I spent four hours driving neighborhoods on the East side of Detroit last night. On my way there I was driving down 8 Mile and couldn’t help take a photo of this license plate:
There was just something about a Corvette with this license plate, driving down 8 Mile in Detroit that made me chuckle.
During my trip I saw two homes I was interested in potentially buying. The listing agent didn’t show up at the first one, which is apparently quite common, so the owner showed me around his house while his two young daughters watched TV in the bedroom.
I was in and out in ten minutes, deciding quickly that it wasn’t for me, and surviving the seemingly unfriendly trio of pit bulls that live next door. The photos made it look far better than it was (shocker!), and were clearly older.
My next stop was a duplex in north of East Warren Ave. I pretty much knew this deal wasn’t going to be a fit for me, but the guy trying to wholesale it wanted me to see it. And I don’t mind. I enjoy looking at homes and refining my eye, analyzing the scope of work that needs to be done, etc.
The house was a mess and needed a lot of work. And his asking price wasn’t reflecting that. I have all kinds of gripes when it comes to wholesalers, but that’s for another post.
After that I spent the next few hours driving to 14 different homes on my list and taking notes on each.
And before you go making fun of my chicken scratch, I’d like to see how legible your handwriting is when you’re parked on the side of a residential street with gunshots in the background.
I kid. My handwriting just sucks.
The more I drive Detroit the more I find myself falling in love with the city. The architecture of these homes is incredible. It’s both inspiring and saddening to see how some look so incredible still while some are mere shells of their former glory.
There’s so much potential in Detroit, but clear that there are areas that won’t reach their potential for many years. It’s easier to see it coming for other parts. It’s also incredible how quickly you can travel that spectrum, literally within a few streets.