A Guide to Micro-Neighborhoods: Uncovering Hidden Gems in Detroit’s Rental Market

by Scott Dylan

As a real estate investor, you may always be on the lookout for opportunities to expand your portfolio and grow your wealth. You want to invest in properties that can provide you with steady sources of income and cost you very little to maintain.

Your solution, then, can involve investing in micro-neighborhoods in Detroit. Learn more about what micro-neighborhoods are, what benefits they offer to investors and why they can become lucrative additions to your investment portfolio today.

What are Micro-neighborhoods?

Micro-neighborhoods are most commonly found in suburban and urban areas. As their name implies, they are effectively miniature communities within a larger community or neighborhood. The residents in them typically share commonalities, such as age demographics, professions or nationalities.

Micro-neighborhoods also consist of a variety of housing, including townhouses, apartment buildings, single-family homes and duplexes. They additionally have shared spaces like churches, playgrounds that foster neighborhood cohesiveness and appeal.

The residents in these mini-communities often work closely together to create and maintain a safe and secure environment not only for themselves and their families but also businesses in the vicinity. As real estate investments, micro-neighborhoods offer a variety of lucrative benefits for people who buy properties in them.

Affordability

Primarily, the properties in micro-neighborhoods are more affordable to invest in than properties in larger residential or commercial areas. As an investor, you may find it more cost-effective to buy a block of townhouses, for example, in a micro-neighborhood than a large shopping mall in a commercial district or several freestanding single-family homes in a busy urban neighborhood.

The affordable prices of properties in micro-neighborhoods let you make investments without breaking the bank. You can easily add them to your portfolio and may avoid having to take out an expensive loan or liquidate other assets to buy them.

Lower Maintenance and Repair Costs

The properties you buy in micro-neighborhoods may also be easier for you to maintain and repair. Because they are not as large as buildings like shopping malls or multi-level houses, they may not require as much work or materials to fix up or maintain. You may spend less for materials like roofing or flooring because of the compact sizes of the apartments, townhouses or other properties you buy there.

Their smaller sizes can also translate into less time you have to spend maintaining or fixing them. You can finish upkeep on them in a fraction of the time it might take you to repair larger commercial or residential buildings.

High Demand

Even more, the demand for housing in micro-neighborhoods can rival or exceed the demand for housing in larger residential neighborhoods. Young families and people just starting out in life may especially prefer to rent or buy housing in neighborhoods with people who share common lifestyles and professions as them.

As a real estate investor, you may find it relatively easily to find occupants for buildings you buy in micro-neighborhoods. You may avoid having to wait for weeks or longer for someone to lease or buy vacancies from you.

Easier Advertising

Similarly, because buildings in micro-neighborhoods can have such high demands among renters and buyers, they can also be easier for you to advertise. Whenever you have a vacancy, you may find it relatively convenient to list its availability either online or in local newspapers. You may start receiving inquiries about it in a matter of days, if not sooner.

Even more, residents in micro-neighborhoods can be a valuable source of advertising when you have open units for rent. You may find you gain new occupants from word-of-mouth referrals from your current tenants or buyers.

Safety

Properties in micro-neighborhoods also offer the promise of security and peace of mind for investors in them. Because residents in these mini-communities often work together to enhance safety and security for themselves and their families, they have a vested interest in protecting the buildings in which they live and work.

Their vested interest works in your favor because it translates into less crime, fewer damages and less money having to go into repairing, replacing or maintaining your properties. You avoid buying high-risk properties and can make more money than you spend.

Tenant Loyalty

People who lease properties like townhomes and single-family houses in micro-neighborhoods often exhibit higher levels of tenant loyalty. Because they appreciate living in a community among residents who have commonalities with them, they may be less prone to looking for other places to live outside of the micro-neighborhood. They may likewise pay their rent on time and show favor to any rules you have for your rental properties in a bid to stay on your proverbial good side and avoid being evicted from the rental units they lease from you.

Lower Turnover Rates

Their loyalty translates into lower turnover rates for the properties you have purchased in micro-neighborhoods. As an investor, you might prioritize keeping your rental units occupied. You need tenants to stay in them so you can continue to earn an income from the monthly rents paid to you.

When you do not have tenants in a unit, you go without the income from it for as long as it takes you to find and approve a new occupant for it. Rather than invest in properties in areas where you cannot be sure of keeping them occupied, you can instead invest in properties in micro-neighborhoods. You may enjoy the low turnover rates you want as an investor and have a steady source of rental income on which to rely.

Micro-neighborhoods in Detroit can offer you the lucrativeness and security you want as a real estate investor. Properties in them, such as townhouses, apartments and single-family houses, may be easy for you to lease out and from which to secure a steady income.

Navigating the real estate market within the micro-neighborhoods in Detroit can be a challenge. Rather than look for properties on your own or vet applicants for your vacancies, reach out to Upside Investments. Let us help you invest in the best micro-neighborhoods in Detroit today.

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