to help others
I read about this in the Age newspaper and it was really sad.
Mr McNichols seemed to have the attitude that the "show doesn't go on for ever, so let's see what we can do to make things a little better" and I admire the way he was having a go.
I understand there is now a push by his family and loved ones to finish the job in his memory, and I wish them all the best in that endeavour. Housing people is important. This has always been the responsibility of the property industry and I should think it always will be. Without people like Mr McNichols doing their bit to bring some civic pride back to run down neighbourhoods the cycle of neglect permeates all levels of those communities.
AmericaPropertySource wrote:I say this just about everyday. There is a big difference between a bad neighborhood in Australia and a bad neighborhood in the US. Bad areas in the US are dangerous and every large city has them. With all of the opportunities available to real estate investors across the US today there is no need to invest in a war zone.this is absolutly true… what I see happening is Aussies fixate on how the property looks on paper and they are chasing rates of return. instead of looking at capital preservation as the most important factor.
I have done hundreds of loans for the fix an flip crowd in Detroit, and the property manager there that is good, I have been to his office many times. Front window is usually broke and he has a bankers bullit proof window were the tenants slide there checks in . There is a reason these houses are vacant and so cheap. The only people that should by them are locals and do it as a business. This property manager I speak of has 3 retired cops on staff. They watch the rehab crews as much as anything because they come back at night and strip the house they just worked on. going to be an awful lot of Brits and Aussie who are going to get completley wiped out financiall investing in the war zones and Ghettos of any Big american city. Not to mention this very sad case of the extreme.
This was a sad situation – but the bottom line is that as an Investor you should have someone handling the repairs for you. If you are doing the repairs yourself, you essentially are just creating another job for yourself, not being a true hands off investor…
Sad news indeed.
John at America Property has hit the nail on the head, a “Bad” neighbourhood in the US is like chalk to cheese compared to a bad neighbourhood in Sydney. You can still walk through Redfern and come out the other side…….little chance of that in a Bad area in the states.
Gotta be careful and really research the demographics of the area you are preparing to invest in4Sighted wrote:Sad news indeed. John at America Property has hit the nail on the head, a "Bad" neighbourhood in the US is like chalk to cheese compared to a bad neighbourhood in Sydney. You can still walk through Redfern and come out the other side…….little chance of that in a Bad area in the states. Gotta be careful and really research the demographics of the area you are preparing to invest inAny city of 250k plus in the Mid west will have the same demographics and any home bought at about 30k or under will share those demographics as well.
Very sad for his family , Make safe investments and keep to the safe areas in cities and suburbs where working or retired middle America wants to life .
Regards
Leonard Wilton
American Properties
DetroitDan9 wrote:This was a sad situation – but the bottom line is that as an Investor you should have someone handling the repairs for you. If you are doing the repairs yourself, you essentially are just creating another job for yourself, not being a true hands off investor…With the exception that you do not feel your going to ge murdered working on your rental property, thats just the special reality that surround Detroit. and other War zone Ghetto neighborhoods of any city in the mid west over 500k people, Demographic are African americn, hispanic with some southest asian thrown in and these are rough towns people shoot each other just a fact of life, buying a 20 to 30k home in these neighborhoods long term wil lbe a complete waiste of money you will lose that investmetn than many more thousands until you finaly give up and let it go for tax's. The Aussie investor buying in these is transerfering there good dollars for our crap properteis and will loose all their investmetn buy and large. some will make it 50%or more will not. I speak of years of experince in this asset class unfortunately as I have gotten my ass cleaned a few times in detroit personally.
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