Understanding Property Taxes on Detroit Rentals: Principal Residence Exemption and Non-Homestead Rates

Understanding Property Taxes on Detroit Rentals: Principal Residence Exemption and Non-Homestead Rates
You closed on a Detroit rental in the spring, you budgeted for the taxes the seller was paying, and then the summer bill arrived and it was hundreds of dollars higher than the number you underwrote. Nothing went wrong. The property simply stopped being somebody's principal residence and started being an investment, and Michigan taxes those two things at very different rates. Property taxes on Detroit rentals are one of the largest fixed costs in your pro f

Out-of-State Investor’s Playbook: How to Manage a Detroit Rental Remotely

Out-of-State Investor’s Playbook: How to Manage a Detroit Rental Remotely
You can buy a Detroit rental from a laptop in Phoenix or Brooklyn, but you cannot let a tenant in, meet an inspector, or find out why the basement smells like water from there. That gap between what you can do remotely and what has to happen in person is where most out-of-state investor problems in Metro Detroit begin. The Detroit market rewards distant capital with entry prices and rent-to-value ratios that are hard to find on either coast. It also punish