Posted by Joe on April 04, 2006 at 12:22:00:
Would it be possible to pick up so many boarded houses that you could own large swaths of land in various parts of Flint? Then maybe you could offer it cheap to some company looking for a cheap place to put some R&D facilities?
Renovation project idea help needed. - Posted by Eric (MI)
Posted by Eric (MI) on April 03, 2006 at 17:47:06:
I have done a couple of rehabs from the non-investment side of things over the last couple of years. The latest involved my own home that was almost completely damaged by an electrical fire.
I am thinking of doing this on a large scale. In Flint we have a non-profit organization that is called the Land Bank that goes around buying run down and abandon property. They then fix it up and sell it to low income families or do a complete demolition. They also buy commercial properties and fix them up to be used again. I believe they are a localy government agency though since state representives sit on the board.
My plan is to do something similiar but have two seperate entities and on a larger scale than just the city of Flint. One will be for profit and will deal with the acquisition of SFH, multi-units, ect that are run down and can be bought cheap. I will than have them rehab and sold. In order to do this I will need access to a lot of money obviously. I am looking into obtaining private money. I need to know how to approach people about this. If anyone knows of any resources that will help me develop a comprehensive business plan that oridinary people with no knowledge of the rehab process can understand I will be greatly appreciative. I work for General Motors and everyone is worried about their future right now. My entire plant is almost at retirement age or beyond and a majority of them have hundreds of thousands of dollars (some even over a million) in their retirement and savings plans. If I can get access to only a couple of these peoples funds would be a great start and a tremendous win-win situation if I can convince them of the benifits. Of course I need to figure out the terms such as percentage rate, how long I will need the money, payment plan (interest only, ect). Any ideas here will also be appreciated.
The second plan would be to buy up abandon property in bad areas. An area near here has no shortage of boarded up homes and businesses that will never be renovated. What I want to do is obtain the property and do a complete demolition of them. Since this would be non-profit and more of a neighborhood renovation and beautify project and help rid the area of crime by eliminating the numerous abandon buildings, I need to find out how I can go about getting grants or other free money to fund the project. It definitely won’t be a money making business but that isn’t my intention. I want to help the city of Flint and if I had access to the funds I am sure I could be more efficiant than the government ran inititive that isn’t even making a dent in the problem.
Sorry it was so long but if you made it this far I would really like some feedback. Thanks!
Re: Renovation project idea help needed. - Posted by Adam-MI
Posted by Adam-MI on April 04, 2006 at 06:33:47:
Eric,
First, let me say that I am also in Flint, and it is good to see someone like you who actually cares about the city these days. I have considered similar things over the past few months, but it is hard for me to see any way to profit in most of the areas you are talking about. You can buy very cheap in most areas of Flint, but it seems to me that finding buyers would be nearly impossible, even just to cover the costs you put into rehabbing the houses. Maybe renting them out after rehab?? Section 8 even… I don’t know. What are your plans for unloading them after the rehab? I live in a nicer area of Flint, and you can buy a fully redone, decent house in my area for 50k or so. It’s hard for me to see a profit in the run-down areas that you are talking about. I’m interested to see what you have in mind.
Adam